Le Dernier Jour d'un condamné (review)

In her excellent introduction to the Garnier Flammarion edition of Le Dernier Jour d' un condamné, Marieke Stein states that among Hugo's works "Le Dernier Jour d'un condamné est une œuvre à part, neuve et éminemment moderne" (8). Stein analyzes this novel as a function of Hugo's continuing interest in capital punishment and shows how Hugo's position against it is reflected in his innovative portrayal of the tribulations of a condemned man. Stein also provides the reader with notes, a series of critical and thematic appendices, a chronology, and a selective bibliography.

Stein's introduction is divided into the following parts: 1) Roman d'analyse et drame intérieur, 2) Victor Hugo à la torture, 3) De l'obsession personnelle au texte de combat: ce que disent les trois préfaces, and 4) "Le Dernier Jour d'un condamné," ou le supplice du lecteur. After a brief overview of "la peine de mort" in Hugo's life and works, Stein initiates the reader to the fractured world of the nameless protagonist in order to show first-hand how modern this text was in its time. She then explains the personal dimension of certain obsessive elements of Le Dernier Jour d'un condamné by detailing Hugo's exposure to capital punishment beginning at the age of five and during various subsequent experiences in his adult life. Stein ends her introduction with an analysis of the three prefaces to Le Dernier Jour d'un condamné, which show "la multiplicité et la richesse des significations de l'œuvre" (18) and the fact that the "drame intérieur" of the protagonist is really that of the reader and, ultimately, that of society itself.

The "dossier" at the end of the book contains the following sections: 1) Genèse et réception du Dernier Jour d'un condamné, 2) Écrits de Victor Hugo contre la peine de mort, and 3) Le motif obsédant de la guillotine. These sections are especially useful to new readers of Hugo in that they put the novel in its original social, historical, and literary contexts. They also introduce those readers to various source material and encourage further exploration through the use of the selective bibliography.

I highly recommend the Garnier Flammarion edition of Le Dernier Jour d'un condamné for inclusion in any college or university library collection where there is a French program at the undergraduate level or above.