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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.75/5 stars
I'm going to try to make this a short review, but that's hard when the book itself is 1463 pages. I would like to start by saying that this book is a MASTERPIECE. It's a stunning book. The characters are developed beautifully, the plot is legendary, and the writing is fairly simple. That being said, it is QUITE hard to get through. It took me a little less than two months, and I've seen people take years. Thus, I'd recommend reading a set amount every day. I did about 30 pages.
The book itself is literally fantastic. It was set up to be a 5-star read (and almost was). It's remarkably un-sexist for a book from before the 1960s, develops stunning character profiles like JEAN VALJEAN (who I now adore), and provokes thinking in ways I'd never imagine. That being said, I did have to mark a little off because Marius was getting on my nerves. Besides the fact that Cosette is like 10 years younger than him, he acts like he's in charge of everything. He sacrifices his wealthy life only to come right back to it in a couple years. He doesn't show up to the revolution because he believes in the cause more than his life, he just was upset he couldn't marry his 16 year old girlfriend. When he finds out that the man who has taken care of his wife for a decade secretly stole a loaf of bread literally forever ago, he basically kicks Jean Valjean out and thinks badly of him until the last 5 pages, when he discovers that he was saved by him. Cosette was also pretty annoying, as she thinks the whole world revolves around her, but she was literally a teenager and had been sheltered from everything her entire life, so it's not that bad. Granted, this book was written well over 100 years ago, but as a modern reader, Marius didn't age well. The other thing about my copy (translators are Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee) is that any excerpts of something, like a song, is entirely in French, with a footnote below explaining it. A little hard to read, but I understand why it was kept like that. Overall a great book and I'm very glad I read it.
aesthetic: a very fancy cup of chamomile tea, sleeping cats, the smell of old bookstores, beeswax candles, and coarse linen cloth.
I'm going to try to make this a short review, but that's hard when the book itself is 1463 pages. I would like to start by saying that this book is a MASTERPIECE. It's a stunning book. The characters are developed beautifully, the plot is legendary, and the writing is fairly simple. That being said, it is QUITE hard to get through. It took me a little less than two months, and I've seen people take years. Thus, I'd recommend reading a set amount every day. I did about 30 pages.
The book itself is literally fantastic. It was set up to be a 5-star read (and almost was). It's remarkably un-sexist for a book from before the 1960s, develops stunning character profiles like JEAN VALJEAN (who I now adore), and provokes thinking in ways I'd never imagine. That being said, I did have to mark a little off because Marius was getting on my nerves. Besides the fact that Cosette is like 10 years younger than him, he acts like he's in charge of everything. He sacrifices his wealthy life only to come right back to it in a couple years. He doesn't show up to the revolution because he believes in the cause more than his life, he just was upset he couldn't marry his 16 year old girlfriend. When he finds out that the man who has taken care of his wife for a decade secretly stole a loaf of bread literally forever ago, he basically kicks Jean Valjean out and thinks badly of him until the last 5 pages, when he discovers that he was saved by him. Cosette was also pretty annoying, as she thinks the whole world revolves around her, but she was literally a teenager and had been sheltered from everything her entire life, so it's not that bad. Granted, this book was written well over 100 years ago, but as a modern reader, Marius didn't age well. The other thing about my copy (translators are Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee) is that any excerpts of something, like a song, is entirely in French, with a footnote below explaining it. A little hard to read, but I understand why it was kept like that. Overall a great book and I'm very glad I read it.
aesthetic: a very fancy cup of chamomile tea, sleeping cats, the smell of old bookstores, beeswax candles, and coarse linen cloth.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A friend once told me that one should give one star only to the books you weren't able to finish. And I instantly thought about this book.
Many think it's a great book. A masterpiece. But for me it's a torture. I won't say it's a bad book or a bad story, but it's too depressive (which you should guess when you read the title). It made me feel really sad (wich is probably the idea). But I can't read a book that makes me want to cut my veins.There's a point where misery is so big, things are so unfair that I couldn't deal with it anymore. I'm not saying it's a bad book, the characters are truly miserable so Victor Hugo did a good work, and you really get to feel empathy (wich makes it worst). But if you are going trough a hard time, or if you are recovering from one, or if you just can't stand sadness and pain very well, you should stay as far away of this book as possible.
Many think it's a great book. A masterpiece. But for me it's a torture. I won't say it's a bad book or a bad story, but it's too depressive (which you should guess when you read the title). It made me feel really sad (wich is probably the idea). But I can't read a book that makes me want to cut my veins.There's a point where misery is so big, things are so unfair that I couldn't deal with it anymore. I'm not saying it's a bad book, the characters are truly miserable so Victor Hugo did a good work, and you really get to feel empathy (wich makes it worst). But if you are going trough a hard time, or if you are recovering from one, or if you just can't stand sadness and pain very well, you should stay as far away of this book as possible.
no sure if I want to give this three or four stars, since significant chunks of this book nearly drove me to madness, but if I could trim down Waterloo and those long chapters on the whimsical necessity of slang in society every one of Grantaire’s pompous speeches and just a segment of the sewers, then I’d say this book was beautiful and moving overall. learning Hugo’s life story and politics helped me understand the shape and emphases of the book, but I did want to tear my hair out at times, and even occasionally found myself saying, “I don’t caaaaare” out loud when some point or example was extrapolated on just a little (a lot) too long.
the characters, though—wow. I didn’t like most of them as people, I’ll be honest. Eponine, Enjolras, a few of the other rebels, the Bishop, Fantine…they interested me and had my pity and even affection. Marius, Cosette, Javert, the rest? not for me. but Jean Valjean? oh man. scarcely has a fictional character held my heart so dearly. I want to keep him safe and I want everyone to know his goodness and to venerate him for it. he is a beautiful man, and many parts of his story, including, at the very end, his death, made me openly cry.
a confusing book to review, a sometimes maddening book to read, and ultimately a book I’m so glad to have finished—a little because it’s finally over, mostly because it gets to live in my imagination now.
the characters, though—wow. I didn’t like most of them as people, I’ll be honest. Eponine, Enjolras, a few of the other rebels, the Bishop, Fantine…they interested me and had my pity and even affection. Marius, Cosette, Javert, the rest? not for me. but Jean Valjean? oh man. scarcely has a fictional character held my heart so dearly. I want to keep him safe and I want everyone to know his goodness and to venerate him for it. he is a beautiful man, and many parts of his story, including, at the very end, his death, made me openly cry.
a confusing book to review, a sometimes maddening book to read, and ultimately a book I’m so glad to have finished—a little because it’s finally over, mostly because it gets to live in my imagination now.
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
:'-( J'ai refermé ce livre les larmes aux yeux... C'est un coup de coeur mais je peux pas taire quelque chose. J'ai eu très souvent le sentiment que les émotions étaient empêchées par l'omniprésence de l'auteur, qui en étalant ses immenses connaissances, refusait de s'effacer derrière la beauté humaine de ses personnages et la puissance des évènements. Ce livre aurait pu être encore plus intense.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes