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Summary: Read it!
Review: 1200+ pages of heaven. This is truly an epic, and immensely readable.
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Summary: There Aren't Enough Stars for Books Like This.
Review: A few words of advice about Les Miserables...Buy an old copy (am I allowed to say that!). I found mine in an antique bookstore. It's an old beat-up hardcover. It just makes the whole experience more...historic! Dare to read the unabridged edition. If Hugo could have told this story in fewer words he would have. Don't cheat yourself out of the real thing. Charles Wilbour's translation is an excellent one. Take your time with it. When you get frustrated by lengthy explanations and background information, put it down and come back to it. But don't give up! Les Miserables is one of the greatest stories every written. Hugo brings to life such weighty concepts as Grace, Forgiveness, Repentance, and Redemption and Salvation. The spiritual imagery is very rich. The interaction between Jean Valjean and the Bishop is absolutely life changing. "Jean Valjean my brother: you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!"
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Summary: The Miserables
Review: The story focuses on an ex-convict who goes to prison because of a stolen loaf of bread. On parole,he met the Bishop of Digne.That meeting changed the rest of his life.There are also other characters. The victimized Fantine and her daughter Cosette whom Jean later adopted and took care of.The book is wonderful! Its my favorite.I suggest you read this book.
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Summary: Hugo: Father and creator of the modern novel
Review: Hugo wrote this story piecemeal over a period of several decades and then compiled it as best he could in a fairly coherent manner. When completed, his creation, Les Miserables, established the genre of the modern historical romance thriller. It is a beautiful piece of work, in that it captures the human spirit so intimately and so completely. No writer since Hugo's time has exceeded his ability to convey feelings and emotions, though many have tried. Of the thousands of books I've read, Les Miserables, still stands out in my mind as one of the most compelling stories ever told.
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Summary: my thoughts on this book.
Review: My review isn't very long, because this book is still a little unclear to me. So far, this book has given an excellant display of detail on the French Revelution. It's very cool the way Victor Hugo has described the secret passages and meetings the French people had to have. What is very confusing is the way Mr. Hugo introduces about five characters the seem to have no value at all. I'm sure that once I get more into the book, they will, but right now they seem very insignificant. Right now, I am reading about Jean and his daughter, Cosette. Cosette goes from being somewhat of a tomboy to being a beauty, almost overnight. It's somewhat humurous to see how she reacts to see that she has finally grown up and is now a woman. Cosette goes from enjoying the dirt to promenading around the blocks with her father. The sense of love you get from Jean and his daughter feels so real that it is almost astounding. All things considered, I say that this is a wonderful book written with the feelings of the Revelution. A must for anyone who enjoys the history of the French.
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Summary: Worth the Effort.
Review: Les Miserables will be a tough read for some. Victor Hugo, in typical Nineteenth Century prose, is exceedingly verbose. His character introductions go on literally page after page, covering minute details that some modern readers will find tedious. Not only are they long, but they break the modern writing rule of "show rather than tell." When he presents new characters, we don't hear them converse or see their actions to form our own opinions. Hugo simply regurgitates a ten or twenty-page biography on them. But this was how books were written then, and he did it as well as it could be done. The language is marvelous and rich, the characters interesting and complete, and the story sweeping and classic. Jean Valjean, freshly released from a French prison, is caught stealing silver from an extraordinarily pious Bishop. Amazingly, this Bishop denies the silver is stolen, allowing Valjean to go free. Valjean, brutalized by nineteen years of life in "the galleys" and suffering poverty and maltreatment as an ex-convict, is so affected by this merciful act that he vows to reform. Seven years later he has changed his name and transformed himself into a righteous and contributing member of society, now a prominent factory owner and town Mayor. Life is good as he shares his profits and kind heart with the poor and unfortunate--until his past catches up with him. Valjean is then faced with an incredible predicament whose genius and complexity can be appreciated only by plowing through the full text. Historically, this is an important literary work. Much of its political and religious sub-text may be lost, however, on those unfamiliar with the basics of the French Revolution. Like Valjean, readers will be better people for making the journey through this book. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.
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Summary: Incredible, but incredibly long
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read, and I am a fairly avid reader. The range of emotions that Hugo is able to elicit is phenomenally broad. M. Myriel and Jean Valjean are so real, that in Hugo's words, they truly "make virtue accessible". I will read it again, I am sure. However, I would advise first time readers to liberally but judiciously skim sections where he digresses for many pages at a time. Enjoy!
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Summary: The greatest praise a book can have: It changed my life
Review: Soon after finishing this book, I heard from a slight acquaintance -- a man I had sat next to on a Greyhound bus some months before. He was a foreign national and he had a problem: he had just been offered his dream job, but could not accept it due to some problem with his visa. On hearing his tale of woe, a thought occurred to me: here's a nice guy in trouble, and I have the means to help him. As I said, I had just read Les Miserables and was in the throes of a spiritual passion to help humanity. I asked him if he wanted to marry an American and secure a green card that way. Over the phone, I could hear his jaw drop. My only intention was to do him a little favor, then leave him to his own life while I went on with mine. We lived in different cities, so it wouldn't be much of a marriage. We would get divorced in a year or two, of course. I hoped that my action would inspire him to do something nice for a stranger in the future, just as the bishop's kindness inspired Valjean to become a different man. We married at the courthouse in 1996 with no witnesses present. I tried to make it clear to him that he owed me nothing and I did not expect to hear from him except as necessary -- to sign INS documents, et cetera. I am not a religious woman, but I sometimes think that God rewarded me for the one selfless act I've performed in my life. It's five years later and I have the best husband a woman could ask for. Our daughter is three months old.
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Summary: ...in love
Review: ...you'll suffocate with love for Marius or Cosette, cry with pity for Gavroche, sing with joy of living, for only living you may read such wonders, sleep with boredom at learning about the battle of waterloo, and learn the details of the paris sewers, dream with pages of the poetry of young parisian students, identify yourself with desperate Eponine, hope to God, you'll become someone like Jean Valjean. I admit it took me a year to read this novel. Reading the last page, made me despair it was all finished...
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Summary: Les Miserables: The Outcasts
Review: To begin, I have to say I am a very partial reader when it comes to this novel. I love the musical, I love the movie, I adore the book! This novel is not for everyone...Hugo does have a tendency to become long winded, and enjoys delving into deep discussions about politics and government. If you can get past this, or if this is the type of thing you enjoy, this novel is certainly not to be missed. Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert are two of the best characters I have ever "met" in all of my reading excursions. Both are incredibly well developed and have very real personas. Valjean is the type of character that we will all look up to and strive to become. Javert is incredible, in that he is able to evoke feelings from the reader of sheer hate, yet once the story opens up more, you find yourself actually feeling pity for him, and almost respecting him for standing behind his beliefs. There are so many stories creatively connected throughout this novel and you come to know and love so many different characters. My emotions wavered as I read the story, there are times when the wit is so clever, I actually laughed out loud, and there were other times (more often), that I found myself in tears because a piece of the work had touched me so deeply. Hugo is a genius, and this book is incredible.
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