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Absolutely stunning. Hugo was able to evoke an incredible amount of emotion from me as I read this book. A master storyteller, Hugo also provides tremendous insight into most everything from good versus evil to politics to the joy of love to the inner conflict that people suffer in their quest to do the right thing. The book is well over 1400 pages, but yet every word is important to the story.
I absolutely adored Jean Valjean. What an amazing character whom I still deem to be the first superhero ...more
I absolutely adored Jean Valjean. What an amazing character whom I still deem to be the first superhero ...more

It took me four months and a change of translation to get through this enormous novel. I'm very glad to have read it and can see why it is revered as a great classic, yet I'll admit I often found it a struggle to go on reading and have mixed feelings about it. Really I would like to give five stars to some of the greatest sections, like the opening part about the priest, the barricades and some of the other sections focusing on great characters Jean Valjean, Javert, Fantine, Eponine and Gavroche
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Oh my goodness what a book! This might be the hardest book I've ever finished. The most challenging thing about it is navigating the thousands of footnotes and all the text outside of the story line. Although it's really interesting and beautiful, he spends chapters and chapters philosophizing, detailing history and painting a vivid picture of his beloved Paris. It can really change the flow of the reading experience but all in all it adds to the book and makes it unique and one of the best I've
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Jan 18, 2008
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May 01, 2016
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