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A review by nyom7
Les Misérables Volume Two by Victor Hugo
4.0
Like with volume 1, there is a lot that is to the modern reader extraneous to the story. Everyone talks about the long explanation of the Parisian sewers - it is fleeting in comparison to the what felt like aeons picking apart a single battle earlier.
I don’t recommend abridged versions of stories as a rule. This is my exception. There is +/- one volume’s worth of STORY in these two volumes, and in 1 volume you could still keep enough context without veering off into parts that aren’t relevant to the modern audience but I am sure were hot button topics when it was written.
For all that the general plot of Les Mis is part of the cultural zeitgeist there is much more to it than is general shown. There are wrenching emotional stories hidden there and that are lost in eg the musical. So I do recommend it, and if you want to then by all means read an unabridged version but if the idea of that is daunting I would recommend an abridged version that will hopefully ensure you get all the parts of the story that are not the absolute core plot but without all the commentary.
I don’t recommend abridged versions of stories as a rule. This is my exception. There is +/- one volume’s worth of STORY in these two volumes, and in 1 volume you could still keep enough context without veering off into parts that aren’t relevant to the modern audience but I am sure were hot button topics when it was written.
For all that the general plot of Les Mis is part of the cultural zeitgeist there is much more to it than is general shown. There are wrenching emotional stories hidden there and that are lost in eg the musical. So I do recommend it, and if you want to then by all means read an unabridged version but if the idea of that is daunting I would recommend an abridged version that will hopefully ensure you get all the parts of the story that are not the absolute core plot but without all the commentary.