Les Misérables

[JSWolf]

Nobody has yet answered my question.

What version has all the words?

[vxf]

Hapgood translation, Carefully Crafted Classics.
$2.99 for Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Mis%C3%A9rable...d_sim_kstore_4

Has almost all the words.
My understanding is that the original did not. They were filled back afterwards as the editors and commentators figured them out. Some of those have never been 'filled in'. Or that, in short, is what I remember reading in the editorial note to a print copy I picked up an my girlfriend's place a while ago - I know is was Hapgood's translation, but I couldn't tell you the editor.

The version above is pretty free of errors, decently formatted, and with pretty illustrations.
If you want a free one, I can't help.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by vxf

Hapgood translation, Carefully Crafted Classics.
$2.99 for Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Mis%C3%A9rable...d_sim_kstore_4

Has almost all the words.
My understanding is that the original did not. They were filled back afterwards as the editors and commentators figured them out. Some of those have never been 'filled in'. Or that, in short, is what I remember reading in the editorial note to a print copy I picked up an my girlfriend's place a while ago - I know is was Hapgood's translation, but I couldn't tell you the editor.

The version above is pretty free of errors, decently formatted, and with pretty illustrations.
If you want a free one, I can't help.

Thanks. I just told Amazon to send a sample to my iPad which I will check out tomorrow. It's the D-- type words that blow the deal.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by vxf

Has almost all the words.
My understanding is that the original did not. They were filled back afterwards as the editors and commentators figured them out. Some of those have never been 'filled in'.

Yeah, it was a really annoying feature of 19th Century lit; it was popular in Germany, too - where the Marquise von O. lived in the town of M. with her husband Col. G. and she later met Count F. then they went to his estate in W.

[Billi]

Of course! It gives this feeling of authenticity and at the same time doesn't give away any secrets!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Thanks. I just told Amazon to send a sample to my iPad which I will check out tomorrow. It's the D-- type words that blow the deal.

If that's the way the author wrote it, isn't it better to stick with it?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If that's the way the author wrote it, isn't it better to stick with it?

Because it's annoying and it will make for an unenjoyable read.

[RHWright]

Putting aside the omitted text stylistics issue (D---), does anyone have an opinion on translations?

I'm slowly making my way through a Hapgood translation (from manybooks.net), but I'm not sure if it's the bare-bones formatting or translation slowing me down.

I don't want an abridged text, just something that flows naturally and is true to the original text. David Coward's Oxford World Classics Dumas translations were fine for me, as well as the Pevear Dostoyevsky translations in the 90s.

Not necessary that it be free, but that is a bonus.

[LovesMacs]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Nobody has yet answered my question.

What version has all the words?

The Penguin Classics movie tie-in edition translated by Norman Denny fills in the names on the first page of the text, based on the sample I looked at. I don't know if there are any cuts in the text and can't comment on the translation.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If that's the way the author wrote it, isn't it better to stick with it?

Yep... I'd rather read books the way the author meant them to be read, rather than the way later editors decided it should be written.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It goes back a lot earlier. Jane Austen does it a lot. Eg in "Pride and Prejudice", the militia regiment that Wickam is a member of is always referred to as the "-----shire" militia.

Authors have done it for dates as well. R.L.Stevenson has Jim Hawkins taking up his pen in the year 17-- which adds to the mystery of when the story is supposed to be set I think. People have made guesses over the years where the 'lsland' is supposed to be and no doubt not having a set year in the 1700's adds a layer of mystery to the story.