I have both the original Wilbour translation and the Norman Denny translation of this book, and Id say that the Denny translation is the more readable of the two. Graham Robb, in his award-winning biography of Hugo has called Dennys translation swiss cheese and translation as censorship. However, its well-written, and the excised sections are included as appendices to which any reader can turn. In places where Denny edits the prose, he captures the spirit of the novel.