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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
Y bueno, aquí llorando a moco tendido termino "los miserables". Pero si ya sabía cómo iba a terminar!!
The entire book is gripping, a substantial piece of literature, one that will go on the top of my shelf for a very long time. The characters were rich and profound, pulsing with the type of energy that is needed in many characters in other books.
This book was truly epic.
This book was truly epic.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
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
I'm not even sure why I decided to read this book. Too long and sounds very boring. I have many other long books that I didn't intend to read, but for some reason I picked this one up.
This has to be the best road trip I've ever had. Jean Valjean is an incredible person who went through the greatest pain. He deserved nothing less than a glorious end, but he said goodbye modestly, as he had been all his life. I am sorry to end this journey, and I will always remember this book. This is perhaps the best example of the strange and unpredictable ways of fate and life.
10/10 Life changing book
This has to be the best road trip I've ever had. Jean Valjean is an incredible person who went through the greatest pain. He deserved nothing less than a glorious end, but he said goodbye modestly, as he had been all his life. I am sorry to end this journey, and I will always remember this book. This is perhaps the best example of the strange and unpredictable ways of fate and life.
10/10 Life changing book
Too miserable. People making poor life choices and bad people being bad
6/26/16 Far be it from me to read an abridged book, but as I am halfway through this book, I am almost wishing I had read the abridged version. It is so long, so detailed, and often so dull. The story, like Moby Dick, isn't simply a storyline. It's a history. Unfortunately, not often a very interesting history. The side note of the Battle of Waterloo I found fascinating, as well as parts of his look at convents. Other details, (such as the names of every nun in said convent) made me want to scream after reading.
I admit, I have skimmed the surface of a few pages out of boredom. This may be the first book I would recommend not reading the original of. I think the number of people that probably start but do not finish this book are numerous, and it's sad because it is actually a rather beautiful book. I like the story, I like the writing. (Actually, interesting fact, this is the second time I've attempted to read it. The first attempt lasted only as far as Fantine did years and years ago). So, anyhow, took me a month to get this far, so I'll probably return in another month to finish this review.
6/7/16 Alright. I did it. I did struggle with this book. Book that are at once stories, histories, and parenthesis can be challenging. Moby Dick was the same way for me; it took me ages to read Moby Dick, but it is one of the books I have read that I consider a favorite and that has stuck in my mind. Les Miserables, while a great book, didn't hold me throughout its parenthesis, however.
I'm holding to that if I recommend this book I will recommend the abridged version. The parenthesis that Hugo goes on simply will be too much for almost everyone (too much for me!) unless you are an avid fan and obsessed with Les Miserables. Much to my embarrassment, and yet, I think anyone could understand who attempted to read this massive volume, I skimmed a bit of the giant side-roads that Hugo wrote and I skipped a bit more of it. Some examples of what I simply couldn't get through: chapters on argot, enumeration of sewer systems, and descriptions of houses or backtracks that seemed to have no bearing on anything, whatsoever.
He simply wrote too much. I think book purists would disagree, who treasure every syllable of a word produced by their heroic authors -- but I am standing by my opinion. The book simply would have been better with a lot of the fat cut out; and I really don't believe you would miss anything important with those cuts.
Now, may I complain about a part of the actual story I despised. Cossette and Marius. Oh hell, that love story. I hate it! And it is a big, giant, colossal part of this book. Marius and that angel, Cossette and her prince, what an awful romance! Marius is a creep, stalking, following, obsessing over a girl he has never spoken to; the letter he finally writes her is simply awful, verses upon verses of lovesick chatter that tear at her heartstrings for whatever reason; be it her sheltered life or naiveté. Be that as it may, he does in the end win her for a wife, and she loses whatever personality she did have in favor of adoration. She simply let Marius separate her from her father with so little resistance that I have serious doubts of her ability to truly love someone beyond an adoration. Hugo treats her as an angel but I see her as very hollow. She has had so little experience of living that she doesn't know what love is.
Beyond those two love-sick characters, I really like the story and the characters. They are complex, they are tortured, they are demons and they are angels. I won't go into in-depth musings of each person. They are well known; I would like to say though, that the musical does not do anyone justice. I've never adored the musical, but I do like it less now.
The writing is great; it doesn't enthrall me like Nabokov or Diana Wynne Jones though. Of course, this is a translation from French (translated by Charles E. Wilbour, and I might add I found quite a few spelling errors haha, although we can blame the editor, I suppose). Then again, Nabokov is proof translations don't have to lose quality. I'm not saying the writing lost quality, Hugo is a great writer, but it's easy to forget that when he talks for nineteen chapters about something completely off topic (or at least off the topic I was desiring). That is the nature of this book, however.
I suppose there is a lot I could go into about the story and the characters, but I don't feel especially compelled to, so I am just going to stop here and move on. Time for some Nabokov!!!
I admit, I have skimmed the surface of a few pages out of boredom. This may be the first book I would recommend not reading the original of. I think the number of people that probably start but do not finish this book are numerous, and it's sad because it is actually a rather beautiful book. I like the story, I like the writing. (Actually, interesting fact, this is the second time I've attempted to read it. The first attempt lasted only as far as Fantine did years and years ago). So, anyhow, took me a month to get this far, so I'll probably return in another month to finish this review.
6/7/16 Alright. I did it. I did struggle with this book. Book that are at once stories, histories, and parenthesis can be challenging. Moby Dick was the same way for me; it took me ages to read Moby Dick, but it is one of the books I have read that I consider a favorite and that has stuck in my mind. Les Miserables, while a great book, didn't hold me throughout its parenthesis, however.
I'm holding to that if I recommend this book I will recommend the abridged version. The parenthesis that Hugo goes on simply will be too much for almost everyone (too much for me!) unless you are an avid fan and obsessed with Les Miserables. Much to my embarrassment, and yet, I think anyone could understand who attempted to read this massive volume, I skimmed a bit of the giant side-roads that Hugo wrote and I skipped a bit more of it. Some examples of what I simply couldn't get through: chapters on argot, enumeration of sewer systems, and descriptions of houses or backtracks that seemed to have no bearing on anything, whatsoever.
He simply wrote too much. I think book purists would disagree, who treasure every syllable of a word produced by their heroic authors -- but I am standing by my opinion. The book simply would have been better with a lot of the fat cut out; and I really don't believe you would miss anything important with those cuts.
Now, may I complain about a part of the actual story I despised. Cossette and Marius. Oh hell, that love story. I hate it! And it is a big, giant, colossal part of this book. Marius and that angel, Cossette and her prince, what an awful romance! Marius is a creep, stalking, following, obsessing over a girl he has never spoken to; the letter he finally writes her is simply awful, verses upon verses of lovesick chatter that tear at her heartstrings for whatever reason; be it her sheltered life or naiveté. Be that as it may, he does in the end win her for a wife, and she loses whatever personality she did have in favor of adoration. She simply let Marius separate her from her father with so little resistance that I have serious doubts of her ability to truly love someone beyond an adoration. Hugo treats her as an angel but I see her as very hollow. She has had so little experience of living that she doesn't know what love is.
Beyond those two love-sick characters, I really like the story and the characters. They are complex, they are tortured, they are demons and they are angels. I won't go into in-depth musings of each person. They are well known; I would like to say though, that the musical does not do anyone justice. I've never adored the musical, but I do like it less now.
The writing is great; it doesn't enthrall me like Nabokov or Diana Wynne Jones though. Of course, this is a translation from French (translated by Charles E. Wilbour, and I might add I found quite a few spelling errors haha, although we can blame the editor, I suppose). Then again, Nabokov is proof translations don't have to lose quality. I'm not saying the writing lost quality, Hugo is a great writer, but it's easy to forget that when he talks for nineteen chapters about something completely off topic (or at least off the topic I was desiring). That is the nature of this book, however.
I suppose there is a lot I could go into about the story and the characters, but I don't feel especially compelled to, so I am just going to stop here and move on. Time for some Nabokov!!!
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
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
I am deducting a star from a perfect rating for one reason and one reason only Mr Hugo and that is because I had to read so much of Marius and Cosette being absolutely nauseating.
adventurous
dark
tense