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Book lovers of all ages owe it to themselves to conquer this masterwork of nineteenth-century fiction from Victor Hugo, also author of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. One hundred and fifty years after the original publication of Les Miserables, the heart-rending story of Jean Valjean, Fantine, Cosette and dozens of others of France's downtrodden and dispossessed continues to capture the imaginations of audiences around the world.
CGlanovsky: Cast of interconnected characters are subjected to historical pressures through years-worth of events surrounding a revolution. Issues of paternity and social justice.
This tells the main story of Jean val Jean, imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread, and Fantine, the single mother of Cosette, almost forced into prostitution in her desperate struggle to support her child. While its main theme is poverty and poverty's effects, it is also a profoundly spiritual novel. With his many characters, Hugo is able to show many different sub-plots, as well as minor themes in this, his Great Work which showcases his major message to humanity: Love. Compassion. Forgiveness. Hugo is shining a light in the darkness.
It all begins with the benevolence of a good Bishop who ignites the spark of goodness into Jean val Jean's tortured soul.
The backdrop to the main stories is French history--the French Revolution, the Battle for Waterloo and how the characters are effected by their government, their religion, the prevalence of crime, the monetary system, the banks, avoiding debt. Fantine is a good example of how debt can grow, and become a monster in your life, as well as how one innocent love affair caused an out of wedlock pregnancy which destroyed her life. For the time, Hugo shows great sympathy towards this character who is shunned by society and gives an example of how you could see her innocence.
Hugo is a master of plot and the right balance of conflict, and although lengthy, the story moves well. The major characters (particularly Marius, Jean, Javert) show not just outer conflict, but also inner conflict. They each wrestle with their consciences. Hugo is pointing the way to spiritual development (not merely religious instruction).
The massive structure of this book can seem daunting, but it all flows together seamlessly with no weak plot points or loose ends and only a few technical errors ( in the timeline.) With an extra touch of flair, it has been discovered by one of Hugo's biographers that he didn't number them but there are exactly 365 chapters, allowing the reader to easily read one chapter a day (which would be hard to do because Hugo's writing flows so well.)
This is a beloved book of mine and will always have a place in my heart. Hugo artfully weaves within its vast tapestry details, embellishments into even the most minor characters, which lets you take away something new each reading. Every sentence is filled with his greatness. Hugo is as much a genius as Shakespeare. ( )
This tome was always too daunting for me to read, so instead I listened to it as an audiobook, as I could then move around and not have to sit so long. But first, I saw the movie (the 1998 version) which was excellent and helped me visualize the characters. The audiobook was quite interesting, though I gave it only 4 stars as it tended to drag at times, and it also introduced new characters rather late in the story, which were hard to follow. Regardless, the book is very worthwhile and highly recommended -- a story not to be missed! ( )
Tells the story of the peasant Jean Valjean - unjustly imprisoned, baffled by destiny, and hounded by his nemesis, the police detective Javert. As Valjean struggles to redeem his past, we are thrust into the teeming underworld of Paris with all its poverty, ignorance, and suffering. Just as cruel tyranny threatens to extinguish the last vestiges of hope, rebellion sweeps over the land like wildfire, igniting a vast struggle for the democratic ideal in France.
Does Les Mis really deserve 5 stars after all the overly-long, inexcusably nationalistic info-dumping historical sections? NOPE! Am I still going to give it 5 stars anyway because reading this book was one of the most beautiful and cathartic experiences of my life? HECK YES ( )
This is a mix of fiction and nonfiction. In its fiction mode, there are many moments that make this 1000+ page worth reading; some are very sad, whilst others made me smile. Gavroche’s spirit is wonderful (for one so young he’s been through so much and yet is so free and so brave) but it’s Jean Valjean and Fantine that make the story. And though I didn’t like the ending, it was the right ending, as a whole this has left quite an impression on me. ( )
Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
Solange kraft der Gesetze und Sitten eine soziale Verdammnis existiert, die auf künstlichem Weg, inmitten einer hoch entwickelten Zivilisation, Höllen schafft und noch ein von Menschen gewolltes Fatum zu dem Schicksal, das von Gott kommt, hinzufügt ; solange die drei Probleme des Jahrhunderts, die Entartung des Mannes durch das Proletariat, die Entsittlichung des Weibes infolge materieller Not und die Verwahrlosung des Kindes, nicht gelöst sind ;
Dedication
First words
In the Year 1815 Monseigneur Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel was Bishop of Digne.
So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of the earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century - the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of woman through hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light - are unsolved; so long as social asphyxia is possible in any part of the world - in other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Miserables cannot fail to be of use. (Preface)
Quotations
Last words
Should we continue to look upwards? Is the light we can see in the sky one of those which will presently be extinguished? The ideal is terrifying to behold, lost as it is in the depths, small, isolated, a pin-point, brilliant but threatened on all sides by the dark forces that surround it: nevertheless, no more in danger than a star in jaws of the clouds. (Denny)
He sleeps. Although his circumstance was very strange, he lived. He died when he lost his little angel. The passing happened simply, by itself, as the night comes when the day has gone.
Book lovers of all ages owe it to themselves to conquer this masterwork of nineteenth-century fiction from Victor Hugo, also author of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. One hundred and fifty years after the original publication of Les Miserables, the heart-rending story of Jean Valjean, Fantine, Cosette and dozens of others of France's downtrodden and dispossessed continues to capture the imaginations of audiences around the world.
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Book description
Victor Hugo’s literary masterpiece, “Les Miserables,” was first published in 1862 and would ultimately establish the author as one of the most gifted and influential writers of his time. The novel is principally concerned with the story of ex-convict Jean Valjean, a man who is initially imprisoned for stealing bread for his starving family, and because of numerous escape attempts ends up being imprisoned for a period of nineteen years. Jean Valjean, despite his efforts to become a force for good in the world cannot escape the consequences of his criminal past. The novel paints a picture of nineteen century Paris, in all its gritty detail, as a time of great conflict. Themes of moral redemption, politics, justice, and human rights are vividly expressed as Hugo follows the lives and struggles of the lower classes of Parisian society in the 19th century. This sprawling epic is at once a brilliant fictional narrative and a sharp criticism of the social and economic injustice that the countless impoverished peoples of the world have faced. A tale of heroism and love, “Les Miserables,” is justifiably regarded as one of the greatest novels ever written.
Haiku summary
A fugitive man gets a new name and new life. He adopts a girl.
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1001 Group Read - February, 2013: Les Miserables
Wikipedia in English (3)
1
It all begins with the benevolence of a good Bishop who ignites the spark of goodness into Jean val Jean's tortured soul.
The backdrop to the main stories is French history--the French Revolution, the Battle for Waterloo and how the characters are effected by their government, their religion, the prevalence of crime, the monetary system, the banks, avoiding debt. Fantine is a good example of how debt can grow, and become a monster in your life, as well as how one innocent love affair caused an out of wedlock pregnancy which destroyed her life. For the time, Hugo shows great sympathy towards this character who is shunned by society and gives an example of how you could see her innocence.
Hugo is a master of plot and the right balance of conflict, and although lengthy, the story moves well. The major characters (particularly Marius, Jean, Javert) show not just outer conflict, but also inner conflict. They each wrestle with their consciences. Hugo is pointing the way to spiritual development (not merely religious instruction).
The massive structure of this book can seem daunting, but it all flows together seamlessly with no weak plot points or loose ends and only a few technical errors ( in the timeline.) With an extra touch of flair, it has been discovered by one of Hugo's biographers that he didn't number them but there are exactly 365 chapters, allowing the reader to easily read one chapter a day (which would be hard to do because Hugo's writing flows so well.)
This is a beloved book of mine and will always have a place in my heart. Hugo artfully weaves within its vast tapestry details, embellishments into even the most minor characters, which lets you take away something new each reading. Every sentence is filled with his greatness. Hugo is as much a genius as Shakespeare. (