Reviews for The Sand Against the Wind

The average rating for The Sand Against the Wind based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-01-21 00:00:00 Chris Skelly 1830 Victor Hugo's play, Hernani, caused a storm of controversy upon its first performance in Paris because of its new romantic themes and attitudes. But Hernani isn't only the text of disquisitions on Romanticism. First of all, it's a great drama ; it's Victor Hugo's unforgetable rhymes. In his preface to Hernani, Victor Hugo explains that he wants to endow his country with one more freedom: that of art, that of intelligence. "Young men", Hugo writes, "let's have good courage! So hard is the present, so beautiful will be the future. Romanticism is liberalism in literature. Freedom in art, freedom in society, that's the double goal. But literary freedom is the daughter of political freedom. Here we come out of the old social form, let's also get out of the old poetic form. Hernani is the first step of freedom in literature. Now the poet can finally express himself: there's an audience! Thanks be to this new public, to this powerful and intelligent youth who has helped and favored the work of a sincere and independent young man like them! It's for this youth that opens both eyes to truth and light that I work." (Shall you please accept, Mr Hugo, my most humble apologies, for this summary and this very approximate translation of your so great and generous thought.) Fortunately, I had the immense pleasure of reading Hernani in French. Poetry is a sweet music that hardly supports translation. That said without jeopardizing the translators, these great lovers of foreign words, who have no other goal than to make foreign authors love readers of their own countries. That said with all my respect for translators, these great lovers of foreign words, who have no other goal than to make foreign authors be liked by the readers of their own countries. Hernani is a play written in alexandrines, which takes place in Spain at the beginning of the reign of Charles Quint: history, political plots, intrigues, love ... but also humour and a mix of grotesque and sublime. In this review, I cannot give you a few examples, because I'm unable to translate Victor Hugo! One thing is sure: I loved it!

Review # 2 was written on 2011-03-25 00:00:00 James Daniel Ramsey Iii I can't read in French. A terrible pity, since my favorite book (Les Misérables) was written in French. And because I love that book so much, I've tried to read as much as possible written by M. Hugo. Not easy. Hernani in particular was a challenge, since it hasn't been translated much. But it was important to me to read it, because it had been so important both in Hugo's career in for Romanticism in general. Opening night sounds like it must have been very exciting, and fun if you were a Romantic. All that said, how does the play itself stand today? Let me just say that I can see what it's seldom staged now. It's very dramatic, with lots of exclamations and emotional speeches. I'd say that it's very much of its time. For me, it was a fairly exciting read, but I think I can safely say that I'm probably in the minority on that one. Many others would see it as overwrought, and would find the plot too predictable. And maybe it is is a little high strung, and maybe the plot is a little predictable. All the same, I really enjoyed reading it, and don't doubt that I would have liked it even better in French. Alas.