Novel
The Last Day of a Condemned Man
Le Dernier Jour d'un condamné
Victor Hugo · 1829
Synopsis
A man condemned to death keeps a journal of his last weeks, from the prison of Bicêtre to the Conciergerie. He gives neither his name nor the exact nature of his crime. He records his fear, his memories, his hope of a pardon and his thoughts of his little daughter, Marie. The narrative lets the reader share his anguish without knowing anything of his deeds, which prevents the reader from judging him on the facts.
Context
The book appeared without the author's name in 1829 with Charles Gosselin. Hugo is said to have written it very quickly after seeing the guillotine being prepared on the place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville; he had witnessed several executions and was outraged that society allows itself what it reproaches the condemned man for. In 1832, he signed it and added a long preface, an explicit plea for the abolition of the death penalty.
Who it is for
A short first-person narrative, in some fifty brief chapters, which can be read in an evening.
Prizes and reception
Translated into English as early as 1840; Christopher Moncrieff gave a translation in 2009, taken up by Alma Classics.
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