Toilers of the Sea

Victor Hugo · 1802–1885 · France

Originally Les Travailleurs de la mer (French)

Why it matters

A lone fisherman battles a wrecked ship's tangled machinery, a killer storm, and a giant octopus to win the woman he loves: Hugo's epic of man against pitiless nature, and the novel that gave the world its first great monster-octopus scene.

At a glance

Long descriptive passages on sea, weather, and machinery slow the adventure plot.