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Jul 14, 2010

HappyHippo rated it:

One of the "biggest" book I've ever read, and I remembered Mick Foley's "warning" about a big book.

"A big book is like a serious relationship; it requires a commitment. Not only that, but there's no guarantee that you will enjoy it, or that it will have a happy ending. Kind of like going out with a girl, having to spend time every day with her - with absolutely no guarantee of nailing her in the end. No thanks."

Haha... Well, I took my chanc More...

23 comments like (84 people liked it)

Nov 22, 2010

Jacob rated it:

I'm hopeless at writing book reviews. Completely hopeless. Can't do it to save my life. I usually end giving too much detail in the summary and then stumble through a dissection of the theme. What a way to butcher a book. And with a book as great as Les Misérables, I doubt I could really do it justice. Even with multiple edits and revisions. Besides, I probably can't say anything about the book itself that hasn't already been said before, so I'll offer some personal reflections instead. More...

23 comments like (80 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Miriam rated it:

This is without question one of the most beautifully written novels I've ever read. Jean Valjean is quite possibly the most complex and compelling character you will meet in a work of literature of this magnitude, and the lives and personalities of the secondary characters are interwoven into subplots that make it almost an easy thing to get through the 1400+ pages of this book. I read the novel after seeing -- and falling madly in love with -- the musical, and this is one of the rare cases in w More...

6 comments like (31 people liked it)

Mar 01, 2009

Dottie rated it:

One of the best books written. Everyone can learn and benefit from Jean Valjean's experiences and the way he chooses to handle them. I found it interesting that both Les Mis and The Phantom were popular musical plays at the same time. I love both plays; they have parallels that are interesting. Both main characters have been ill treated by fellow humans. Eric/Phantom on the one hand turns to bitterness, darkness and evil, while Jean allows his experiences to make him into a saint as he chooses t More...

6 comments like (17 people liked it)

Dec 06, 2011

nat rated it:

Aku tidak bisa berhenti membaca buku ini !
Wow! Ceritanya bagus sekali, sampai aku tak cukup percaya diri untuk mereviewnya, takut tak dapat memberikan gambaran yang pas.
Ah, memang nampaknya kalian harus membacanya sendiri, agar tahu seperti apa jalinan kisahnya.

Entah kisah ini mengandung unsur kejadian nyata atau tidak, tetap saja, gambarannya begitu nyata, sehingga aku penasaran siapakah tokoh sesungguhnya ?

Les Miserables, jika kubuka kamusku, kudapati penjel More...

38 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 30, 2010

Palsay rated it:

Pertama-tama, tidak ada orang yang benar-benar jahat. Camkan itu.

Pelajaran pertama yang aku ambil dari buku ini adalah saat seorang pastur memperlakukan seorang mantan narapidana -yang telah berkeliaran mencari tempat singgah untuk bermalam namun tiada yang sudi menampungnya- memberinya makan dengan pelayanan yang layak, menawarkan tempat tidur yang nyaman dan bahkan, merelakan peralatan makan peraknya -harta satu2nya sang pastur- dibawa pergi oleh sang mantan napi.

dalam More...

58 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 26, 2007

David rated it:

What fascinating stories! Poor Fantine suffered greatly because of the poor choices she had made in life. She brought misery upon herself, but she has our pity. Jean Valjean was not an innocent man in the wrong place at the wrong time, like I assumed before reading the book. On the contrary, he was a depraved imbecile. He was the scum of the Earth, yet he found redemption. Fantine is the warning, Valjean is the hope. In giving all that he had and everything that he was for the benefit of More...

1 comment like (11 people liked it)

May 02, 2011

Petra X rated it:

I loved this book. I was expecting something somewhere between Trollope's extraordinary writing and Zola's wonderful stories - and I got it! Great literature indeed, and what a character Jean Valjean is.

His story is almost biblical, one of redemption. One who travels the path from evil to good with scarcely a stumble but many an obstruction along the way. Hugo uses the book, much as Tolstoy liked to do, to expound his personal philosophy and also the condition of the peasants, les mi More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Sep 05, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

Umm, so...as with War and Peace, how the heck do you review a novel that is part of the fabric of Western society; a book that has been around so long and was written by an author so esteemed as to have a reputation that proceeds the reading? Yeah, I don't know either.

I will say that I assigned a one-star deduction (no, I am not the Russian judge, though I am definitely partial to Russian literature, but I digress) for two reasons: a) some of the commentary, while relevant to the plo More...

10 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Jason rated it:

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

The CCLaP 100: In which I read for the first time a hundred so-called "classics," then write reports on whether or not they deserve the label

Essay #60: Les Miserables (1862), by Victor Hugo

The story in a nutshell:
First published in installments in 1862, it can b More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

John rated it:

My favorite book.

I came to this book through a fairly twisted path. My brother was a huge fan of the musical. I enjoyed it and wanted to read the book it was based on. I couldn't do it. The unabridged version took so long to get to the parts I knew. Hugo's long explanations and histories left me lost. I wussed out and read the abridged edition.

When I had finished the abridged edition, I immediately turned around and read the unabridged edition. What a difference! What I More...

1 comment like (9 people liked it)

Dec 23, 2010

Lisa rated it:

Les Misérables is a wonderful introduction to classic French literature – I read the Isabel Hapgood translation and loved it! Although I’ve read a fair few short stories by Balzac and listened to an abridged version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, I had never before read anything by Hugo (1802-1885) and I didn’t know his style. Since the entire Les Mis stage show phenomenon had passed me by, I didn’t know the plot either and I was soon captivated by the pathos.

To see my review v More...

6 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 21, 2011

Lynsie rated it:

Only the best book I have ever read. Period. This book has it all- action, mystery, romance, plot twists, but the most poignant attribute, in my eyes, is that of love. The character of Jean Valjean and the transformation he goes through in this book is one that inpsires and gives hope. Each character is so beautifully developed and described that you end up walking away from it loving even the "bad guys" because you understand them. I have heard criticism of Hugo's development of th More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 20, 2011

Reem rated it:

-

للتوّ انتهيت من قراءة هذه الرواية ، مضى زمن بعيد عن آخر مره قرأت فيها رواية .
اتذكر أن الروايات غالبيتها تطغى على قارئها بطابع ، أعتقد طابع الحزن دائمًا و دائمًا ما تجعل مزاجي سيء من شدّة تأثري بالأحداث .
هنا ستجد في ( البؤساء ) مضمون خلاف العنوان ، رواية مليئة بالتشويق و التفاؤل و المجاهدة من أجل العيش بسعادة ، هذه الرواية ليست من النوع الذي يسرد الاحداث حتى ينتهي من مُهمته في انتاج كتاب ! هو يسردها ويأخذ بك لزمن القصة ١٣١٥ مثلًا و تعيش كل لحظة مع كل كلمة في الرواية.
لن More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 01, 2011

Seth rated it:

I have finally finished reading this epic masterpiece, but rather than relying on my own observations, I would prefer to pass along a few insights of Mario Vargas Llosa, who devoted an entire book (The Temptation of the Impossible) to analyzing this seminal work of Western literature.

According to Vargas Llosa, Les Misérables is an example of utopian literature in the sense that the author intended it to motivate readers to strive for “a more just, rational, and beautiful world than the one they More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Nov 21, 2011

Lissa rated it:

The following is completely one hundred percent true.

In 2005 I was in the chorus of a school production of the musical based on this book. It was an abridged production and we had at least 50 children aged 12-18 (except they changed it to 19 to allow some older principal actors, for example the guy playing Javert, who funnily enough turned 20 on the final night).

I had one line as one of the factory bitches who bullied Fantine. "If Fantine doesn't look out watch how s More...

6 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2011

Melisa rated it:

Les Misérables (1862) adalah salah satu dari dua karya paling terkenal dari Victor Hugo (1802-1885). Karya satunya adalah The Hunchback of Notre-Dame yang diselesaikannya pada 1831.

Tokoh utama Les Misérables adalah Jean Valjean, seorang mantan narapidana yang telah mengalami 19 tahun hukuman yang berawal dari pencurian sepotong roti. Hidup keras di kapal kerja paksa telah mengubahnya menjadi orang yang jiwanya dipenuhi kegelapan dan kebencian.
Ia mengecap kebebasannya pada Okt More...

14 comments like (4 people liked it)

May 12, 2008

Stephanie rated it:

I am about half way through this book. It is horribly long, 1232 unabridged pages. I go in spurts of reading it. With this version, there are some parts that I would like to skim or skip over. It seems that Hugo takes pages and pages to explain the storyline. I am very happy with this read though. Even though I sometimes get board with the details, I love the way Hugo seems to explain a character’s soul. He gives them a depth I have found in no other work. Before a character has a line on the p More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Jan 23, 2008

Tom rated it:

Most people are familiar with the story of Les Mis because of the theatrical version which is itself a masterpiece, but most people don't bother to read the book. I read the unabridged novel and consider it among the most influential books of my life. (If you decide to read the unabridged version be warned; it holds hundreds of boring pages dedicated to subjects not directly related to the plot--such as the history of the Paris sewer system, the rules of convents, and battlefield strategy.) L More...

3 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jun 24, 2007

Amy rated it:

Some memorable quotes:

On excess and poverty:

"This ship [The Orion], crippled by the sea's pounding, made a strong impression as it entered the roadstead. It flew a pennant that entitled it to a regulation salute of eleven guns, which it returned shot for shot--in all, twenty-two. It has been estimated that in salutes, royal and military compliments, exchanges of courteous hubbub, signals of etiquette, roadstead and citadel formalities, rising and setting of the sun s More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 21, 2009

Michelle rated it:

This book: fantastic.

Also, fantastically long.

Two points:
1) It was a really cool read. Honestly. A lot of the ideas in the book are amazing, the characters are so complex and interesting, the story itself kept attention easily. It's compelling! It's worth reading!

2) It is incredibly wordy. It goes on, and on, and on, and on. It's a commentary, obviously, so Hugo has something to say about everything. It is a little excessive in some points. Some More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Sergey rated it:

I can't say anything better than what the author himself said of this work:

"So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century – the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of woman through hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light – are More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Aug 03, 2011

Kathy rated it:

I went into this book already loving the story from seeing the broadway show at least 5 times! The story changes a little bit here and there, but all in a good way. I just love the story! It is such a beautiful story, it was great! Why only 4 stars, though? Well, Mr. Hugo loves to hear himself talk, obviously and there were many many times I wanted to throw the book out of the window! The history of slang, the difference between insurrection and revolution, history of the sewer system....I More...

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 20, 2011

Moayyad rated it:

1
عندما تُشعلُ الآلام والأشجانُ صلواتها ، وقُدّاسها، "فيك" ، فهي لا تُبجّلُ سوى "القرابين " -تلك التي لاتعني إلا - "أنت"٠

2
مَن يشفيني مِن كتاب كهذا ؟

3
كلمة : بؤساء ، أصبحت محفوفة بمقصلة الوجع في قاموسي ، لم تعد كلمةً تتطايرُ "ترفاً "، إستحالت: إنحناءةُ دمْع

4
مو طبيعي، الزمن مُبعثّر في الرواية ، والبؤس شارتُه ٠٠

5
رواية داخل أوجاع من الروايات More...

7 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2009

Tim rated it:

This is one of my all-time favorite books. I love the richness of the story, the grandness and generosity of the sentiments, and the deep human insight. I find this old translation to be just lovely. I can open it to many a page and just read, like poetry, for the beauty of the language. But it is most worthwhile for the depth of humanity that Hugo shows. It's a crime to miss this book - you are among the miserable of the earth in a very different sense if you don't take the time to read it. More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Nov 20, 2011

Marjorie rated it:

I am floored. I cried. I laughed and then I cried again. This book is more than a triumph, it is love.

The strength, passion and ferocity of feeling in this book is simply breathtaking. Reading this has affected my mind, heart and soul. It is a story of a good and honest man who did wrong and was punished and pursued in a way disproportionate to the wrong. I met a man you would love not just for his goodness and wretchedness, but for his unending desire to give his life over t More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2009

Terence rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

4 comments like (8 people liked it)

Feb 26, 2008

Cash rated it:

This is one of the single most pivotal books ever written. Spanning generations, it addresses the important social issues that never change: love and forgiveness, justice and mercy, cowardice and courage, pure egoism and selfless sacrifice, just to name a few. Hugo is a wordsmith like no other, and if you don't read the unabridged version you are cheating yourself out of a literary feast of a lifetime.

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2008

K rated it:

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 31, 2009

Anne rated it:

This is my all-time favorite classic; I've read it at least twice and will probably read it again (when I have a spare minute!).
What I love about this book is the contrast between the justice of Javert and the mercy of Jean Valjean. Javert is determined to do everything right and satisfy the demands of the law. Jean Valjean finds himself on the opposite end of the law, and yet he is in a better position because he is determined to share the mercy given him to those he meets. Javert ends u More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)