Reviews - Les Misérables - Kurjat

4.26k reviews for:

Les Misérables - Kurjat

Victor Hugo

4.16 AVERAGE

moonlightamelia's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark tense slow-paced

‘there is nothing like the hand of the common people for building anew out of what has been demolished’

I began reading this book in february 2019. at the time of writing this review, it is september 2025. it has taken me five and a half years to wade my way through this. there were years where i barely touched it and others where i read 300+ pages. my version consisted of 1415 pages.

the story is famous yet so incredible. and despite its familiarity i never once felt bored despite its density. Hugo likes to go off on tangents, whether it be about the history of waterloo, convent life or the paris sewer system, but the knowledge you can gain from this is never ending. honestly the only part that was a bit boring for me was the convent life, but the rest such as the examination of the archetype of the gamin as a metaphor for paris and how a city is only ever a reflection of their people (“to portray the child is to portray the city. And that is why we have studied this eagle in this sparrow.”) was fantastic.

this is a story about france, french society, morality, sacrifice, justice, religion, rebellion and familial love (romantic too but i understood the emphasis to be more on Valjean and cosette’s relationship). i have never read a book so rooted in realism before. i know that the rebellion of june 1832 is a real event and jean valjean was based off of a real person but you could honestly tell me this is a non-fiction account of these people’s stories and i would believe you. it’s so vivid and there really is no other novel like it. you understand why it is so iconic.

also i don’t think i would’ve enjoyed this as much if not for christine donougher’s flawless translation. it enables you to understand so much of Hugo’s original wordplay and intention whilst also being accessible.

i think this book solidifies victor hugo as one of the greatest writers ever. it’s really difficult to even put into words my feelings about it and the weight i think it holds, both personally and in the context of the literary canon. i sobbed at the last 50 pages, partly because it was so sad and partly because it was coming to an end and what that meant for me. i’d love to reread it one day and maybe annotate it; “to dare - that is the price of progress”.

some of my favourite quotes:

“It’s nothing to die. It’s dreadful not to live.”

“for it is a mistake to think that talking to oneself is not natural. Greatly disturbed emotions often speak aloud.”

“Servitude endured, torture accepted, punishment craved by souls that have not sinned in order to spare the souls that have transgressed. Love of humanity steeped in love of God yet remaining distinct from it”

“Those high walls that he had seen around tigers he now saw around lambs“

“Paris is always showing its teeth. When it is not snarling, it is laughing.”

“Who knows whether these opacities will not become transparent? Are not revolutions transfigurations?”

“Look through the populace and you will see the truth. This vile sand you trample underfoot – let it be thrown into the furnace, let it melt and bubble there. It will turn into clear crystal, and it is thanks to this crystal that Galileo and newton will discover the stars.”

“they don’t eat men, they bleed them“

“in the secret compartments of bigotry there is a curiosity about scandal“

“Today’s utopia is tomorrow’s flesh and blood“

“there is perpetuity in rightfulness”

“i live under a roof of falling tiles”

“scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect”

“Youth is the season of friendships quickly forged and wounds quickly healed“

“you kill yourself living. Life’s a stage set with very little that’s real”

“alongside the hand that gives is the claw that takes back“

“loving men’s faces but hating their noise“

“nothing proceeds more directly and more sincerely from the very depths of our souls than our intuitive and boundless aspirations to the glories of destiny.”

“everybody dreams of the unknown and the impossible“

“Citizens, I tell you, your progress is madness, your humanity’s a dream, your Revolution’s a crime, your Republic’s a monster, your young and virginal France hails from the brothel”

“In any case, there is a point where the poor and the wicked become mixed up and lumped together in the one fateful word: the wretched. Whose fault is this? And besides, should not charity be all the greater, the further into the depths the fall?”

mabelenn's review against another edition

4.5

emotional sad medium-paced

lifeinatlantis's review against another edition

5.0

een bewerking van het origineel gelezen, waardoor hij 50 kilo lichter was maar de inhoud even zwaar. Aangrijpend verhaal.

xannyan's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense 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

Mijn wens was dit boek lezen omdat ik de musicalfilm zo leuk vond en omdat ik me weer wilde wagen aan een klassieker. Ik heb dus deze 'bijbel' van een boek uitgeleend in de bib en heb hem uiteindelijk in een span van 15 dagen (met pauzes voor andere boeken) uitgelezen.

Ik moet toegeven, soms voelde het boek meer als een geschiedenisles dan een verhaal, maar dat heeft me uiteindelijk niet tegengehouden om verliefd te worden op het eigenlijke verhaal in het boek. Ik leefde helemaal mee met de personages in het boek, die duidelijk ook allemaal een eigen karakter hadden. Van de misogynistische klootzak van een Tholomyès, maar de norse Gillenormand, tot de guitige Gavroche. Elk personage was telkens een nieuwe adem in het boek dat het kracht bijzette.

Ik heb ook voor vele personages medeleven gevoeld. Voor Marius, omdat hij niet voor het gemakkelijke leven kiest. Gavroche waarvan zijn tragisch lot me altijd zal beklijven. Met uiteindelijk Cosette, die haar 'vader' verliest omdat hij denkt dat hij het geluk van twee mensen niet in de weg kan staan.

De laatste twee delen van het boek voelen ook bitterzoet aan door Valjean's biecht aan Marius, tot de ommekeer met de slinkse Thénardier en dan uiteindelijk het einde van Jean Valjean's verhaal. Dit boek zal je zeker niet onberoerd laten.

Uiteindelijk was de keuze om dit boek op te pakken, zeker wel de juiste voor mij. Ik heb er met volle teugen van genoten, ondanks het tragere tempo. Zeker de moeite waard om de uitdaging aan te gaan met deze dikke klepper van een boek.