Les Miserables

Carolita · Post by **Carolita** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:58 am

Has anyone out there read it? Any thoughts? Now, don't like spoil the plot for me, but I would like to know what other people thought of it.

I just started reading it last week and am at the point where Jean Valjean comes into the story.

...and I finally learned how to pronounce the title of the book! $\:D/$ (thanks to Jared and Google

)

Raskolnikov · Post by **Raskolnikov** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 11:09 am

Yeah, I got about halfway and stalled... I liked it though, I need to finish it. I won't spoil anything for you.

Rachael Blackgaard · Post by **Rachael Blackgaard** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 4:24 pm

I haven't read the book since I was 6, but I still remember the words to most of the songs from the musical!

"Lovely ladies, smell them in the air..."

"Valjean, at last, we meet each other plain. Monsieour, Le Mayor, you'll wear a different chai-ain."

"At the end of the day you're another day older..."

"Red, the color of their blood..."

Ah, yes. Good show. I don't remember much about the Revolution-related plot, only the interpersonal plots. Although that's how I've always been...

Me · Post by Me » Fri Jul 21, 2006 4:30 pm

I haven't read the book, but I got to go to a Broadway performance of it 7 years ago. It was pretty fun. Certainly not on a level with Gilbert and Sullivan, but pretty good.

Post by **Catspaw** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:19 pm

I haven't read the book, though I have heard FOTF's RT version, which I enjoyed. Are you reading an unabridged copy, Carolita? Because I had a friend who read it in French and said that it was really, really long and had lots of long passages about armies and other random stuff that most people would be rather bored by, so I've kind of never wanted to read the entire thing.

But if it's really good, I should sometime!

COWBOY OF TEXAS · Post by **COWBOY OF TEXAS** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:55 pm

Didn't it take like 15 years for the author to write it?

I never read it, but I have seen at least 2 movie versions.

-Cowboy

Thursday Next · Post by **Thursday Next** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 12:17 am

I read the unabridged version (yes I consider myself a brave soul for doing that) I have to say I liked it. I also have the entire symphonic soundtrack for the musical and a DVD with the concert at the Royal Albert Concert Hall.

EvangelineWalker · Post by **EvangelineWalker** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 9:02 pm

I read Les Miserables about 3 years ago. It was good. Very long...But good. It's one of my favorite books, in fact.

Lord_Kappa · Post by **Lord_Kappa** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 11:01 pm

I have read the unnabridged version, the longest book I've completed so far. It was very very good. I enjoyed it imensly and I think I'm going to read it again soon. (I miss it)

Catspaw, the French and the English versions are the same as long as the version you get is unnabridged, and yes, there are long passages about armies and stuff. An entire chapter is dedicated to the Battle of Waterloo (Because two minor characters met there) and other passages to things political. It's a book that covers a broad spectrum of readers.

The musical for this book is really good in my opinion. I love to listen to it, and reading the book builds greatly on the emotion of the songs, when you know more about the characters singing you connect on a whole new level.

I could talk about this book all day long!

Post by **Catspaw** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 11:12 pm

Lord_Kappa wrote:
Catspaw, the French and the English versions are the same as long as the version you get is unnabridged, and yes, there are long passages about armies and stuff. An entire chapter is dedicated to the Battle of Waterloo (Because two minor characters met there) and other passages to things political. It's a book that covers a broad spectrum of readers.

Thanks! I wasn't totally sure if the two versions would be the same, though I thought that they might be. I still don't know if I want to tackle the unabridged version, but I've read so many positive comments on this thread that I feel like I should!

LizzieG · Post by **LizzieG** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 12:26 am

I haven't read it, but my English teacher recommended it when we were reading Crime and Punishment. At the very least, I want to hear the FOTF radio theatre version.

The Top Crusader · Post by **The Top Crusader** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 11:03 am

I'm somewhat familiar with the musical (and we did some stuff from it in high school choir) but I'm not overtly familiar with the book! $\:D/$

Carolita · Post by **Carolita** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:30 pm

Catspaw wrote:I haven't read the book, though I have heard FOTF's RT version, which I enjoyed. Are you reading an unabridged copy, Carolita? Because I had a friend who read it in French and said that it was really, really long and had lots of long passages about armies and other random stuff that most people would be rather bored by, so I've kind of never wanted to read the entire thing. But if it's really good, I should sometime!

Nope, it's abridged. This one, as a matter of fact: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookse ... 0662&itm=1

Thanks for y'all's replies. I'm looking forward to getting further in it...it sounds good...but long.

Arwen · Post by **Arwen** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 6:56 pm

I started to read it, but I got bored. However, I don't read many classics, so I'm not a good judge.

Thursday Next · Post by **Thursday Next** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:34 pm

Arwen wrote:I started to read it, but I got bored. However, I don't read many classics, so I'm not a good judge.

Les Miserable is one of the more tedious classics to read even I had difficulties staying with it and about half my book collection are classics.