To describe Hugo's "last day of a condemned man" in few words, I would say that this is a historically important book. I would not recommend it for anyone but I insist that it is a must meaning that upon reading it one thinks about many things that otherwise would not necessarily cross the mind.
This is not a biography of someone in particular nor just a journey retracing the last day of a prisoner sentenced to death. This book rather highlights the nitty gritty details of the process of death sentence execution in the 19th century. The journey starts at the court and stops (Not ends) at the Guillotine. Nothing out of the ordinary here you would say? I beg to differ. This book is different because its aim was to change people's attitude regarding death sentence given that at the time of its publication, death sentence was a commonly accepted event, even a popular one that attracted people who used to gather on these occasions to watch prisoners being beheaded as if attending a show! It is scary to think that nowadays, after all this time, such practices still occur in some parts of the world and that even some religious fanatics are demanding their governments to reconsider legalizing public executions!!! This is just atrocious in my opinion for I am a fervent opposant to death sentence because I cannot grasp the logic that justifies people's right to take out another's life. And I am not at all going to comment on the public execution nonsense!!!
The strength of this book comes from the way it was written i.e. in a diary-like form that actually takes you through the last thoughts, feelings and worries of the every day, hour and minute of the life of a prisoner "heading" towards the Guillotine (heading! :D, I am sorry, I could not help it!). Now what is more interesting in this book I believe is that what we learn about the prisoner does not make him different at all from any other average Joe in his society. He has a family and family issues, a job and business worries and most importantly a daughter that is everything to this dad. You do not feel that this man deserves such a sentence. You will also find it hard to imagine that this "nice" guy who is being locked in a cell that has witnessed before him the passage of the cruelest criminals deserves a similar sentence. But then again, this guy might have also been worst than all the criminals before him. Hugo intentionally does not let us know what was this guy's crime or wether he is innocent because for him it is not important the only thing that matters is that a human remains a human and no one deserves to suffer this way. You might agree or disagree on the proper crime punishment method it doesn't matter but at least upon reading this book you will forever remember that regardless of the crime all humans are alike and you realize that everyone (and I mean everyone including you and I) could end up like the prisoner of this book did meaning on the other side of the bars and be judged instead of judging.
Now to finish, what I enjoyed the most in this book was that Hugo made me aware of the notion of time day by day, hour by hour and minute by minute. We all know time is precious even though we don't always act upon it but for me this is the first book that made me aware and worried about my time and time quality.
This is not a biography of someone in particular nor just a journey retracing the last day of a prisoner sentenced to death. This book rather highlights the nitty gritty details of the process of death sentence execution in the 19th century. The journey starts at the court and stops (Not ends) at the Guillotine. Nothing out of the ordinary here you would say? I beg to differ. This book is different because its aim was to change people's attitude regarding death sentence given that at the time of its publication, death sentence was a commonly accepted event, even a popular one that attracted people who used to gather on these occasions to watch prisoners being beheaded as if attending a show! It is scary to think that nowadays, after all this time, such practices still occur in some parts of the world and that even some religious fanatics are demanding their governments to reconsider legalizing public executions!!! This is just atrocious in my opinion for I am a fervent opposant to death sentence because I cannot grasp the logic that justifies people's right to take out another's life. And I am not at all going to comment on the public execution nonsense!!!
The strength of this book comes from the way it was written i.e. in a diary-like form that actually takes you through the last thoughts, feelings and worries of the every day, hour and minute of the life of a prisoner "heading" towards the Guillotine (heading! :D, I am sorry, I could not help it!). Now what is more interesting in this book I believe is that what we learn about the prisoner does not make him different at all from any other average Joe in his society. He has a family and family issues, a job and business worries and most importantly a daughter that is everything to this dad. You do not feel that this man deserves such a sentence. You will also find it hard to imagine that this "nice" guy who is being locked in a cell that has witnessed before him the passage of the cruelest criminals deserves a similar sentence. But then again, this guy might have also been worst than all the criminals before him. Hugo intentionally does not let us know what was this guy's crime or wether he is innocent because for him it is not important the only thing that matters is that a human remains a human and no one deserves to suffer this way. You might agree or disagree on the proper crime punishment method it doesn't matter but at least upon reading this book you will forever remember that regardless of the crime all humans are alike and you realize that everyone (and I mean everyone including you and I) could end up like the prisoner of this book did meaning on the other side of the bars and be judged instead of judging.
Now to finish, what I enjoyed the most in this book was that Hugo made me aware of the notion of time day by day, hour by hour and minute by minute. We all know time is precious even though we don't always act upon it but for me this is the first book that made me aware and worried about my time and time quality.
