Rating: 
Summary: One of the greatest classics of all time
Review: I'm not sure how anyone who's read through this book can rate it at less than five stars, unless he doesn't enjoy classic literature or perhaps read a poor translation. Hugo's general knowledge and genius are stupendous. He delivers coherent digressionary essays on all manner of deep topics external to the main plot of the novel: the human psyche and motivation, spirituality, convents and monasteries, human rights, love. He weaves all this in with his solid grasp of history, warfare and battle tactics, politics, and even sewer construction. Not to mention an enthralling story that was considered robust enough to make into a recent high-budget Hollywood film.I just finished the Penguin (Denny) translation last night after about two years of working on this ~1250 page beast (I took breaks of, oh, around four months every now and then). I read 600 pages in the last three months or so in a rather determined effort to finish it up. I found Denny's translation generally outstanding. Very readable and never bogged me down. He moved a couple of the lengthier digressions to separate appendices at the back of the book. I read those too; they were worth it! The plot itself is intricate but involves a relatively small set of characters considering the length of the book. Somehow, through various coincidences, the characters' actions affect each other throughout the entire novel. The hero Jean Valjean, the inflexible Javert, and the evil Thenardier are present through most of the story and their individual aims and goals are what keep the story moving. Hugo also successfully superimposes this plot on the turbulent political atmosphere of the time and the characters are each directly affected by events outside their control. Les Miserables is simply one of the greatest works produced by the human mind in all of recorded history. You owe it to yourself to take the time to work through it at some point in your life. You'll be a better person for it. And I think that Valjean is a good model for the right and honorable way to try to live our lives.
Rating:
Summary: Les Miserables--excellent!
Review: Yes, this book is long, but it sure is worth the read! Don't be bogged down in the battle scenes, but push through to the end. An adventure, a mystery, and a love story in one. Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book Yet
Review: i beleive that les mis was the best book that i had ever read in my whole entire life. the story of jean valjean was a very sad thing. it is unfortunate that he had been run down all his life for stealing a piece of bread that wasnt even for himself. also, i think that javert needs to get his facts straight before he makes life difficult for another person. i think that the ending for marius and costee is very romantic.
Rating:
Summary: A work of greatness - Read a contemporary review
Review: The story of Jean Valjean is a classic tragedy, reminiscent in his fate of other great characters such as Oedipus or any of Thomas Hardy's heros. It is also wonderfully French - and despite the gargantuan size of the book, one never gets lost in the tale but is absorbed in the story. I came across an original review of Les Miserables at The Atlantic Monthly's website. The article is interesting because the reviewer clearly felt that "Les Mis" was a kind of pulp fiction and that a con trick was being played on the general public to encourage them in the belief that they should read this book if they wanted the kudos of their pals - Hugo as a 19th century Stephen Hawking, in other words. However, the author noted that "few who take the book up will leave it until they have read it through". This seems to be the general consensus, even today. Unfortunately I am not permitted to type in the whole web address so that you could more easily find the T.A.M. review, but if you are interested, go to The Atlantic Monthly's website and under the section entitled "Books and Critics" type in "lesmisfa.htm" at the search engine. The review itself was written in July 1862.
Rating:
Summary: Consider the Penguin edition!
Review: I won't attempt to extensively review this classic, except to say that it's one of the most readable, involving, uplifting books you'll ever read, *if* you enjoy the kind of long, detailled 19th century novel that you really can immerse yourself in. I'd like to point out some positives of the Penguin edition, since editions can differ greatly in attributes. The Penguin is almost unabridged, but not quite (in case the low price had you wondering). It still checks in at a hefty 1232 pages, and has been trimmed by the translator only of some [here are his words]: "passages of mediocrity and banality....which may cause the reader to lose all patience.... The translator can, I maintain, do something to remedy these defects without falsifying the book." So it won't please absolute purists, but it is very much more complete than are some of the smaller mass market editions. It's a larger format ("trade") paperback. This 1976 translation is by Norman Denny, and I love it. It's warm and readable, and he spells out place names instead of keeping to the old convention of calling Myriel the "Bishop of D----." I highly recommend this edition.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!
Review: I saw the musical version of Les Mis and it prompted me to find out more about this fascinating story. All of my expectaitions were met. How do you really say how great a book is that has been around for 300 years?? This truly is a tremendous book and I reccomend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: "Les Miserables" : Victor Hugo's grestest achievement
Review: If you are the kind of person thirsting for the image of Man as a being to whom nothing is impossible - and to whom everything great is possible, then "Les Miserables" is the novel for you.
With a few exceptions, such as Ayn Rand, there is no writer in world literature who has portrayed such a grand, noble, sublime and inspiring image of man as Victor Hugo.
In "Les Miserables", Hugo has given the best expression that his genius could to this element.
The theme of this masterpiece is : "The projection and glorification of a moral-spiritual force based on Love, Compassion and above all Conscience, aimed at overthrowing the existing order of human existence and establish a new world where these cardinal values will guide human life." Such an important, profound and philosophical theme could only have been selected by a visionary such as Victor Hugo - whom I consider the greatest novelist of the 19th Century. Other than Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" I do not know any single novel in world literature which seeks to present a unique philosophy to change the world and give a new direction to human existence. According to me, the plot-theme is : "The step-by-step purification of a man's soul and his achievement of spiritual perfection." Jean Valjean is the hero of the novel. The best years of his life have been wasted because of the iniquities and injustice of the prevailing social order. Emerging from prison after 19 years, his soul is immersed in anger, bitterness, hatred and a feeling of vengeance against society. How he acieves spiritual perfection, as viewed by Hugo, is what the story is all about. However, this point has not been recognised by many. While most say that the theme is : "The injustice of society towards the lower classes", Hugo's intention was to dramatise "Man's struggle against the laws of society". Keeping this in view, the accepted plot theme is (as best defined by Ayn Rand) : "The lifelong flight of an ex-convict from a ruthless representative of the law", this representative being Javert. However, the struggle of Jean Valjean continues long after his conflict with Javert is resolved.
Victor Hugo is not just showing that Conscience is above Law, but this: what is the highest level of selflessness and self-sacrifice a man is capable of and what makes it possible.
As far as I can see, the accepted plot-theme has been identified the way it has been, because it defines a specific purpose(i.e., Javert's pursuit of Jean Valjean). Perhaps critcs would dismiss my point of view because neither is it Jean Valjean's explicit goal to become perfect nor does he set himself an objective which would symbolize his attainment of perfection.
But I look at the plot to have been construsted in a manner which inevitably leads Jean Valjean to perfection. Bishop Myriel is the guiding image for Jean Valjean:his role represents how love and compassion can resurrect a man's conscience.
Fantine is the symbol of the woman and Cossette is the symbol of the child who are the victims of social evils. Javert-the implaccable, ruthless and awe-inspiring policeman who shall never compromise on his values - is the symbol of blind conformity to the existing legal and social order. One of the greatest achievements of "Les Miserables" is its sweeping sense of drama. What I love most about Hugo is the superb dramatic situations - suspenseful, thrilling, emotionally intense - he creates.
The scenes are so breathtakingly grandiose and mind-blowing that one can only think : "How did he get such a brilliant idea??!!"
The best part of the novel is the fighting at the barricades during the July Revolution in Paris - led by, perhaps the most admirable hero in 19th Century Romantic fiction - Enjolras.
Enjolras - despite a minor role - made a greater impact on me than the two central characters - Jean Valjean and Marius. One also cannot forget the lovable, heroic, 12 year old Gavroche. The greatest drawback of "Les Miserables" is the plethore of esssays on various social, historical, religious and other issues, which are exasperatingly long, which interrupt the plot, make the novel cumbersome and the reader impatient.
However, they give the reader a picture of the world which Hugo had in mind (and which he wanted to revolutionize-and how) while writing the book.
They may not be directly related to the plot, but are certainly related to the meaning of the novel. Further, the plot tends to become loose at times. The coincidences are rather naive and force the reader to conclude that they are meant solely to bring coherence in the story or to present a particular aspect of Hugo's philosophy.
Some may find the descriptions unnecessarily meticulous, though in poetic terms they are stunningly beautiful. However, all this seems irrelevant if we concentrate on the profound pschycological analysis of the value-conflicts of Jean Valjean (and Javert) rarely matched in world literature; the scope and intellectual value of the novel; its immense social and philosophical significance and its wonderful portrayal of man as a heroic being. But above all is the unsurpassable dramatic treatment rendered by Hugo's genius : the sheer artistry, the incomparable ingenuity, the soulful emotional content, the startling originality and compelling suspense-there is NO OTHER SINGLE WRITER IN THE WORLD who has equalled Hugo in this aspect-make, in addition to its numerous merits, "Les Miserables" one of the greatest achievements of the human mind.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing---totally worth the long read
Review: I finished this book very recently. It was worth the 1400 pages. Hugo has this marvelous way of creating each character in such a way that you can relate and understand them. If you ever plan on seeing the musical, or have seen the musical-- I would like to encourage you to READ THIS BOOK! You will never be the same. Hugo pulls you into France and lets you look into the lives of the characters in such a complete way. This book is unparalleled. I have never read another that creates such well-rounded, insightful characters! Really READ THIS! My words do not do it justice.
Rating:
Summary: Sublime...
Review: i nearly cried when i reached the end of this book; i wanted jean valjean to live, to finally be able to enjoy life, to reap the rewards of years of suffering and sacrifice. hugo shows the reader that even the wretched of the earth can be be made good through the love of god. i pitied javert for the fact his singular commitment to justice and honor resulted in his undoing. i don't think valjean's crime was really a crime, if you're hungry, you have to eat. i don't think he should've suffered so harshly. the relationship between valjean and cosette is what a father and daughter relationship should be. he loved her enough to sacrifice himself for her, became envious when another man entered the picture the picture and thought enough of her to yield to her happiness. hug's writing is part stream of consciousness, purely poetic, even the chapters when he talks about the french revolution and the sewers are intriguing. the woman at the bookstore who sold me les miserables said it took her a year to read it. i did it in a month. yes, it is a long book, but nothing worthwhile comes easy. it's not a page turner, but the rewards les miserables yields are immeasureable. this is an epic that lives up to the genre....
Rating:
Summary: A great book for a strong reader!
Review: I recently read this book in preperation for a trip to London where I would see the musical version of this book. This edition is one of the finest abridged editions of a book I have ever seen or read and one of the few times I would ever reccomend an abridged version of any book. Although some readers may at first seem overwelmed bu such a challenge as reading this book, with a little time anyone will really love this book. After you get into it it is hard to but down. Thoes with a historical backgroung will also have an even greater appreciation of it for its references to the French revolution. Wether you have seen the movie or not, or seen the musical or not(and they are both great!), I would highly recomenned this book as a great piece of literature.
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