kultsinuppeli t1_j2e6ndm wrote
Sometimes I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Was this book really good? Really?
I feel like the book is a quarter of Jan Valjean's story, a quarter of completely semirelated historical descriptions of whatever, a quarter of drawn out monologues which mostly seem to be prose for prose's sake, and a quarter of historical namedropping.
I don't think describing battles or sewer systems are positive additions to the book. Curious, sure, but why on earth are they there?
RainbowsAreLife t1_j2exkf7 wrote
It's definitely not for everyone. One of my favorite books of all time and I always come away from a re-read observing something new about it, but yeah, the digressions are insane. There was a cheat sheet wayyyyyyy back in the earlier days of the internet (on geocities, basically) about the "beginner's guide to Les Mis" for people wanting to read the story but not the digressions. It was a really useful and handy reference for skipping anything irrelevant to the main story and cited exact chapters and chunks to bypass without missing out on anything at all. Perhaps something like that is still out there, OR you can just pick up an abridged copy to cut out the fat.
Johnhfcx OP t1_j2fqr77 wrote
Yes but you know I really like the world Hugo paints. With such colour, and the emotional journeys his cast go through. I'm only about half way through the first volume, which is itself one of two. But this book is truly massive, what's more the script is driven and remarkable. I really can't fault him for this. Leave it with me, ta.
Johnhfcx OP t1_j2e8w64 wrote
It's easy to be critical of a book you haven't read.
kultsinuppeli t1_j2ebshe wrote
I'm sorry if the message was unclear. I did read the book through. Still think it was a mess.
Johnhfcx OP t1_j2ed6dp wrote
Okay. Well sorry if I was rude. This book really spoke to me, from the viewpoints of Valjean, and all the others. I liked it because it seemed real to me. Really spoke to me. Not to mention the beauty of French language the book was originally written in. Which I recommend you picking up a copy to read, if you haven't already done so.
I liked it because it felt real to me. I cried when the main characters died, and laughed at their jokes. Actually I've found French comedy films on dvd are so much better than their English counterparts. And I like how they call the United Kingdom Le Royaume Uni. It has such a nice ring to it. We can't all like the same stuff. Keep it civil.
kultsinuppeli t1_j2efhn2 wrote
I think it's great that you liked it! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy people have different tastes in books.
It just feels strange that I rarely hear negative comments from people who have read through it. Maybe because it's a bit of a brick.
I find the book interesting in the historical sense, and as a view to the time and society it was written, but that's about it.
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