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A review by courtneydoss
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
5.0
Vive la France! Vive l’avenir!
I went into this book with certain preconceptions about Victor Hugo and his writing. Having read The Hunchback of Notre Dame not long ago, I expected an unabridged version of this massive novel would be filled with Hugo's trademark blabbering. And it was - but it was also filled with so much depth that I hardly minded the pages long essay on the Paris sewer system.
Victor Hugo's masterpiece follows Jean Valjean, a man whose life is ruined after he steals bread to feed his sister's seven children. Serving nineteen years in prison for the crime, he exits the hard work of the galleys to find that he is a pariah, mistreated and shunned at every turn. He is tempted back into crime in order to survive, but an act of kindness sends him on a path of redemption. Except, the persistent Javert seeks to return Valjean to the prison that he has just narrowly escaped.
The book also follows a fallen woman named Fantine who is wooed, and then dumped, by a man who knocks her up on his way out the door. Impoverished and desperately trying to provide a quality life for her daughter, Cosette, Fantine must leave her daughter in the care of the Thenardiers until she earns enough to support Cosette; but the Thenardiers' demand increasingly more money for Cosette's keep, ensuring that Fantine will never reach her goal.
These are just the beginnings of Jean Valjean and Fantine's stories, and they are decidedly Parisian (read: tragic). But the main value of this book comes not from the characters stories, but from the political undertones that Hugo sews into his narrative. Set in the era surrounding the French Revolution, Hugo brings to life a city on the cusp of political upheaval.
As an American in the 21st century, it is shocking how relevant a story written so long ago can be to the current political climate. In Les Miserables families are divided across party lines, anger and frustration lead to battles in the streets, and the whims of the powerful make playthings of the poor. It is not difficult to imagine Enjolras giving impassioned speeches at the barricades, because turning on the news can show the same thing.
Another relevant point in Les Miserables is its critique of the prison industrial complex. The prisoners were made to work, thereby generating money, which incentivized keeping the prisons fully stocked. People were locked away for nothing, and when they did commit a crime, they were punished for far longer than could be reasonably expected. As the most incarcerated nation in the world, the United States is mirrored in Les Miserables and it is an ugly picture.
I never expected that I would do this, but I'm proud of myself for making it all the way through the unabridged version. It was quite a journey, and I was dying of boredom sometimes, but I persevered and was rewarded with a magnificent story. With that said, I will never read the unabridged version again.
I went into this book with certain preconceptions about Victor Hugo and his writing. Having read The Hunchback of Notre Dame not long ago, I expected an unabridged version of this massive novel would be filled with Hugo's trademark blabbering. And it was - but it was also filled with so much depth that I hardly minded the pages long essay on the Paris sewer system.
Victor Hugo's masterpiece follows Jean Valjean, a man whose life is ruined after he steals bread to feed his sister's seven children. Serving nineteen years in prison for the crime, he exits the hard work of the galleys to find that he is a pariah, mistreated and shunned at every turn. He is tempted back into crime in order to survive, but an act of kindness sends him on a path of redemption. Except, the persistent Javert seeks to return Valjean to the prison that he has just narrowly escaped.
The book also follows a fallen woman named Fantine who is wooed, and then dumped, by a man who knocks her up on his way out the door. Impoverished and desperately trying to provide a quality life for her daughter, Cosette, Fantine must leave her daughter in the care of the Thenardiers until she earns enough to support Cosette; but the Thenardiers' demand increasingly more money for Cosette's keep, ensuring that Fantine will never reach her goal.
These are just the beginnings of Jean Valjean and Fantine's stories, and they are decidedly Parisian (read: tragic). But the main value of this book comes not from the characters stories, but from the political undertones that Hugo sews into his narrative. Set in the era surrounding the French Revolution, Hugo brings to life a city on the cusp of political upheaval.
As an American in the 21st century, it is shocking how relevant a story written so long ago can be to the current political climate. In Les Miserables families are divided across party lines, anger and frustration lead to battles in the streets, and the whims of the powerful make playthings of the poor. It is not difficult to imagine Enjolras giving impassioned speeches at the barricades, because turning on the news can show the same thing.
Another relevant point in Les Miserables is its critique of the prison industrial complex. The prisoners were made to work, thereby generating money, which incentivized keeping the prisons fully stocked. People were locked away for nothing, and when they did commit a crime, they were punished for far longer than could be reasonably expected. As the most incarcerated nation in the world, the United States is mirrored in Les Miserables and it is an ugly picture.
I never expected that I would do this, but I'm proud of myself for making it all the way through the unabridged version. It was quite a journey, and I was dying of boredom sometimes, but I persevered and was rewarded with a magnificent story. With that said, I will never read the unabridged version again.