A Weighty Tome: 2019 Challenge: Les Miserables

[Eldarwen]

The end of book 3 makes me roll my eyes at the girls. How stupid can you be? I especially judge Favourite, who apparently doesn't even care about her man.
Why would you sit around in a restaurant or bar or whatever for an entire hour and wait for some idiots to bring a "surprise"?!

Man oh man.... ;-))

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Back in the “good old days” eh? 😂

[Eldarwen]

Even then, they could not have been that gullible hahaha ;-)

I kept waiting for the waiter to tell them "oh, and here's the bill" haha. At least that they took care of before they disappeared.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Yes, absolutely!

[Vikki]

I’m in.

[Anna Lagos]

I am a month late joining but I will do my best to catch up. Its funny because I am part of the 2019 Cleaning TBR closet challenge and this book happens to be part of the list I am working through over there too. So, hopefully this will help motivate me to get through it.

[Marie (UK)]

Anna wrote: "I am a month late joining but I will do my best to catch up. Its funny because I am part of the 2019 Cleaning TBR closet challenge and this book happens to be part of the list I am working through ..."

you have plenty of time to catch up Anna

[Keely]

I’ve fallen behind with this. I don’t know what it is at the moment, but I feel like I’m struggling with all my reading. But I read 2 chapters of this last night and plan to try and read 2 chapters a day (or at least one if I don’t quite manage 2) and hopefully that will mean that I finish book two around the weekend.

[Eldarwen]

Worst case, we have a few catch-up months ;-)

[Keely]

True. I read 2 chapters today and may read another 1 before sleeping. I'd rather try and get ahead sooner rather than later as I plan to read some long-ish books this year (although, none as long as this one), so I would like to finish what I can of this before I start some of those.

[Marie (UK)]

Keely wrote: "True. I read 2 chapters today and may read another 1 before sleeping. I'd rather try and get ahead sooner rather than later as I plan to read some long-ish books this year (although, none as long a..."

is it the book that you are struggling with or a reading slump in general.
I found the first part the hardest until you really got into the story

[Keely]

Reading slump in general. I've got a bit of a creative bug going at the moment and I think that has been taking up time I would have otherwise spent reading. I've just got to find the right balance of both. Also, work has been asking me to do extra hours, which is great money wise, but not so much with other things I want to do.

[Sophie, The other one]

How's everyone getting on with this?

I put it down at the end of January and got caught up with trying to complete a challenge in another group (to my surprise I managed to a couple of days ago). Now want to get back on track with it and have read book 2, Valjean and made a start on book 3 1817. It's good to have a bit more narrative and movement to it than the first book.

[Eldarwen]

I've put this on hold since the end of January for a reading challenge (which will last another 2 months), but maybe in between I'll manage to continue with a chapter or two every now and then, or I'll spend the entire month of May playing catch-up like mad haha.

[Cat]

I finally got around to starting it, though I am taking it slowly.

I'm still with the almost obnoxiously saintly bishop. I felt so sorry for his poor housekeeper, who was excited to discover extra funds that could be used to run the house on more than a pittance, only for Monsigeur to put all of the new money to charity!

[Cat]

@E - yup, UNO is impacting on my reading of it too, but as I've only about 40 pages left in my last book for Feb, I thought I'd sneak in some Les Mis :)

[Sophie, The other one]

I haven't played UNO for a couple of years. Might give it a go again next time it gets started (or go over now and see if teams need anyone new...)

[Cat]

I've started Book 2 of Part 1 - "The Fall" - with our introduction to Jean V.
It's interesting thinking about the book v the musical, where we meet Valjean in the chain gangs immediately, and so start off with an atmosphere of fear and hatred and drudgery and misery, before coming onto the saintly bishop and a shot at redemption. I shall have to cogitate on that thought as I read on

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

You should now be finished with Volume 1. March & April schedule is:

Volume II - Cosette
(8 books)

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Cat wrote: "I've started Book 2 of Part 1 - "The Fall" - with our introduction to Jean V.
It's interesting thinking about the book v the musical, where we meet Valjean in the chain gangs immediately, and so st..."

I love the introduction of Valjean here and the next chapters. It really drags you into the story

[Marie (UK)]

I am done with the book and have kept a copy of my thoughts about each part

PART TWO
There are great swathes of Part 2 which seem unnecessary. The description of the battle of Waterloo added nothing to the narrative, even if it did reintroduce Thernadier
The description of the convent and its setup also seems unnecessarily wordy. (view spoiler)[I think we could grasp the concept that Valjean would need to come in through the front not in the way he did (hide spoiler)]

I was very interested in Hugo’s opinion of the purpose of cloistered communities –
(view spoiler)[ “clots in the circulatory system” –
Hindered the growth of civilisation and delayed its development. (hide spoiler)]

There are parts that move with pace and carry the narrative along whilst still being wordy.
Hugo’s writing is very similar to Dumas with an undulating narrative where there are periods of calm and then action, they lived around the same time did they know each other?

I have seen several variations of the musical and now having read the book their storyline is clearer but in essence the musical does not reach into the corners of the narrative.

[Sophie, The other one]

Marie (UK) wrote: "I am done with the book and have kept a copy of my thoughts about each part

PART TWO
There are great swathes of Part 2 which seem unnecessary. The description of the battle of Waterloo added noth..."

I've just read the book on Waterloo and struggled to see the relevance. It's a shame because I felt like we'd had a great chunk of narrative and I was getting sucked in to it more.

It reminded me a bit of the descriptions of farming in Russia during Anna Karenina. Readers in the past may have been more patient with long almost academic digressions than we are now.

[Cat]

@Sophie... oh gods, Levin and his farming..... does he never stop?!!
I'm struggling with my audio of Anna K - it's narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal (sp?) and she's made the understandable decision not to try and differentiate the characters with voices, but she's also reading it very c-a-l-m-l-y and so every so often something happens and I'm like "Whaaaaaaaaat?! Anna's preggers?! Where's the build-up to that, eh?!"
I liked her narration of The Bell Jar, but that kinda benefited from a flat reading, what with Ester's mental state.

The other book that would benefit from loads of natural historical descriptions being cut out is Moby Dick. honestly, cut out all the science stuff there and you've got a super-pacy creature feature book. With it, and there's tedium....

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Levin and his farming... never stops

That is one of my all time favourite books, but I always recommend to people that they skip all the peasant/farming pages on the first read so that you can actually enjoy the story 😂

[Sophie, The other one]

It doesn't stop... I got through that section by being pleased how much of it I remembered/understood from my history lessons about Russia in the lead up to the Revolution. I would have tried to skip them otherwise. I listened to the David Horovitch narration and from what I remember it was pretty good.

[Cat]

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Levin and his farming... never stops

That is one of my all time favourite books, but I always recommend to people that they skip all the peasant/farming pages on the first read so that you can act..."

I LOVED it my first read, when I did read it DTB. The audio is going less well :( I probably should start speeding up through the philosophising on peasantry - thanks for the nudge, Karen! :)

ETA I suspect the translation has an effect too. I'm listening to the Garrett translation, but read the Pevear & Volokhonsky one, which was just wonderful

[Keely]

So, I am pretty far behind target. I finished book 4 in part one. My aim is to try and finish part one by the end of this month, however other challenges has meant that I've put this on hold a little. I am trying to remember to read a little bit every day.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Cat wrote: "Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Levin and his farming... never stops

That is one of my all time favourite books, but I always recommend to people that they skip all the peasant/farming pages on the first read so..."

Ah. I've never done it on audio. I'm sure that, and the translation would make a difference!

[Erica]

I am SO far behind! I was going to use March as the catch up, but that's not going to happen because I've been participating in a women's reading challenge for Women's History Month. Hopefully, I'll be able to pick it up again in April.

[Cat]

@Keely, Erica: I'm WAY behind too. I've just finished Book 3 in Part 1 (and have "he was gone when autumn came...." in my head now, from the musical!)

But this is a long-haul read, and i will no doubt catch up once UNO is over at the end of April.

I am so far enjoying the voice of the narrator, which every so often seems to slip in some sly or wry comment, a knowing wink to the reader.

[Cat]

Eldarwen wrote: "The end of book 3 makes me roll my eyes at the girls. How stupid can you be? I especially judge Favourite, who apparently doesn't even care about her man.
Why would you sit around in a restaurant or bar or whatever for an entire hour and wait for some idiots to bring a "surprise"?!."

Unlike the men, I am late to this party, but yes: I was reading a cringing in anticipation. They even commented on the getaway car!

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Volume II - Cosette. Book 1
This was an interesting look at Napoleon and Waterloo. As I Was reading I was considering the time period and this account may have been the most the readers had ever heard in a story format seeing that there was no other medium to really convey the info and how Hugo’s work was aimed at everyone - not just those in upper classes.
I am ready to get back into the story, though. Although I now need to wait until later this month to continue due to a team challenge commitment 😉

[Keely]

I just finished Book 5 in Volume 1. I know I’m very behind, but I didn’t touch this book for about a month and now things have calmed down a little, I started reading it again. I’m going to try and finish book 6 tonight as it’s only 2 chapters and then the plan is to finish Volume 1 in about a week. Then I will spend the rest of May trying to read and finish Volume 2.
I don’t know if I will actually stick to this plan, but hopefully the more I read, the more I will enjoy reading it and therefore not want to stop. I also feel like I should catch up sooner rather than later so that I don’t have to panic towards the end of the year.

[Eldarwen]

May will be catch up month! I need to finish Volume I and read Volume II... yikes haha.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

I'm still in Volume II - Cosette. Just catching up so that I can get into Volume III for June.

How is everyone else travelling?

[Eldarwen]

Might finally be able to catch up this weekend. I haven't even started Cosette's Volume yet :-/

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

I finished
Volume II - Cosette
Just in time for June to start the next volume. phew!

I found this volume pretty wordy. Especially all the descriptions of the convent. However, (view spoiler)[ I was so glad to see Cosette be freed and go with Jean Valjean. I like how there is this kind of happy-accident theme to the book (as happens later in this section when Jean finds sanctuary and then is able to get taken out in the coffin) (hide spoiler)]

Overal I'm still finding it totally readable and although this wasn't the most engaging section for me, it is a very big book so I'm expecting some excitement in the next few sections ;)

[Keely]

I just finished Volume One. It took me longer that I had planned, but at least I’ve reached that first hurdle.

I would like to say that I will finish Volume Two by the end of May, but that is probably going to be unlikely. I will try and get a good chunk of it done before the end of May though.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Well done Keely! How are you finding it?

[Keely]

It definitely got more interesting towards the end of the Volume which helps to keep me interested in reading it. I’ve gone into this blind, I’ve never seen any of the film/TV versions or the theatre show so I honestly didn’t know what to expect but that also made getting through the first part a struggle because I didn’t really understand what was going on.

I’ve got this book on the kindle app on my phone so I’ve tried to make a habit of reading a little bit if I find myself waiting for something like food to finish cooking so that at least I make a little progress often until I’m ready to sit down and read a chunk of it.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Yes good idea to read a little at a time. I find the chapters within the books can be quite short so when my kindle says just 3min for a chapter, for example, it encourages me to keep going 😉👍

[Keely]

Yeah, I try and read at least a chapter and if they are only short then I’ll read a couple. My kindle version doesn’t recognise the chapters as chapters. It recognised the book as one ‘chapter’. So as I just started Book one of Cosette it says there is over 2 hours left in the ‘chapter’. It won’t take that long hopefully but that’s what it says.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Maybe it is the version of the book you have? Or I guess it could be different on the app. I think I would find it demotivating to look at that much time to go 😂😂 haha

[Keely]

It's probably the book version. At least that is better than telling me how long is left in the whole book, which it did for a while. It kept telling me I had about 53 hours left...

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Haha oh yes I never have it on that setting. Too demoralising 😉😂

[T]

I’m joining this thread late! I’ve had the book on my shelf for years. Time to catch up!

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Welcome Tina! You can do it 😉👍

[Sophie, The other one]

After a couple of months off I've finally picked this back up! I'm in the middle of the Cosette section and had forgotten how readable it was (once you get through the description of the Battle of Waterloo!). Hopefully I'll get back into the habit of reading a book of this after every other book I finish for now, until I get to the point that I want to read Les Mis to the end.

Keely - mine does the same. Haven't looked at how long it reckons for the whole book. 53 hours feels like an awful lot.

[Wishbear]

I'm joining late too. I started reading Les Mis in October with the goal of finishing it by Christmas but I put myself into challenge overload and reading wasn't fun anymore so I took a break. Then I got back into challenges rather than back into the book.

I picked it up again last weekend but I'm not sure where I am in the book as I switched from my Penguin classic edition (my favourite way to read almost any classic novel) to my Kobo so I can read later at night without bothering my husband. I think my wrist thanks me for the switch too.

I think I'm still in Cossette's story as they have just finished the graveyard scene but I'm mostly just enjoying the story. This is my first time reading the unabridged version. My gran gave me her copy of Jean Val Jean when I was in grade six and it was very much a favourite for many years. I don't have good recall on the story so when I read the parts in Les Mis, I get a kind of shock that I knew how it would go. I'm sill that way.

Anyway, I look forward to finally finishing the book with ya'll.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Welcome Mollie!