a 19th century soap opera

books:


	• Les Misérables (Signet Classics) Victor Hugo Signet Classics, 1987 - 1488 pages average customer review:based on 257 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Unbelievable

I nearly killed myself when my English teacher made my class read this book during our sophomore year. She wanted in-depth notes and analysis, along with answering her 100 questions. The thickness of the book drove me insane! I didn't want to read it at all, and I even asked my fellow classmates to hit me in the head with it so that I can "magically lose the ability to read" and be excused. Of course that didn't work, so I had to force myself to read it.
I quitted after reading about the routines of the bishop the first 100 pages. I found it ridiculous and torture at that time. Thanks to the encouragement of peers and my teacher, I continued reading. After the whole introduction to the bishop, the storyline grew more appealing. By the time that I got to Fantine's miserable life, I found myself crying; her dedication for her daughter is very touching. I am really proud of myself for finishing this book, and I still love it.
After reading the entire book, I realized that each piece of storyline is essential to the story itself. This is a fantastic book. Hugo did an amazing job in addressing the reforms needed in the society (education, criminal justice, discrimination, and sexism). He addressed humanity's corruption in a very powerful way. Give this book a chance, and you will be enlightened.

for more information click here

A departure

Hugo's writing is definitely from a different era of writing. The great thing about this book is that it still is accessible to today's reader. While set long ago and across the ocean, Hugo's story of how hard self-forgiveness is rings as true today as when it was written.

for more information click here

a 19th century soap opera

Reading Les Miserable takes you back to the 19th century, not just in the content, but as a reader. You can't enjoy the book unless you allow yourself to amble along with Victor Hugo as he digresses from his plot and then digresses from his digressions. It's hard to imagine this book being published today, as marvelous as it truly is.

That's more a reflection on the nature of publishing in 2007, and our impatient reading habits, than Hugo's writing, which is superb. His descriptions of places and characters are all masterful.

Nevertheless, I find that I'm by-passing huge sections where Hugo takes a wide tangent that has nothing to do with the story, even though these are well written - actually, very well written. The section on Waterloo, for instance, is something I plan to return to when I'm reading French history, but it has nothing to do with the travails of Jean Valjean and Cosette, and I've skipped it for now.

When Hugo remembers he is telling a story, the writing is exciting, dramatic, full of unlikely coincidences that you just accept because it's fun. It's a 19th century soap opera for readers who had little else to read and far fewer distractions than a modern reader, and his perceptively drawn characters entertain us even today.

But be prepared to enjoy Les Miserable over an extended period of time, like you do "The Young and the Restless," with a multitude of story lines, often unconnected.

By the way, in contrast to other readers, I'm enjoying Norman Denny's translation, although not having read the other versions, I can't make comparisons.

Having now published two novels --- A Good Conviction, a NYC-based legal thriller which tells the story of a young man wrongly imprisoned in Sing Sing for a murder he did not commit by a Manhattan ADA who may have known he was innocent ... and The Heretic (Library of American Fiction), a historical novel describing the persecution of a family of secret Jews by the Catholic Church on the eve of the Spanish Inquisition --- I have devised a self-education project to help me learn the techniques and styles of other authors, and thus (hopefully) become a better novelist myself.

"Les Miserable" is one of the novels I've read as part of this self-education project.

I'm organizing my thoughts into various categories relevant to writing, such as ... "beginnings" ... "conflict" ... "characters" ... and others, and I'm posting my observations as a blog, which turns out to be a wonderful way for me to organize and retrieve my notes.

This also puts my thinking in the public domain. So if you'd like to see my evolving comments about writing novels, I invite you to take a look at my "Education of a Novelist" blog.

You can reach my blog by searching the web for "weinstein education of a novelist."

LEW WEINSTEIN

for more information click here

A Great Read

Les Miserables, when it gets going, is an exciting and emotional read. There are many, many wonderfully intense episodes, the plot is dramatic, the main characters heroic, repulsive, brave, innocent, tragic. There are passages depicting shocking misery (Fantine's downfall) the joys and agonies of a first love (Marius and Cosette), beyond-the-call-of-duty good behavior (the Bishop, Jean Valjean). The measures Jean Valjean takes to secure a stable environment for little Cossette to grow up in are amazing. One of my favorite parts: the 100-or-so pages in which Jean Valjean must decide whether to blow his cover as the Mayor of a factory town in order to save a poor wretch from the galleys, knowing that his moral act will be a disaster for himself and for his town. (For fans of the musical, this is the number that begins `He thinks that man is me") He is wrestling with his conscious even as he is rushing to get to the distant courtroom before the verdict is read.

I have a lot of nerve giving this great novel a mere four stars. What costs it a star is Victor Hugo's many and overlong digression chapters. Didn't they have editors in those days? These essays are fine in the beginning, as Hugo tries to describe human triumphs and suffering in relation to the larger cosmos. The chapters on the Gamin and on the Bourgeois were actually helpful in understanding Gavroche and Marius' grandfather. As the result of another digression, I now know how to erect my very own barricade, given sufficient cobblestones, furniture and student-power. I found the 50-page passage on Waterloo riveting, though it had one brief but vital connection with the plot. I have also decided NOT to enter a 19th-century convent.

But the long chapter on underworld jargon (`argot' ) would have been fascinating--if I spoke French. The extremely long chapter on the history and layout of the Paris sewers would have been something I would have loved-- had this chapter NOT been dumped into the book just as the barricade falls and Jean Valjean makes his harrowing escape through the sewers with Marius on his shoulders. Too many times Hugo stops the drama in its tracks to go on about something that could have waited for a lull in the action. Or sometimes one of the student characters opens his mouth and doesn't stop talking for many, many pages. (Ayn Rand loved this book and you can see where she got her inspiration for her characters' monologues.)

This is another book I would recommend reading with a library or internet connection at hand. I had to do a little catching up on 19th century French history. For instance, did you know there used to be a gigantic plaster elephant statue in Paris?

I read the unabridged edition, but I wouldn't look down on anyone who reads a shorter version.

for more information click here

Beautiful

In this novel, Hugo is an amazing story teller, with an eye for detail. Although it does have its tedious moments, every detail is important to the overall storyline and intricacy of the plot. Amazingly, in the end everything does fit together very nicely, and it's not recommended to skip any part! Hugo creates truly heroic characters, with strong integrity that is fail proof all the way to the end. It is a delightful novel, that will continue to remain a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it!

reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

The Third Age (Democratic) of Harold Bloom's Canon (Part 1)
Great Classic Reads - Guaranteed favorites
Great (and Readable) Literature
Classic Works Continued
The Good Book

search for books
les misérables, classics, misérables, signet

Impressum / about us