Rating: 
Summary: reading perfection
Review: I finished this book about two years ago, and I still remember the empty feeling I had after I had read the last page. It had become another world to me, a place to escape, and now it was over. Hugo took me back in time to 19th century france, and into the lives of people who were crafted so well that they seem real. Jean Valjean, a long-time convict trying to set his life straight. Javert, the police inspector, relentlessly pursuing Valjean for the theft of a coin from a small boy.Fantine, a poor single mother forced to work her life away to support her child,Cosette, who is being cared for by the greedy Thenardiers(sp?) who constantly abuse Cosette, then petition her mother for more money. I don't want to ruin the reading experience by revealing too much of the plot with my inferior words. I was amazed at the skill with which this story was told, and even the sections of the novel dedicated to expressing Hugo's views, and describing the setting were, for me, a pleasure to read. This book will make you laugh, cry, and sometimes frustrate you to no end. Les Miserables is the epitome of the word "classic."
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Summary: Possibly the greatest novel of all time
Review: This is Victor Hugo's magnus opus, plain andsimple. The story of Les Misérables is one that is gripping andfrightening. The characters are beatiful and recognisable: the nobleValjean, the crazed Javert, the desperate Fantine, the dedicated Enjolras, the roguish Thénardier, the tortured Eponine...the list goes on. This also serves as a wonderful allegory of the French judicial system at that time. While I cannot deny that Hugo can be vrey superfluous, I urge you NOT to read [the] abridged [version]. It is worth is to buy the unabridged copy of this brilliance.
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Summary: Read it if you have to kill someone to get a copy
Review: This is by far the best book I have ever read. For those of you who have been putting it off because it is too long, you're wimps, go pick it up. I read it complete and unabrigded when I was 13, if a 13 year old can do it so can you.A few words on translation. Buy the one done by Norman Denny, I have read several editions and this is the best. He dosen't just write literal translations but presevres the poetry and flow the book was meant to have. One barely notices it has been translated at all. I have heard some complain that Denny cuts parts for length, get over it its like 20 pages and they're are inculded in an appendix at the end of the book. Hugo is a master. The beauty and depth of this work is unparrelled. You fall in love with the characters and though it may seem long you become so enveloped in the story and it goes by quickly. I cried at least 10 times. This is an epic of the human sprit that has been rivialed by no one. I literally gained a new perspective on humanity after reading this. I will complain breifly that there are sections that are rather useless and iterupt the story. Once Hugo gets back to the plot however the work is so good I still had to give it five stars. In conculstion---buy it!
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Summary: Amazing Characters, Poetic Plot Make This the Best Book Ever
Review: I'm a high school sophomore amd we had to read this book for school last semester. Honestly I wasn't encouraged by it's seemingly impossible thickness, nor by its slow start. Having never before seen any Les Mis movie or play or the musical (which is ALMOST as awesome as the book) I didn't know anything about the plot or the great characters and the whole experience was new to me. This is the only book I've ever read that has kept me up hours as night just to finish one beautiful part after another. My sister made fun of me that I would always talk to the book but when the believable characters act in ways that so thoroughly move your heart it's hard to resist sighing or commentary. Hugo is truly a master at combining every element of everything human to create characters from all walks of life and intertwine them into a poetically romantic plot that can only be described as beautiful. But don't skip the descriptions just to move from event to event. Hugo, I feel, has the unique ability to convey idea and thoughts and descriptions in a way that touches your heart and makes you think and yet at the same time doesn't bog you down with flowery adjectives. The language in his page-long paragraph descriptions flow so naturally you find yourself nodding and flipping pages and before you know it you're on to the next event in the plot. My friends laughed at me when we recently traveled to Paris and I wanted to buy the two-volume unabridged original Les Miserables- even though I don't know a word of French! It is a tragedy for any person with a poetic mind or a romantic heart to miss this book-truly a human classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Takes some dedication to get through
Review: In general, this is an absolutely wonderful book. However, it does take a bit of perserverence and dedication to get through it. The detailed story and vivid characters are extraordinary and this translation is extremely well done. If you don't mind large amounts of confusing army and war gibberish (espicially near the end) this is a 'must-read'
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Summary: Gravestone Translation
Review: Hi! I am the 15 year-old who wrote the earlier review entitled "The Best Book" We just got a program for our computer that can translate different languages to English, so I finally found out what it says on Valjeans gravestone. I thought that I would post it for those of us who can't speak french. Feel free to E-mail me if you have any questions of if you want to talk about the book. He sleeps. Although the fate was for him very strange, he lived. He died when he didn't have his angel anymore; The thing merely of herself arrives, As the night makes itself when the day leaves.
Rating: 
Summary: I beg of you, end the misery
Review: I read part of this book for schoolwork last year, but had to run out and buy the Liam Neeson film (a glorious creation) because I didn't understand what in the name of heaven was going on. Les Miserables is precisely the kind of book that I love--assuming that it is pared down considerably. If Hugo had edited a couple hundred pages from it, this book would have been my absolute favorite. But instead, he chose to devote many paragraphs to events that have little significance. They do not add to the "mood" of the book; rather, they detract from it. A sentence in the same place would help considerably, giving mood while not overdoing the reader's brain. The story itself is a good creation, although it added to my opinion that Hugo needed some strong medication. Morbidity runs strongly through it, though. I also found it very distracting that the focus of the book kept leaping from one place and one person to another, yanking me away from Valjean just as I was starting to feel greater interest and sympathy. I may be strange and uncultured, but this did not help my understanding of the characters or the plot. I also felt that far too much time was spent on the rather unrealistic romance of Cosette (who I do not like) and Marius. So why did I give this two stars? Simple. One, because I can't rate lower than that. Two, for Eponine. She is one of the few things that kept me reading, and when she died I almost dropped the book for a set of cliff's notes. She was bright, tough, loving, and intelligent, and I wish the other characters had been up to her level. I only wish I could've enjoyed the book as much as the other people...
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Summary: A few notes about this translation
Review: Rather than comment on "Les Misérables" itself, let me just say why I recommend this particular translation. Victor Hugo was a skilled poet as well as a novelist, and in France I believe he is more regarded for his poetry than his novels. The translator doesn't just type everything in French. There are many sections where we can read Hugo's original French verse alongside a short translation. (Although there are a few places where French text is provided without translation, it isn't essential to know what is said in these brief passages.) Also, whenever Hugo makes a pun or untranslatable play on French words, the translator will usually include the original French words in parentheses so that the English reader will get the joke...
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book
Review: I just turned 12 years old. I just finished this book and I *loved it*! I think it is the *best book ever*! It is long, but when you are reading it you just can't put it down. I really got into the story and felt like I really knew the characters. In fact, when something awful happened to one of the characters, I would say, "Oh, no! What's going to happen to them?" Some parts of the book seem unnecessary, but even if you don't really care about the historical backround, *read it anyway*! Even if you mind wanders, it gives a sense of the background. I could go on and on about this book. I definitely suggest reading it!
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Summary: A Perfect Masterpiece. A book God would Read!
Review: This one novel is the Greatest Story Ever Told. You will read it again and again. There are some dry parts to it, but stay with it and I promise, you will never regret the effort. This is the true meaning of Masterpiece. It is a World Treasure and should be required reading for every HS student in the world.
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