Also a great Broadway play for those of you who want the TLDR version..

Yes thanks bikeidaho, there is a great musical, which is taken from the books. Thanks for reminding me!

Lots of parts left out of the play write but over all still incredibly amazing. The music captures the emotions so well.

The movies... Eh, just didn't do the story justice.

I'll need to read Bernard Cornwell's book on Waterloo to accompany the battle sequence. Likewise with Adam Zamoyski's book on the 1812 campaign for War and Peace.

It is a cult-classic because of all the above reasons and my heart tells me it will be appreciated by future generations as well.

also a source of host of award winning movies and mini-series.

Yes, there were large chunks of the books cut out. But they often do that with movie releases I find. Still a great effort though. I think we would all agree.

This book made me fall in love with french literature. And the only book that made me shed a tear

The chapters dedicated to the system of canals and drains in Paris... incredible book.

Wow that sounds good. I think it's from when they escaped the city. I haven't got that far yet.

Better still there's a great bbc adaptation

>Wow that sounds good. I think it's from when they escaped the city. I haven't got that far yet.

Oh, although the story is known, luckily I didn't say more! Just to say that when you finish reading this book you feel that you have received an unforgettable gift. It's one of my favorite books, and for a long time it was the best book I'd ever read.

Yes Juan. I saw that as well. Personally I didn't really like it. It just didn't appeal to me for some reason. I prefer the stage musical, and Victor Hugo's original text, which is actually two or three books, altogether. Although there are some versions which compile them into one!?

I read the unabridged version when I was 16 one summer. when Valjean is on his deathbed blessing cosette I literally had to stop reading to weep for the loss of such a beautiful man. 30 years later when I open to that scene, my eyes well up again. Hugo is truly a genius!

I much preferred the book as being so much richer but as someone who just doesn't like musicals I appreciated the bbc version, although I agree it was far from perfect. I thought their war and peace adaptation hit the mark much better.

I’m still on the chapters about the bishop. Enjoying it, but I find myself googling historical people and events a lot because I’m unfamiliar with subjects like the French Revolution.

Yeah, but the book >>>> the play. I see the play as an original work, loosely based on the novel.

It's crazy how relevant the book still is (well, the prologue says it better). I also tried the original French and I agree with the dictionary's advice (it's somehow “harder” work, but absolutely worth it). It doesn't help that even today's written and spoken French are basically different languages 😆

It's one of my favs. The musical scratches the surface, basically just the highlights but is a good starting point for people that might be intimidated by the sheer size of this tome of a book.

I found that the depth in this book astonished me. I wasn't prepared to be totally lost in it. Lost in a good way. The depth of the characterization, the backstories of these people, just makes them unforgettable. Fantine was already a tragic figure in the musical, but my god when you read her backstory--none of which is really touched on in the musical--it makes you appreciate the despair you hear in the songs she sings in the musical (provided it's acted well).

Yes the Bishop is in the opening chapters of the book. He lives with two ladies. One a cheerful and plump lady, who is talkative and merry. The other a slender and meek lady, who what she lacks in conversation, she makes up in godliness.

The two women take good care of the bishop. I won't spoil it for you what happens. Thanks for reading.

I love that book so much!

Yes in the book she dies a broken women. Head shaved and sold her body. Jean Valjean vows to look after her child, before she leaves this world. And so that is why he has a mission, before the police constable Javert finally tracks him down, and tries to get him sent back to the galleys!

First time I read it, I cried freely at the end.

Oh, I love this book, but I've only read it in an English translation. I need to get my hands on a French copy, but that might take a while...

I approve this message

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?

Nice. Yes I cried when Cosette lost her mum (Fantine). But at least she had Valjean to look after her, as she grew up. They're all long dead now. But their memories keep them alive. Thanks for reading.

[removed]

It's easy to be critical of a book you haven't read.

I read this at 18 after seeing the show and was just blown away. I think I consider Les Mis to be the first real book I every read.

I'm sorry if the message was unclear. I did read the book through. Still think it was a mess.

I'm a huge fan of Hugo. Loved Les Miserables! However, in my opinion, his best book is The Man Who Laughs. If you haven't read it yet, I absolutely recommend it.

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.

Ok I will add it to my Amazon wish list thanks

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.

Timeless. Period

One of the few books that have made me cry, I want to re read it for a while now.

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.

One of my favorite books of all time with some of my favorite characters of all time. I first read this book when I was 14. Since then I've delved into several rereads. I'm nearly 36 now!

When I think of all the unnecessary chapters that Hugo was begged to cut out and refused, I think of how I will never read these superfluous chapters again - except for the bit about the under-city sewers. Fascinating chapters and something most of us don’t ever think about, and Hugo came in hot, so passionate about the topic. I love it.

The musical is somewhat misleading, as it may depict Javert as being assigned with the only mission of pursuing Jean Valjean in his life.

And it missed out some interactions between ABC friends, espcially between Marius the Bonapartist and others republicans

One of my favorite books in classical literature. It was an epic covering the tumultuous history of France through the scale of common people like Jean Valjean. On a social bases, it showed how an unjust society could transform a man to a criminal, a women to a prostitute and children to devastation. On a personal bases, it showed the path of redemption of Jean Valjean.

I hope that I could read the original verses in French one day.

I love it! I think it’s got the greatest love story - between Valjean and Cosette - (I mean the father/daughter bond). He sacrifices pretty much everything to make sure she’s happy.

I've just gifted this to my dad for Christmas. He loves the stage show and was thrilled to receive the book.

Hugo never stopped grieving the death (at 19, by drowning) of his daughter Léopoldine. These emotions inform Valjean's love for Cosette.

For all the numbskulls posting about some version other than the BOOK, the point OP is making is that the book is a work of genius. Hugo's novels changed laws in France. That, imo, is the test of greatness--does your work affect the future constructively.

I love the part about the boy, the mudlark, who lives in the elephant. The whole book is so f-ing amazing if you don't read it, you're a deadbeat.

Wolverine v Gladiator v Borat v Catwoman

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.

One of my all time favorites. It is one I re-read every couple of years.