The longest book I read in 2019 was Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo. I had meant to read it for years, but kept putting it off. It’s really long! If I read it in print form, it would have been 1463 pages! Fortunately, I listened to it on audiobook instead. Even still, the version I listened to was 60 hours and 26 minutes long. There are different translations; I bought this one.
If someone were to try to query this novel today, they’d have a hard time getting it through an agent, I think. The story is epic in scope, and while it spends a lot of time focused on Jean Valjean, it meanders and talks about many other characters that touched his life in one way or another, digresses into discussions about topics as varied as slang and nunneries around the time of the French Revolution, and is VERY long. Still, the writing is brilliant, the characters are vivid, and yes, he does make discussions of French slang interesting. I’m glad he didn’t have to query this book today, because the world is better for this masterpiece.
Les Misérables inspired some of my favorite books, including Legend and Sky Without Stars, which was one of the reasons I was so eager to read this book. Now that I’ve read Victor Hugo’s original, I can say that those books I love so much were loosely based on this book. They all have a guy trying to chase down a criminal, and seem to have a compassion for people desperate to eke out a living, and not a lot else. Still, all three are worth reading.
What I Liked About This Book
There are many things I liked about this book. For one, I loved the setting. Les Misérables is located in many places around France in the decades after the French Revolution, but Hugo brings them to life. I’ll never be able to travel to this time and place in history, but I feel like I visited virtually. Since Hugo lived during this time, I’m sure he’s fairly accurate on the details.
The characters are wonderful and varied. There’s a saintly bishop, a girl who, after making a small mistake in falling in love with the wrong person, is left with a child she cannot care for, and an unscrupulous innkeeper. Of course, there’s also Jean Valjean, a hardened convict turned saint, and his pursuer, Inspector Javert. Looking back from our time, we realize Monsieur Valjean shouldn’t have been sent to prison in the first place, but that was common back then. Then again, less than 100 years prior to this story, cat-burning was an acceptable form of entertainment too.
I also enjoyed the epic scope of this book, even though at times, I wasn’t sure where the book was going. The characters’ lives all intertwine in ways that aren’t immediately obvious. The love of one bishop touches the life of Jean Valjean, who touches other lives. Perhaps that’s a point of the book. Our lives touch others in many ways, for good and bad.
What I Didn’t Like About the Book
I don’t really have anything bad to say about this book, although I would have liked to know more about Thénardier’s sons and what ultimately happened to them. But that’s really a small criticism for a book this long.
About the Audiobook
I listened to this book on audiobook, which has its good and bad points. It made a book of this length easy to digest, especially when trying to read other books too. However, it made some of the French words difficult to listen to. I speak a bit of French, but not enough to hear all the French words and know how to spell them. Or sometimes keep them apart. I tend to find learning things by looking at the written word easier than processing things audibly. Your mileage on the audiobook/printed book may vary. The narrator, George Guidall, did an outstanding job pronouncing all the French words. There are other audiobook versions, but that’s the one I listened to.
Conclusion
If Les Misérables is one of those books you’ve been meaning to read for years, I say go for it. It can be difficult because of its length and age, but it’s worth the trouble. I don’t think it’s a book I’ll reread every year, but I’m glad I read it at least once. There are certainly other classics worth reading, but if you’ve been on the fence about this one, it’s worth the read.