This book was quite a challenge to read in its entirety–1230ish pages in my edition–but it was a journey worth taking. The translator, Norman Denny, has written an introduction to the book, explaining the liberties that he has taken in translating the text. Two appendixes (one about convents, one about argot) were removed from the text and banished to the end of the book but they are not that long, so I read them too.
Description from the edition I read:
Victor Hugo’s tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him. But his attempts to become a respected member of the community are constantly put under threat: by his own conscience, when, owing to a case of mistaken identity, another man is arrested in his place; and by the relentless investigations of the dogged policeman Javert. It is not simply for himself that Valjean must stay free, however, for he has sworn to protect the baby daughter of Fantine, driven to prostitution by poverty.
A compelling and compassionate view of the victims of early nineteenth-century French society, Les Misérables is a novel on an epic scale, moving inexorably from the eve of the battle of Waterloo to the July Revolution of 1830.
However, the book is very long and it was hard to stay focused on it. I started reading it on January 1, 2018, as part of a chapter a day challenge. The book in its long version has 365 chapters, many of them quite short. But that approach did not work well for me and I was reading it in e-book format. About a third of the way through I switched to a paperback copy, but that still did not keep me from reading in fits and starts. I will admit that parts of the book were a slog to read. Worth it in the end, of course. By the beginning of December 2018 I still had only read 800 pages. At that point I could not give up so I read the remaining 400 pages and finished at the end of January 2019.
Some parts of the story just flew by, and I was emotionally gripped by the story. The parts that diverted from the story and showed us a picture of France at the time were there for a reason and sometimes provided necessary background for the story. Yet they were slower to read and broke the momentum.
The last 150 pages of the book was a very emotional section of the book, pulling it all together, and I am glad I read the book. I don't recommend it to everyone, for the reasons I have mentioned above, but I will say that if you are interested, the book is worth trying and it has a lot to offer.
There are different translations of the unabridged book, and if you are interested in the differences, Brona's overview covers that very well.
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Publisher: Penguin Books, 1982 (orig. pub. 1862).
Length: 1232 pages
Format: Trade Paperback
Setting: France
Genre: Fiction, Classic
Source: I purchased this book.
Translation from French by Norman Denny.
14 comments:
Wow, I didn't realise that Les Mis was twelve hundred pages long! Well done you for getting through it. I must confess that I'm not tempted but there are other long books I am tempted by and because I'm coping OK with Moby-Dick I plan to give them a go in 2020. I'm very impressed by your staying power with this though!
What an achievement, Tracy! I know I started reading this in my teens, when I went through a whopping-great-big-huge-novels phase, but I can't remember finishing it so probably didn't.
I'm currently being tempted by the copy I have on my shelves of Marguerite Steen's The Sun is My Undoing at ~1300 pages, but . . .
It is a long story, isn't it, Tracy? But it has so much to say, and there are so many levels to it that it's worth the effort - well, at least it was to me. I really like the way Hugo makes commentary, but doesn't lose sight of the story, if that makes sense.
Yet ANOTHER book I "probably should read" but I'm pretty certain will never do so. Does that sentence even make sense? Anyway, I'll pass, though there seem to be some good plays / films of it.
David Bellos - who got to be an eminent professor of French Literature without ever reading Les Mis - wrote "The Novel of the Century" as an introduction to it, inspired by his finally getting round to it.
Cath, I think the thing that kept me motivated was that the good sections were really really good, and encouraged me that there would be more. And I really did not know the full story of Les Miserables, so I did want to know how it ended.
Very long books are not my favorite thing, John, and splitting it into small chunks did not help that much. But in the end I am glad I stuck it out. 1300 pages now, that is just too much. So of course I had to look up Marguerite Steen. She was a very interesting person.
Looking back on it now, Margot, I can appreciate the sections of commentary that I felt were dragging down the experience. I learned a lot and it was a good way to learn about history and France.
I am enjoying the classics I have been reading more than I expected, Rick, but at this stage in life, I want to read what appeals to me and not worry about "shoulds". I haven't seen any of the adaptations of Les Miserables, although I am sure I would enjoy them if I did.
I did not know about that book by David Bellows, Roger. Thanks, I may seek it out someday and learn more about the novel and France.
I think I'll give this one a miss. I'm quite happy to read chunksters but could never manage a slow read. I did watch the recent TV series and found that quite depressing.
The book does have some depressing aspects, too, Katrina. I did not know much about the story and wasn't expecting that. Overall it has an uplifting theme. But I don't like the idea of really huge books. I want to read An American Tragedy but it is close to 900 pages.
Well done, I don't think I could read this. I do have a TV adaptation recorded that I ought to watch.
Looking back, I am amazed I did read it, Col, since I so allergic to longer books.
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