Les Misérables: High School Edition [Paperback] Matt Larsen and Victor Hugo

by Victor Hugo

Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

About the author

After Napoleon III seized power in 1851, French writer Victor Marie Hugo went into exile and in 1870 returned to France; his novels include The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862).

This poet, playwright, novelist, dramatist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, and perhaps the most influential, important exponent of the Romantic movement in France, campaigned for human rights. People in France regard him as one of greatest poets of that country and know him better abroad.

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read the unabridged version more than 10 years ago and absolutely loved it, many scenes still vivid in my memory. Despite multiple attempts to reread, I could not get myself to trudge through what felt like unnecessary history lessons, and so this edition was gifted to me. While a faithful retelling of the story and certainly digestible at a high school level, I struggled to feel much connection to the characters or the world in which they lived due to the 1000+ pages that were cut out. I enjoyed revisiting the tale of Jean Valjean and his miseries and joys, but if anything this edition has lit a fire beneath me to make another real attempt at the unabridged version again. I'd absolutely recommend this to someone familiar with the full story as a way to revisit it, but the unabridged remains a must-read in my mind.

[A.K.F · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son is reading this for his 11th grade Lit. class and I thought I'd read it this summer to see how well it covered Les Mis. I've read Les Mis several times and so I know the story, this edition does the job of telling the story well and is written at a low end high school level. I appreciate the condensed version while not making it too abbreviated like a junior classic. I still feel like everyone should read the full edition because of the richness of characters that I feel is lost in abridged versions but as this is one of several novels we have lined up for Junior year this does the job.

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beyond EBN Challenge 2023

This book came to me from a display at the library. The High School Edition, so an Abridged & Edited, which made it much easier to read just the story without all the rest of what Victor Hugo wrote. This was very well done and I enjoyed it.

I am planning to re-read Le Miserables (unabridged) during my classics revival I plan to do, but I think having read this will make it much easier. It is a wonderful and sad story that I think really needs to be told. I read the original many many years ago and remember it was a lot to get through, but I am much older and hopefully wiser now, so I want to see what it's like now.

[Emily Goldthorpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried reading the whole last chapter. I have tried and failed to the read the unabridged version multiple times so I’ve very grateful for this version. The poetry of the language, the imagery of the mental and emotional concerns of the characters, I’m glad I have read. It’s a beautiful story I know well from the musical, I love to experience this version of it. Mercy, justice, repentance, truly a story of substance.

[Vodi Lo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this edition. It removes miles of unnecessary sewer scenes and makes the story more accessible to young readers who don't know much about revolutionary France.
It still requires a study in context and pre-reading background in order to keep the events of the timeline straight, but all the good meat is in there.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book club classic for the year. I’m always skeptical if I’ll like the classic, but really enjoyed this one! Lots of interesting characters! It did feel a bit like a fairy tale in that everyone kept running into each other and were connected despite being unlikely. Good ultimately overcomes evil. Liked book much better than musical though, personally.

[Alaina Gifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone is terrible and there is no justice in the world and if you find true love you will probably ruin it: the novel.