小说与文学2017economist.com编辑精选
雨果如何写出《悲惨世界》
How Victor Hugo came to write “Les Misérables”
导读
文章围绕《悲惨世界》的创作与影响：雨果1845年动笔，1848年后在流亡中完成，而这部小说后来成为被改编最多的作品之一。对写作者来说，它值得读的地方不在八卦，而在巨著如何靠多年坚持、情感与良知的内核、历史材料的取舍，以及面对改编传播时守住原著阅读体验。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
把长篇当成多年工程：动笔、流亡、完成跨越多个人生阶段，先接受写作周期可能很长。
- 02
给人物一个毫不动摇的良知或信念核心，让读者知道他们为何而战、为何而痛。
- 03
历史材料要能推动人物与主题；若一段战史让主线人物迟迟不出场，就要重新掂量它的篇幅。
- 04
改编会放大作品影响，但写作者仍要保证文本本身的阅读体验不可被影视或梗概替代。
HN 评论精选
改编版本可能扩大名声，却也可能让后世读者远离原著。
这篇文章更适合题为《〈悲惨世界〉如何改变了世界》。令人遗憾的是，此后几代人更愿意看电影或音乐剧，而不读原著，这部作品的影响力也因此被削弱了。它是有史以来被改编次数最多的小说，我并不意外，因为在我看来它是最伟大的小说，是文学所能达到的丰碑。但我确实担心，各种替代阅读原著的选择会让它的影响越来越有限。
david927查看英文原文
The article would better be titled, "How Les Misérables changed the world." Its impact is sadly lost in generations since who would rather view the film or musical at the expense of reading the novel. I'm not surprised it's also the most adapted novel of all time as it is, in my opinion, the greatest novel ever written and a monument to what literature can be. But I definitely worry that its impact will be more and more limited by alternatives to simply reading the original.
浪漫主义的情感与良知主题，加上历史材料，构成小说的力量。
雨果极其聪明，但也毫不掩饰地浪漫——甚至感伤。我很喜欢《悲惨世界》，它的一个好处是为良知正名，写了主人公们毫不动摇地相信何为善。他还把相当多（偶尔真假参半）的历史塞进小说。我很喜欢用许多页从头到尾描写滑铁卢，他对这场战役的判断令人清醒。
devindotcom查看英文原文
Hugo is fantastically intelligent but also unabashedly romantic - perhaps even sentimental. I loved Les Miserables, and one of the good things about it was its exoneration of the conscience, of what the main characters unshakingly feel to be be good. He also packs a fair amount of (occasionally apocryphal) history into it. I love the many pages spent describing Waterloo from start to finish, and his judgment of the battle is sobering: http://coldewey.cc/post/19163335604/the-victor-of-waterloo-assembled-from-les
长篇历史插叙若压过人物登场，会制造节奏问题，甚至让“删节”显得合理。
也许是按字数付稿酬的合同？我大学时曾在寒假里读到700页处。以下（凭多年前记忆，大体完整）是看过音乐剧的人会熟悉的事件梗概：1. 冉阿让从主教那里得到银器。2. 确认德纳第在滑铁卢战场洗劫阵亡士兵。3. 芳汀和可能的珂赛特已经出场？4. 也许冉阿让用主教的银器改过自新后当了某镇市长？注意，除冉阿让外的另一主要人物沙威还没露面，而他在音乐剧开场十分钟就出现了。德纳第在音乐剧里顶多算小角色，但在他出场前，我们先读了约50页滑铁卢战史。《公主新娘》自称“删节版”来轻轻讽刺这类小说，我忍不住觉得它有道理。
mauvehaus查看英文原文
A contract that paid by the word, perhaps? I got 700 pages in one year over winter break when I was in college. A (mostly, it was many years ago now) complete summary of the events that had happened that would be familiar to those who have seen the musical: 1. Jean Valjean acquired some silver from the bishop. 2. It was established that M. Thenardier looted the deceased soldiers at the battle of Waterloo. 3. The existence of Fantine and possibly Cosette had been established? 4. Perhaps Valjean had become the mayor of some town after using what was formerly the bishop's silver to become an honest man? Note that Javert, who is the other major character besides Valjean has yet to put in an appearance, despite showing up in perhaps the first 10 minutes of the musical. M. Thenardier is, at best, a minor player in the musical, and prior to his introduction, we get ~50 pages on the history of the Battle of Waterloo. The Princess Bride gently mocks the genre by advertising itself as "abridged". I can't help but feel it's justified.
创作史文章若只列时间线而不解释动机与方法，对写作者的启发有限。
这篇文章其实没有真正解释他是“如何”以及“为何”写成的，只说他1845年动笔，1848年后不得不在流亡中完成。
pavel_lishin查看英文原文
It doesn't really explain how, or why. Just that he did, in 1845. And then had to do so from exile, after 1848.
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