Rating: 
Summary: Les Miserables
Review: This book is about Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who spent 19 years in jail because he stole a loaf of bread and several attempts to escape. At Digne he is refused shelter for the night because of his yellow passport stating that he is a convict. Only bishop, Monseigneur Myriel, welcomes him. Jean Valjean repays him by stealing his silverware. The next day the police brought Jean back. The bishop however lied to the police and said that he gave it to him and Jean forgot the candleholders. Many years passed and Jean had made a new life at the town of Montreuil. He became a mayor there and started a factory. Jean changed his name to Madeleine. The book also mentioned a woman named Fantine. She leaves her child with the innkeepers, Thenardiers. She thought that her child would be taken good care of. However her child was treated as a servant. Fantine went to the factory to work. One day she was fired from the factory. She had to pay the furniture, the rent, and the Thenardiers. She didn't have enough money. She catches a fever and the mayor saw. He tried to help her by bringing her child to her, but he was too late. However mayor Madelenine had other problems. He was discovered to be Jean Valjean. He went to the Thenardies to get Fatine's child Cossette. Then he went to Paris where he stayed in a convent. Years passed, a boy named Marius went to study. He went to live in poverty. One day he saw a beautiful woman which was Cossete. He walked there everyday. One day she wasn't there. His wall had a hole in it. He looked though. He saw how poor his neighbors were. One day while he was looking through the hole he saw their friends have come over. Marius saw that one of them was Cossette. He told the neighbor's girl to find their address and he will give them anything. She found it and gave it to Marius. He went to see Cossette. They had a secret relationship. Absorbed by his love, Marius has been unaware of the deteriorating political situation. Now his private crisis is echoed by the crisis of an imminent insurrection. His Friend Enjolras directs the erection of a barricade it front of the Corinth wine shop. The first, enemy he has to deal with is found within the rebels' ranks it is Javert, who is unmasked as a spy and tied up to await execution. Marius, driven by despair, decides to seek death in the insurrection. He joins the fighters at the barricade and fights valiantly to the end. Valjean also joins the insurgents, but for special reasons. He has discovered Marius' secret relationship with Cosette and his role in the revolution. For Cosette's sake he decides to protect the life of the man he adores. Before the final assault, Valjean volunteers to execute Javert. Instead he spares the inspector's life and, sends him away. Then Valjean returns to the barricade as the few surviving defenders are driven inside the wine shop. He seizes the seriously wounded Marius, disappears into a manhole, and undertakes a heroic and harrowing passage through the sewers of Paris. Unfortunately, Javert arrests him at the exit. However, he allows Valjean to take Marius to his grandfather and later, in a quandary, he releases Valjean. But he cannot forgive himself for this breach of duty and commits suicide. In the end Marius marries Cossette. Jean tells Marius that he was a convict.
I recommend this book for other readers my age because it tells that stealing is a bad thing because Jean had to spend a lot of time in jail. Also it teaches forgiveness can help sometimes like when Jean forgave and let Javert go. He caught Jean and Javert let Jean go by committing suicide.
My favorite part of this story is when Jean tries to save a sailor that was about to fall to the sea below. It showed Jean Valjean's courage. He fell into the sea after he saved the sailor, but he didn't die. This is the best book I read so far.
Rating: 
Summary: UGH! Hugo surely went off topic enough in writng this book.
Review: Simply put, the number of tangents that Hugo went on look like a snowflake. This book of 1200-1400 pages, depending on which copy you get, could have been written in about 700-800 pages and yet would have been true to novels of its time. I realize that in today's world readers are turned off by a book over 350-400 pages, and that is a sad sign of our times. Novels ran on average about 600-800 pages in the 19th century and prior. But LORD, when you go off on the meanderings like Hugo does it takes away from the enjoyment of reading a piece of literature. I give the book 5 STARS when I mentally subtract his tangents, but unfortunately, stick with 3 stars when I must add them back in.
Rating: 
Summary: Miserable Bodies, Rich Souls
Review: People tend to be very afraid of reading classic novels, mostly when it comes to French Classic Auteurs, such as Victor Hugo. So was I! It took me years until I had all the courage to pick this book from the shelf. Anyway, now, that I have finished I noticed it is not a monster. On the contrary, it is much closer to the novels I usually read than I was expecting. Of course, Victor's language is complicated and it requires all the reader's attention."Les Misérables" tell the famous story of the ex-con Jean Valjean, and his journey to rendempetion that took him many years. In a nutshell the plot is widely known, but only by reading Hugo's lines that one can get the richness of his speech and the profundity of his story. The story may be quite interesting and catching, but it is involuntarily funny. To me there were too many coincidences happening all the time. The characters are so good that we don't usually see people like them around. Others suffer so much, that you doubt they are human beings. As a matter of fact, some of should wear halos over their heads; but, anyway, this may be the way Hugo found to show the hypocrisy of his society. Don't get me wrong, it is a great novel, but it has funny things. For one, Javert and Valjean run into each other too much. In a big city, this wouldn't happen so frequently. On the other hand, Hugo's panorama of the Napolionic France is quite good and reliable. Moreover, his battle sequences are very vivid and believable. In the end, we notice that is much worse having a miserable soul, than a miserable body, and then we can notice an inversion: the characters who are fisically miserable, are the ones who have the best heart and soul. All in all, this is the kind of novel that can be very inspiring to some people, and that is not a bad thing. To me it was just a great novel, unfortunatelly. Very above the avarege but still only a novel.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: I started the unabridged version of Les Miserables with some fear, because I don't think of myself as the sort of person who likes to read giant classics. Almost immediately, I was hooked. The novel is often intensely suspenseful, and sometimes slow -- but when it's slow, it's not boring. Among other things, Hugo offers an extremely rich (and in some ways comically opinionated) portrait of French culture and politics in the early 19th century. If you don't like the sound of that portrait, an abridged version of the novel might be appealing to you, since I'm guessing it's the cultural/historical commentary that gets cut out. I loved that stuff though -- it absolutely deepened the story for me. In fact, I recommend that rather than buying an abridged version, you get the unabridged version and then just skip whatever you don't like (I read the Penguin Classics edition, by the way).
Rating:
Summary: A tale for Humanity
Review: No book chronicles the conflict of good and evil within human soul as Les Miserables does. The reader becomes a firsthand witness to the transformation of Jean Valjean from a convict to a kind mayor to a loving father figure. This transformation is moving, and will compel the reader to analyze his own life and the possibilities within to have greater compassion, patience, understanding, and love. Equally haunting is the obsession of Javert to expose Jean Valjean. No other book delves into the depths of the human soul as Les Miserables does. As such, no other book has the ability to inspire and touch a reader as Les Miserables.
Rating:
Summary: The version to read
Review: Many, many people cringe in dismay when they see the size of this more or less unabridged version and go running for an abridged version instead. The pros of an abridged version is that it concentrates on the central, surpremely crucial storyline of Jean Valjean's spiritual progress and Javert's obsessive pursuit, leaving out much tedious filler. Keep in mind - Hugo was writing in a time before radio or tv, when reading was the big evening pastime. The con is that it also leaves out or edits pre-barricade scenes involving some of the most memorable secondary characters like the steely-but-not-made-of-stone Enjolras and the pitiful but likeable Grantaire. Gavroche, everyone's favorite gamin, is often cut to shreds - his bravery and wit intact but much of his deep compassion and generosity left by the wayside. My conclusion is that although this version can be slow reading at times, it is infinitely preferable to losing quite a bit of what makes this novel so compelling. You can always skim through the special interest tangents, and your efforts will be emotionally and spiritually rewarded.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Novel Ever Written - A Deserved Classic
Review: It took its author 30-odd years to write; it changed (as Huckleberry Finn to Mark Twain) its own author's views on many moral and political subjects; it became a worldwide sensation overnight. The American General R. E. Lee made it required reading among his soldiers. What more can one say? This is a heavy and (as Hugo put it in the Introduction) Religious book (indeed, compare Valjean with the mercy of the Christian New Testament, Javert with the unyielding lawfulness of the Old Testament, and the Thernardiers with the chaos of Athiesm, with so many characters caught in the middle). There is no need to summerize the plot, as it is still well-known today, 133 years after its publication. I will add that one simply must read the unabridged edition (even if there is a whole chapter on the history of the Paris sewers before the short scene which takes place there). Great novels such as this were never meant to be torn apart by modern publishers. On top of this, for the Romance enthusiasts, I must say the love letter Marius writes to Cosette is the most beautiful piece of poetic prose I've ever read. Many of the events Hugo sets in this book actually happened, and were seen by Hugo. Note: the degradation and imprisonment of Fantine (by the gentleman) and the Student Insurrections of 1832, against which the last two sections of the book are set. This is a novel for everyone (especially those with the patience to read it). It is valuable, heartwarming, entertaining, and filled with memorable characters and Truths of Life.
Rating:
Summary: Les Miserables, A classic novel, a must read
Review: This novel is not the easiest read, and i recommend the unabridged version. It is a love story centered around a war.
LES MISERABLES is set during the time of the French Revolution. It portrays the character of Jean Valjean, who at the beginning of the novel is set free after nineteen years in prison. He grew up in a very poor family, and when his parents passed away, he lived with his widowed sister who had seven children. He had a job as a tree-pruner and with his income he supported his sister and her children. It was when Jean Valjean lost his job, the family ran out of food. With no money and no food, Jean Valjean took it upon himself to steal food. He was caught by the police for stealing a loaf of bread and was sent to prison. The original prison sentence was to last only a few years, but as Jean Valjean saw opportunities to escape he did so, and everytime he was caught more years of being locked up in prison were added. It was after nineteen years he was set free, but had to carry a yellow ticket with him so anywhere he went, whether to get employment, he was to show it as his i.d. - thus labelling him as an ex-convict. You read about him walking around town looking for an inn to stay at, but nobody is allowing him in because of his history as a convict. He then is introduced to a bishop who whole heartily takes him in to his own home. The bishop is poor but offers Jean Valjean shelter and food for free. How does Jean repay him? He steals the bishop's silverware and runs off only to be caught by the police. The police bring Jean Valjean to confront the bishop, but the bishop makes the situation look like he gave Jean Valjean the silverware as a gift. He also included a set of silver candlesticks to go with it. The bishop then pulls Jean Valjean aside, and he tells him to promise him to sell the silver utensils and make a good life out of himself. To change for the better. Jean Valjean is absolutely stunned at the kindness he receives from the bishop. Through the bishop, Jean Valjean begins his transistion from an ex-convict to a saint, to a man of almost perfection. You'll meet many more terrific characters some evil (The Thernardiers...), some sweet (Cosette, Fantine, Gavorche, Marius and more). You will read about how Jean Valjean changes his life, making himself an important and helpful person for others. You'll understand how tough life was for the poor for the people that were less fortunate living in the time of the revolution. You'll also understand the power of love and the power of forgiveness. As well the ending of the story is the most powerful ending to any story I've ever read. A true classic
Rating:
Summary: An extraordinarily moving story, very well told.
Review: Still, it is not without flaws. For one thing, the characterization of Jean Valjean seems somewhat erratic at the beginning of the book; apparently, Hugo believes that being converted from beastliness to benevolence increases a person's IQ by about 30 points. (Valjean goes from being a common laborer, unexceptional and unimpressive, who 19 years in the galleys have turned into a beast, to being, after his conversion to the "light side of the force", an inventor, a competent magistrate, and an expert herbalist.) But this is a fairly minor quibble, as it is one of the few flaws in characterization, among dozens of characters, and happens early enough in the book that we have well over seven hundred pages of consistent characterization of Valjean after the sudden change. Otherwise, we have a book which, if taken in the context of the accepted writing conventions of its time, is virtually flawless. Still, a modern reader is likely to find the pacing rather slow at times; what it actually is, is "symphonic". It starts slowly, and very very gradually builds to a crescendo, only to begin a new movement, again very slowly, and build very gradually to a crescendo. This happens over and over in the course of the thousand pages of the book (give or take a couple of hundred, depending on the edition that you read.) It can be very annoying at times; for instance, we're literally fifty pages into the book before we even MEET our main character (the first fifty pages being a character portrait of a man who has a very major influence on the life of said main character, but who never appears again after the first hundred pages) and then again, a bit later, after we've just finished a very exciting part of the story, and seem poised to continue in a similarly exciting vein, we take a literally fifty page digression into the history of the battle of Waterloo, which happened eight years or so previous to what was happening in the story, and while a tiny bit of this digression later becomes extremely important to the plot, truly forty-five of those fifty pages were completely irrelevant, and even the five or so that were germaine did not become so until MUCH later. Then, with "only" 200 pages left to go, a character escapes from a tight situation by fleeing into the sewers, so we must have a twelve page digression on the history, philosophy, and geography of the Parisian sewer system. This pattern is repeated constantly throughout the book, and it can be very frustrating for a reader who comes from an era in which an author is expected to stay at least marginally on-topic, but it is necessary to understand that such was considered a perfectly reasonable writing style at the time. In any case, the story is good enough to make it worth putting up with the digressions; my only other complaint is that the love interest in the story is again very typically 19th century, (two people, incidentally both young and good-looking, who don't know each other in the slightest, make eye contact across a quadrangle and are suddenly, magically, in love. But it's a spiritual love, of course, nothing of physical attraction in it at all, and the love actually survives the test of time...a concept that still survives today, mostly in bad romance novels, but it was absolutely standard in Hugo's time) but one can hardly blame the man for being a product of his times. Highly recommended, with the caveat that you must understand that it will not be an easy read. It is every bit as daunting as those thousand pages make it look.
Rating:
Summary: a colossus of literature
Review: Hugo's books are not an easy read in a sense that they are very much emotionally involving. About 15 years ago I was pulled in by "The Man Who Laughs." The kind of emotional punch it packed was astounding. During the same year I first read "Les Miserables" - and for me Jean became a hero to look up to. But it's not only a book about one remarkable individual - it is also a book about the world we live in, just a moment's pass on eternal clock.
Hugo places the reader in the midst of dark valleys of 19th century Paris or it countryside and one can't help following Jean and Cosette with Javert hot on their heels. One reason we feel so much "inside" the story is that each character, even the non-sequential ones, are incredibly well-drawn, their faces (or mugs) are as clear as etchings. But it's not only that, otherwise it would be easily dismissed as so many works by so-called "scholars". The narrative is infused with white-hot passion. Yes, Hugo is taking a preacher-like stance on many issues, but without that the story would be simply entertaining but not involving and provocative which it remains to the present day. (After all, the villains have just changed their masks. Instead of unwashed rags they may now wear Italian business suits.)
This book cries out to its readers to take action, to ask themselves if their lives have meaning, to stop the pursuit of worldly possessions and concentrate on the pursuit of the moral ones. It is also about the second chances, about real and fake love, and about misplaced guilt and internal conflict.
I really hope the teachers don't make this book a "requirement" or that the students read abridged versions of it.
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