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A review by house_of_hannah
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I cannot believe this journey is finally over ! I participated in the 365 days of Les Miserables challenge, where I read one chapter of Les Mis a day, since there are 365 chapters in the book. I did finish a few days early, so I have had days where I read more than one chapter, but also days where I didn’t read at all.
I ended up vlogging my entire experience with this, so it has been such a huge part of my life this past year. Because of that, regardless of how I actually feel about the book in the end, it has been a five star experience. I also cried at the end of the book, just like I did at the end of the musical and the movie. Doesn’t matter that I knew what was going to happen; it will always make me emotional !
Alright, now let’s actually get into a few things about the book. Jean Valjean is still the absolute GOAT. He is 100% my favorite character in every media I have experienced this story in. My “ranking” of the characters would probably be as follows:
1. Jean Valjean
2. Gavroche
3. Monsieur Mabeuf
4. Enjolras
5. Thenardier
6. Javert
7. Eponine
8. Marius & Cosette
I ended up disliking book Marius & Cosette so much more than I was expecting. Neither of them are able to come to any correct conclusions on their own, and the lack of communication and assumptions are astonishing. Cosette is only an extension of whatever man she is with, and so is completely useless. Marius, while highly educated and should definitely know better, is as dumb as a brick. He has a few shining moments in the story, but my god are they brought down by how dense he is.
Another thing that is super blatant in Hugo’s writing is his descriptions of women. All of them (except for Cosette of course) are presented in such ugly and twisted ways. He has nothing good to say about them, and they are always just simply obeying the men around them. In the movie and musical Madame Thenardier is portrayed as more of the “boss” in her relationship with Thenardier, but that is not the case in the book. Women are presented as having no thoughts of their own, are ugly and disfigured, and are mostly in the way. It’s something I noticed every single time a new female character was introduced.
One thing that I found funny about the book is that it really makes it seem like there’s only a dozen people living in Paris with how frequently all the characters bump into each other. This story is the epitome of plot convenience, but honestly that’s the only way this story could be told, so it actually works here.
The writing style itself is fine. Hugo loves to go on and on and on, and really dive into the history of things, so you definitely have to have the patience for that or it will drive you mad. I truly do not think I would have been able to get through this monstrosity if I had tried to read it in larger chunks.
A basic knowledge of French is obviously incredibly helpful ! There are some scenes where the significance will be lost on you if you know nothing of the language. The names, streets, places, are all French, so knowing how to pronounce those will make reading a lot smoother. If there is a historical figure, or anything that you are curious about that they are discussing in the book, I highly recommend looking it up and learning more.
Overall I think my rating for just the story itself would be a 4, but like I said above, adding in my journey with the story makes it no less than 5 stars. I would highly recommend this to anyone who lives in Paris, is studying French, enjoys the classics, or loves history. Going to the places talked about in the book as you read is not a common thing to be able to do, so I will forever be grateful for this experience, and to my year of reading Les Miserables.
I ended up vlogging my entire experience with this, so it has been such a huge part of my life this past year. Because of that, regardless of how I actually feel about the book in the end, it has been a five star experience. I also cried at the end of the book, just like I did at the end of the musical and the movie. Doesn’t matter that I knew what was going to happen; it will always make me emotional !
Alright, now let’s actually get into a few things about the book. Jean Valjean is still the absolute GOAT. He is 100% my favorite character in every media I have experienced this story in. My “ranking” of the characters would probably be as follows:
1. Jean Valjean
2. Gavroche
3. Monsieur Mabeuf
4. Enjolras
5. Thenardier
6. Javert
7. Eponine
8. Marius & Cosette
I ended up disliking book Marius & Cosette so much more than I was expecting. Neither of them are able to come to any correct conclusions on their own, and the lack of communication and assumptions are astonishing. Cosette is only an extension of whatever man she is with, and so is completely useless. Marius, while highly educated and should definitely know better, is as dumb as a brick. He has a few shining moments in the story, but my god are they brought down by how dense he is.
Another thing that is super blatant in Hugo’s writing is his descriptions of women. All of them (except for Cosette of course) are presented in such ugly and twisted ways. He has nothing good to say about them, and they are always just simply obeying the men around them. In the movie and musical Madame Thenardier is portrayed as more of the “boss” in her relationship with Thenardier, but that is not the case in the book. Women are presented as having no thoughts of their own, are ugly and disfigured, and are mostly in the way. It’s something I noticed every single time a new female character was introduced.
One thing that I found funny about the book is that it really makes it seem like there’s only a dozen people living in Paris with how frequently all the characters bump into each other. This story is the epitome of plot convenience, but honestly that’s the only way this story could be told, so it actually works here.
The writing style itself is fine. Hugo loves to go on and on and on, and really dive into the history of things, so you definitely have to have the patience for that or it will drive you mad. I truly do not think I would have been able to get through this monstrosity if I had tried to read it in larger chunks.
A basic knowledge of French is obviously incredibly helpful ! There are some scenes where the significance will be lost on you if you know nothing of the language. The names, streets, places, are all French, so knowing how to pronounce those will make reading a lot smoother. If there is a historical figure, or anything that you are curious about that they are discussing in the book, I highly recommend looking it up and learning more.
Overall I think my rating for just the story itself would be a 4, but like I said above, adding in my journey with the story makes it no less than 5 stars. I would highly recommend this to anyone who lives in Paris, is studying French, enjoys the classics, or loves history. Going to the places talked about in the book as you read is not a common thing to be able to do, so I will forever be grateful for this experience, and to my year of reading Les Miserables.