Waterloo. Skipped or read?

[Alicia]

One of my favorite parts of the book.
It really is crucial to understand the spirit of the time and characters.
Please, do not skip it. It's part of the life of the book and its permanence in its own history.

[Charlie]

skipped, I also skipped the Sewer section. I'm that kind of person who likes to finish a book in one setting, and this distraction is so prolix

[lise.charmel]

I read only a part of it. Then I understood that it was only "setting", for the sake of it. The interactions of the characters take place only in the last two pages of that section.
Hugo remains a great writer also if we criticize a part of his writing or just do not like it. This is no crime I think.
If I had not skipped that part (as well as others describing convents or Paris - well the part describing Paris as the best city of the world is just unbearable) I am afraid I would not have finished the book.

[David]

You can safely skip 80% of the book since only like 20% of the book is about the actual story while the rest of the book is just Mr Hugo's diary where he rambles on and on about random stuff about life and his thoughts on stuff that's completely irrelevant to the main story. That's the the movie/musical and condensed version of the story are more popular than the full version.

[Gretchen]

I skimmed it. Greater sins, indeed. The last handful of pages have what you need to know about Thénardier.

[zapirovsky]

it's really an awful part. I read it entirely just because i forbid myself to skip anything, but only the end of it has the information that is relevant to the history. If you would skip, i recommend to at least read the "XIX: The Battlefield at Night"

[Sergio]

I recommend reading only the last chapter (the 19th). The others are rather useless for the plot and I recommend reading them only if you are a fan of the historiography genre (probably not, given your question).

[Ginasck]

Skipping all the historical parts of the book, for me, is like not reading it. Some parts are hard and you maybe will not understand a lot (because of all the references Hugo makes, that at the time were clear and now aren't anymore) but you need to read them in order to really dive deep into the book and into the French society of the middle 19 century

[Britishfurryoilondon]

I read this section of the book too quite a lot of pages

[CecilyJ]

I read it! It's helpful for understanding the relationship between various characters, and a delightful and thought-provoking section of itself.