My Edition: 2 Volumes, 981 pages, year 1994
Published by: Wordsworth
Rating: 4 kisses
Summary: http://www.online-literature.com/victor_hugo/les_miserables/
This is the story of Jean Valjean, a convict freshly out of prison after serving nineteen years hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread. The original sentence was five years; unsuccessful escape attempts and the resulting additional time pushed it to a grand total of nineteen years. He believed that his sentence was grossly out of proportion to his crime, and by the time of his release he had built up a tremendous bitterness toward society. This bitterness was only intensified by the rejection and scorn which he experienced in attempting to find work and lodging immediately after his release; he was determined to have his revenge against society and against God in some form or fashion. But an unthinkable act of mercy and generosity by a saintly small-town bishop drastically alters the trajectory of Valjean’s life. From that point on, Valjean determines to live as an honest man, and through the rest of the story he struggles–quite imperfectly at times–to become an honest man. Javert, an extremely zealous police chief who once supervised Valjean’s work gang, is never far behind, and is determined to have Valjean back in prison for breaking parole. Monsieur and Madame Thenardier, the owners of an inn in Montfermeil, are also pursuing Valjean for their own corrupt and dishonest ends. The story takes us from one end of France to the other, from the very top of Parisian society to the very bottom, from Waterloo to the July Revolution of 1830 and the student-led uprising of 1832 which serves as the story’s climax
Favorite Quote: "It is nothing to die, it is frightful not to live."
Review:
Finally. This is a really BIG novel to tackle but really really worth it. Its like a Pinoy telanovela wherein the characters world are so small that their fate would meet most of the time. I love it because its soooo long that you would definitely love the characters especially Marius, Jean Valjean, Eponine (yes, Eponine!), Gavroche and Cossette. However, some parts are really boring such as Waterloo story, story about the bishop, Hugo's opinion about convents and sewers. I can't help but fall asleep during those parts. But you definitely have to go through with it since they're connected to the story.
A must-read classic :)
My soundtrack:
1. Love Hurts by Incubus
2. Bad Kids by Black Lips
3. I Want You by Kings of Leon
4. Only Exception by Paramore
5. Fallen by Jason Derulo
Lea Salonga as Eponine...
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