The Les Miserables Reading Support Group

[Biena]

Aaron Vincent wrote: "Manonood tayo after F2F13 right?? Final na yan? I don't think I have the strength to watch it alone. :("

Yes. Pramis, di ako kakanta tulad ng sinasabi ni JL. HAHAHA

[Mae]

I just watched it. It's all kinds of intense. I laughed, I cried (a lot), I sang (but only internally because I don't want to be an annoyance). Awesome, really. The cinema was packed when I watched and when the movie ended, everyone burst into applause. Goosebumps.

[Maria Ella]

I promise to make habol talaga lang. -_____-

[Tina]

Hello friends! Sa mga sasamang manood ng Les Miserables bukas after ng F2F, last full show ba tayo? Galleria has it ng 9pm.

BUT! As of now, isang cinema lang siya pinapalabas sa Galleria. So to make sure we will be able to watch, I can buy tickets as early as lunch time. Who's watching tomorrow? Please post here so I can do a ticket run before the F2F. :)

[JL]

Me, I'll watch tom w/ u guys :)

[Alexa]

Something funny from Tumblr HEHE

*some movie spoilers*
(view spoiler)[





“Dear Diary:

France still not free. Marius still being an idiot.”

——

“Dear Diary:

France still not free. Marius still being an idiot. Grantaire has started to encourage him, of all things. Must have a discussion with him later.”

——

“Dear Diary:

France still not free. Marius still being an idiot. Tried to impress upon Grantaire the importance of taking these things seriously and not encouraging Marius in his romantic delusions. I do not think he really absorbed any of my wisdom, as he spent the entire meeting trying to play with my hair.

I worry about the fate of France, diary. I really do.”

——

“Dear Diary:

France still not free. Marius still being an idiot. I am v. close to losing my shit over this nonsense, diary. It’s like I’m the only one who cares about the future freedom and dignity of Patria.”

——

“Dear Diary:

France still not free. Marius still being an idiot. If there is one more fucking musical number in the middle of my meetings I am going to punch Marius in the face.”

——

“Dear Diary:

France still not free. Marius still being an idiot.

Although, as it turns out, Marius makes v. amusing squealing noises when punched.”

——

“Dear Diary:

France still not free. Marius still being an idiot. Eponine yelled at me for making Marius cry.

WHY IS EVERYONE SO CONCERNED WITH MARIUS’S PROBLEMS fuck everything I am going to bed.”
(hide spoiler)]

Also, some shameless fangirling thoughts
(view spoiler)[ENJOLRAS hi
I really like Grantaire and his hair, reminds me of Hugh Dancy or Orlando Bloom sup guys, how are your hearts? (hide spoiler)]

[Maria Ella]

You know, from what I watched in the Musical Motion Picture, Hugo is more into the romance part you know, because love simply enriches the soul. That is why some young schoolboys love to talk about love rather than focus more on Enjolras' sentiments on war and his resolution to the July uprising.

After all, these men may have, on a hindsight, imagined the worst case: they will all die and France is still not free. Maybe Hugo feels the same when he wrote the novel.

Di ba Hugo was on exile? so I thought that way. PROMISE I SHALL MAKE HABOL ON READING (This thesis proposal is much much more priority than anything kasi :D )

[Tricia]

I saw the film last Friday (Pisay block screening) and I find the movie really nice. I cried twice even if I promised myself not to (because it will ruin my eye make-up lol).

(view spoiler)[is it just me or Russell Crowe was not that great in the film? Also, I was spoiled by the OST so I knew what will happen to Javert before watching the film :( and!!! I can't believe Sacha Baron Cohen can sing. I didn't know lol (hide spoiler)]

[Monique]

Forgive the trolling since I am not reading this with you guys, but I just had to share:

Les Miserables was shoved down our throats required reading for our World Lit class back when I was in college, but since we still had other classics to tackle in one sem, we only read the abridged version. Our professor made us watch the musical and I went the extra mile and watched the old movie adaptation, too - the one with Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean and Uma Thurman as Fantine. So reading the unabridged version seemed like a tedious task now.

I watched the film last night, and suddenly I felt grateful for my old Lit professor for, yes, shoving Les Miz down our throats years back. Otherwise, I wouldn't have appreciated what a wonderful, timeless novel this is. I had goosebumps hearing the old songs, even though I couldn't identify each one by its title except for "I Dreamed A Dream," "On My Own," and "Master of the House" which I loved in the musical. I suddenly appreciated our class discussion from years back, on forgiveness, second chances, and love: love of country, love of duty, love of fellowmen, and love of God.

Kudos to all who have managed to finish reading this novel, abridged or unabridged. And kudos to those who will finish it soon.

*bow*

[KaiPea]

Gusto ko sana basahin toh pero medyo intimidated ako sa haba niya at baka di ko maintindihan @_@ di ako intermediate reader. Lol. Should I watch the movie first to get a grasp of what's happening or just go ahead and read it it?

[Maria Ella]

Well, the beauty of this work simply transform you. let yourself be true to it, mairita ka kung maiirita ka kasi madaming sinasabi. pero kasi you also see whatever Hugo wants us to see. Ang ganda lang.

Maybe you start with the abridged. And if you are up for the challenge, why not try the whole five volumes of it? :)

[KaiPea]

Well I got a free copy from kindle. I don't know if it's abridge though... I'll start reading it anyway.

[KaiPea]

Is everyone done with the novel?

[Maria Ella]

Hi KaiPea,

Aenna, Biena, Tina and I are not yet through with the novel. Maybe there are others but I am not really sure... Tricia, you done with LesMis?

I'm still at the first book of the third volume. And Paris is very much different from how Hugo described it (in the middle of its transition from Monarchy to Republic) to the Paris as a legit Republic now. :)

[Angus]

Not yet done, too. I'm trying to get my reading groove back.

[Tricia]

not yet done. Actually, walang progress haha /shame

[AennA]

The book is just too thick in comparison with other books that I have read, it seems like I've been flipping the pages since forever! Slow progress for me.

But I must say that Hugo is such a romantic!

[Tina]

I'm at page 900+ and still reading on!!! Medyo nag-skim na ko sa historical parts (palabok, as a friend said), pero super aliw ako sa (view spoiler)[invisible landian ni Marius and Cosette (hide spoiler)]. Haha. :d

[Angus]

I'll finish my other January books before I return to it. Spillover na ito (term borrowed from Tina). Buti na lang Feb is a short story month. :D

[AennA]

Tina wrote: "I'm at page 900+ and still reading on!!! Medyo nag-skim na ko sa historical parts (palabok, as a friend said), pero super aliw ako sa [spoilers removed]. Haha. :d"

Ako din! Ang sweet ng kaartehan nila! Haha! Especially on Hugo's explanation of the phenomena called (view spoiler)[love at first sight. (hide spoiler)]

I'll still try to read everyday, even a few pages, while reading another book. I don't want this to be a frustration! :))

[Maria Ella]

This book is too long. Pero kakayanin ko pa rin.
I hope I get my mood back to Hugo before it's too late to go back. huhu.

[Tina]

*bump*

So I finally finished the book today.

*tears of joy*

I have to admit that watching the movie before finishing kind of made me lazy in reading. I can't recall if I said it before, pero I didn't watch the musical or listen to the songs before I watched the movie or read the book, so I had zero expectations. Then we watched the movie before I was halfway through the book, so reading it after made me feel just a bit lazy kasi alam ko na mangyayari. It's not the book or the story, really, but just me. I'm a books before movie person nga talaga.


BUT I AM SO GLAD I POWERED THROUGH. Hugo has so much extra stuff in the book that I honestly skimmed through (the Parisian slang, the sewer, lots of parts where Hugo waxes poetic about the revolution), but the overall story is really very beautiful. PLUS, there's a lot in the book that wasn't really made clear in the movie. The characters in the book had so much more depth, and there were some things that I only appreciated when I read it.

And this is now officially the thickest book I have ever read in my entire lifetime. Thank you to all those who peer pressured me. :D I feel so accomplished (today). :D

Sa mga nagbabasa pa: I cheer you on. :)

[Aaron Vincent]

Congratulations! You've conquered reading Les Miserable's 1.5k pages, you can conquer reading anything this year! :D

[AennA]

WOW Tina! Congratulations! and because of your success, I feel like finishing the book this weekend. Naiinggit na ako! :))

(Unfinished reading makes me lazy to start / finish new ones.)

[Angus]

Congrats, Tina! You deserve a cake!

(Will resume after my current read.)

[Tina]

Aaron: YES. Pero buti na lang less than 1000 pages yung mga chunkster books ko for the year. Wait -- how long is Pillars of the Earth again? Ah basta, it's shorter than this. :D

Aenna: I know the feeling, yung nakakatamad magstart ng bago pag may di ka pa tapos. Tapos parang nakakaguilty rin. You can do it! :)

Angus: Hmmm cake is a good idea. :D

[Ycel]

Hi, Tina. Congratulations! You can now conquer any book, including George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (clunky door stoppers). The Pillars of the Earth is almost a thousand pages long, but it's all one compact hell of a story. I won't be surprised if you read it and fall in love with the architectural details. If you do, then you'll appreciate Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead.

[Maria Ella]

Envy! <3 congrats Tina. I hope i can bring back the reading groove with Hugo. :) soon.

[Tina]

Ycel: I've read the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire and it was surprisingly easy to read. I'm still trying to get motivation to read the next ones :)

Ella: I wish I could say it picks up and moves faster after some time pero alam mo naman si Hugo, madaldal :) But it IS worth it! Sana mabalik yung reading mojo mo for it! :)

[Joy]

Congrats Tina! :)

[Tricia]

Gosh, so ashamed of myself haha! I already forgot about my LesMis copy :))

[Ycel]

This scene is much better described in the book so keep on reading =)

"Throughout the whole of the month of May of that year 1832, there were there, in every night, in that poor, neglected garden, beneath that thicket which grew thicker and more fragrant day by day, two beings composed of all chastity, all innocence, overflowing with all the felicity of heaven, nearer to the archangels than to mankind, pure, honest, intoxicated, radiant, who shone for each other amid the shadows."

[AennA]

I'm done! :)

Read from Nov. 29, 2012 to March 15, 2013. :))

The book is clearly overwhelming. There's a certain kind of euphoria in finishing it.

I was surprised that I didn't totally give up on this, as I did with other books that took me years before I decided to continue reading. Les Miserables has so much to say, and I am glad that I chose to read the unabridged - the heart and soul of the story is right inside the pages.

I'm still euphoric. :))

[Aaron Vincent]

Congratulations! 4 months in the making. Hahaha

[Tina]

Congratulations, Aenna! :D

[AennA]

Aaron Vincent wrote: "Congratulations! 4 months in the making. Hahaha"

To think that I actually read this constantly, everyday. :))


Thanks! Success! :))