Ninety-Three

I have read four novels of Victor Hugo(and the synopsis of a fifth one)."Ninety Three" is the one in which he has reached perfection.This specially applies to his plot-structure which is one of the best I've come across.Hugo's rather naive artrifices and linking devices,which he used for making tight plot structures,but lent an unconvincing coherence in his earlier novels are absent-giving rise to an ingeniously linked sequence of events-where every event,keeping in mind the moral purposes which the novel seeks to achieve and the moral premises and goals of the characters,necessarily leads to the next event,to the climax and the resolution. The theme,most appropriately pointed out by Ayn Rand is:"Man's loyalty to values."How every character and every event expresses the theme is the greatest technical virtuosity a writer can achieve.(However,as I see,Hugo's conscious intention was to dramatize:"The conflict between the logic behind the French Revolution and the philosophy behind the French Revolution.) The plot-theme is:"The conflict which arises when a ruthless revolutionary(of the French Revolution)-a priest- is sent to keep a watch on a courageous but compassionate revolutionary-the only man he loves in this world- pursuing his granduncle-a proud,haughty,fanatical Royalist-with three innocent children and their helpless mother caught up in the cataclysm of this savage,frantic battle." The merits of this novel are numerous.First of all,it is one of the best suspense-thrillers among the explicitly philosophical novels of the 19th century.The neck-breaking speed with which the events suceed one other will keep you biting your nails till the last paragraph. Secondly,every page-nay,every line in this novel gives a sense of something profoundly important,grand and dramatic.There isn't a sentence,conversation or scene which is trivial,silly or commonplace.Everything is grandiose,with a heightened sense of solemnity and tension. Thirdly,one cannot overlook Hugo's heroic view of man.Whether it be a literate beggar or an illiterate peasant woman;a wicked rebel who can go to any lengths of inhumanity or a young soldier who has lead an insignificant life-every character has been endowed with such moral courage,focus on one's values and goals,strength of conviction,fearlesness,intransigent integrity and above all,such a capacity to value one's values-that one has to conclude that for Hugo,man was a Titan or a Giant-nothing less than a demi-God. I would not call "Ninety Three" Hugo's greatest achievement since it's scope is rather small.Further,Hugo's usual obsession to insert long historical and political essays hadn't left him while he was writing "Ninety Three".Luckily,they maybe ignored.Anyway, I would recommend them for their fascinating poetry;compelling,powerful style and tremendous universal significance. It is strange that although "Ninety Three" is a thoroughly interesting read-moreover glorifying humanitarianism,compassion and non-viole

Hugo was a great novelist with a gift for mixing history with fiction. Just like Dumas, only Dumas is lighter entertainment and less depth. 1793 was a crucial year for the French Revolution, and hence for human History. The Revolutionary regime was unstable, faction-ridden, while the forces of the Ancien Regime were still fighting fiercely (read Balzac's "Les Chouanes" and "A Murky Business" for other great references to alter years of this period). It is also a story of generational fighting, as well as an account of heroism in both sides. The Marquis of Lantenac is an old aristocrat fighting to restore the Regime, in the La Vendée uprising. He faces his nephew, the Vicomte of Gauvain, who fights for the Revolution. The scenery is the beautiful Bretagne, in Northern France. Hugo rounds up the story magnificently, explaining the reader what is going on in Paris with the different factions and leaders. So the story is not isolated from main historical events. These give it a full context, and in turn the story enlightens us about what the fight is about. The climax comes in the battle of La Tourgue, where uncle and nephew face each other in a dramatic fight. The revolutionaries win, but Lantenac returns to a castle, to rescue three children caught in a fire. He is imprisoned, and here the drama reaches its highest: Gauvain is told to execute his uncle. The ending is a hard confrontation between political reason and personal values, a subject explored in great literature since "Antigona", by Sofocles. It's clear why this eternal confrontation is tragic: no solution is devoid of an extremely high price. A less-known but excellent work by one of the best novelists there has been.

Refer to Ayn Rand's non-fiction bood entitled "The Romantic Manifesto" There's an excellent introduction to Victor Hugo's Ninety-Three. That's what made me want to read it and why I continue to read it over and over.

I encountered this book while writing an honors undergraduate history thesis on the revolt in the Vendee--which is the setting for this book. Ninety-Three is both a literary masterpiece and an historical commentary ahead of its time. Hugo carefully balances his personal belief in the French Republic, and his distaste for the methods used by the Republicans in 1793. His characters are vivid allegories, and the novel is peppered with small parables. It is a story where the "giants" of Robespierre, Marat and Danton become less important than three small children, where the Republic of Swords must face the Republic of Ideas. I highly recommend this for anyone studying the French Revolution. It is also a fine piece of prose.

Hugo again outdoes himself. His ability to go into details, without losing his reader, compares with Hemingway's. But this is not to say that his focus on the detail is at the expense of the big picture. Just the opposite. Ninety-three gives an overall perspective of the French Revolution that I have never realized (not that I claim to be an expert on the subject). Moreover, the battles between the blues (advocates of the Republic) and the whites (the royalist) are gripping. His characters are awe inspiring and the story as a whole moves very well. This is book is a real treat.