Les Miserables

Ok, who's read Les Miserables? This is definitely my favorite novel. It's by Victor Hugo, a French novelist who lived in the 19th century, after the Revolution. If you haven't read it, you should. Hugo is a genius, and his stories are amazing, especially this one. He also wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame. You may have seen a movie of the story or been to the musical (I haven't seen this yet, but I plan to go soon). Anyway, none of those is ever going to come close to the greatness of the book itself. It's very long, so it might take you a while, but definitely worth it. Several years ago, my dad told me part of the story, so I read the abridged version. This is about 1/3 to 1/2 as long as the unabridged, and it keeps you interested in the story so you get through it easily. The story itself is truly amazing. I read this about 5 times, and loved it more every reading. Finally, I got the unabridged version and have been reading that for quite a while. I love this even more! I'm reading the new paperback edition (I'm not sure what abridgement I read before), and I have been so impressed by the depth of the characters and descriptions that were taken out of the abridged.

I would definitely recommend reading the abridged version first, because it would be pretty hard to get through the whole thing. The author was a very intelligent person, and knew a lot about many different subjects, including religion, politics, sewage disposal (! I'm serious, he goes on about sewage disposal for about a chapter...well, definitely too long!), etc. But it's all wonderful and very insightful. Anyway, it's been great to read all that more complex and descriptive stuff, but it would bog down the story if you were reading it for the first time.

I recently saw The Fugitive--you know, with Harrison Ford and all. I really liked it, and was amazed at how much it resembles the story (at least many of the general themes) of Les Miserables. The whole "noble convict" thing, with the obsessed law officer... and I thought the sewer scene was very reminiscent of this book. Of course Les Mis is a lot more in depth! With Fantine's story, Marius and Cosette, etc. And it tells Jean Valjean's entire life!

Anyway, those of you who have read this book should tell me what you thought. And those of you who haven't...

READ IT!