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Copy/paste the text below into your blog. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24280.Les_Mis_rables?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Les Misérables" border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/518GG32RD9L._SL160_.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24280.Les_Mis_rables?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Les Misérables</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13661.Victor_Hugo">Victor Hugo</a><br/><br/> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8998008?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a> rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>I remember deciding to read this in high school, on my own (meaning not for any class). Being a bit of a masochist, I didn't want an abridged version. I figured that if I was going to read it, I wanted to read the whole thing. Though Hugo has an incredibly beautiful prose style of writing, he is the unquestioned master of tangents. That being said, this is one of the most moving stories I have ever read. There were several points that had me in tears, and still do when I think of them. One of them is early in the story when the priest who took care of Jean Valjean is robbed by Valjean, and his (the priest's) reaction when the police bring Valjean back with the stolen goods. I have a strong sense of justice, and fully expected the priest to sadly acknowledge what Valjean had done and send him back to prison, as per the law. When he instead gave Valjean not only the stolen goods, but added the candlestick holders, and told him to take this gift and use it to become a good person (I don't remember the exact words), it floored me. As good as the musical is, there is so much that it simply cannot capture like the written story does. This is one that though long, is absolutely is worth reading. <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/615508?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>