4.1k reviews for:

Les Misérables

Victor Hugo

4.16 AVERAGE


The story is excellent, I love the progression of the characters and the concepts are  adept at showing the power and necessity of empathy however, it is so verbose and annoyingly. I finally stopped reading when I got to the post jailbreak section where they explained Argos. It was pages and pages of explaining that each profession has its own vernacular that is unique and sometimes difficult to understand if you’re not in that profession. but the beat it over your head with every goddamn job that exists… I didn’t even get to the end of it. I just stopped reading.

The timeless story of a man who stole a loaf of bread, raised an orphan and did a whole bunch of nice stuff for people all because of one pope's act of kindness. Of course I'm talking about les miserables. The 1,000 page long epic about how one act of kindness to one person can change the lives of so many. This book feels like the moral love child of victor Hugo's imagination and personal beliefs which certainly isn't a bad thing.

The story of Jean Val Jean is a unnecessarily long one and probably could have been edited down to half of its original size but, would you really want it to be? The book is a beautiful allegory for life and will restore your faith in humanity for at least a little while. The slow pacing and flowery language only adds to this dictionary sized novel's charm. It may take you a while to finish this one but please do read it. It is the type of book that will imprint itself into your mind and integrate itself into your soul. And sooner than you think you will be picking it up again and re-reading it, if only for the purpose of giving you a good cry.
challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Maybe at some point I will have some thoughts, but right now I am just excited (surprised) that I have actually finished this book. It has taken me literal years. 
There were some great bits, some bits that dragged and some bits that were horribly misogynistic. 

I will say, for anyone planning to read this book, I highly recommend the Les Miserables Reading Companion Podcast. I would not have got nearly as much out of the book without the analysis and historical context the podcast provided. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
slow-paced

I'm not straight up dnfing this out of principal. I read over 17 hours of this fucking book. I just can't do it. The Battle of Waterloo pages did me in. I'll stick to the musical.

4.7
Wow ha sido una aventura. Para empezar la primera edición que cogí era una editada para que solo estuviese la historia. Me enteré de esto casi a la mitas del libro, pero como lo que realmente me interesaba era la parte de la revolución ignoré esto me busqué una nueva edición y... lo dejé de lado durante más de un año. Por la decepción y pereza de no querer ver como se correspondían las ediciones. Año nuevo, propósitos nuevos y lo primero que hago es sacarme esta espinita. Resultado, me encantó. Me parece adecuado comparar este inmenso libro a ver una película con los comentarios del director, si este parase la peli cada vez que quisiese comentar algo. Y Hugo quiere comentar un montón de cosas. A mi me gustó porque puedes hacerte una idea del autor solo leyendo esta obra. También porque para Hugo, estos acontecimientos eran prácticamente contemporáneos y él vivió muchos de ellos, lo que da más peso a la obra.
La historia sobre las personas pobres y como los llevan a cometer crímenes y a resarcirse de ellos o no es bastante conocida. A mi gusto muy corta la parte de la revolución y poco el peso de los personajes que la conoforman, para pasar una cantidad enorme de tiempo con Marius. Para mi uno de los personajes más detestables de la novela. Thenardier al menos tenía carisma, para el final de la historia ya quería zurrar al pobre niñato.
Valjean llega al punto de la santidad, Cosette es representada como una niña a la que hay que proteger a toda costa de todo (en serio, si le contaran lo que pasaba de verdad se sorprenderían de lo resistente que es, ¡creció con los Thenardiers!). Fantine la pobre tiene una suerte malísima y dá mucha pena, Javert tiene un desarrollo muy interesante y el obispo es el santo mayor.
Eponine es mi personaje favorito de la novela (que no del fandom) y creo que es de las pocas mujeres que se valen por si misma y mueve la acción con sus decisiones sin ser pasiva, su único defecto haberse encaprichado de Marius. Por la otra parte Gavroche me repateaba, ese niño no paraba de pavonearse y me frustraba.
Y como no, Les amis. Lo ue hizo que quisiese leer este libro. R es mi bicicleta de este fandom, Enjolras es super interesante e intenso y los demás un amor. Reitero mi queja sobre el poco tiempo en escena que les tocó.
Para concluir, me gustó mucho y muy fan de Victor Hugo, con más ganas que nunca de leer Notre Dame.
challenging dark emotional inspiring slow-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: Yes

Too much to be said about this book. Goosebumps all throughout.

Much love for Victor Hugo :')
dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Unbearably long. Hugo's prose is so all consuming and overwhelming it really drags down the story. Every little detail doesn't need pages of context attached to it, and as a reader so far removed from 1800s France it gets lost on me anyway. I found this an incredibly frustrating read. 

Things I did not need a treatise on: 
The intracacies of Napoleon's final battle and defeat. 
A nunnery our characters spent exactly 5 minutes in. 
Slang's place and value in literature.
The sewer system of Paris. 
How quicksand works. 

I did cry at the end though so make of that what you will. 

Too fucking long.