Les Miserables (Les Misérables) Kindle Edition

“I don't know whether it will be read by everyone, but it is meant for everyone. It addresses England as well as Spain, Italy as well as France, Germany as well as Ireland, the republics that harbour slaves as well as empires that have serfs. Social problems go beyond frontiers. Humankind's wounds, those huge sores that litter the world, do not stop at the blue and red lines drawn on maps. Wherever men go in ignorance or despair, wherever women sell themselves for bread, wherever children lack a book to learn from or a warm hearth, Les Misérables knocks at the door and says: "open up, I am here for you".”-Victor Hugo Les Miserables was published in 1862 by Victor Hugo. It is to date one of the longest novels ever written at 1,500 pages in English and 1,900 pages in French. The author wanted to address the social injustices of his time and believed that “so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless.” To write this book, Hugo drew on his experiences, for example, once he saved a prostitute from being arrested for assault as his character Monseigneur Madeline does. He visited places like the Battlefield of Waterloo, vacationed in Montreuil-sur-mer, was caught in the crossfire between the barricades and soldiers in Paris, and several years later, helped to smash barricades and suppress revolts. He also traveled extensively, took notes, interviewed people and researched. Les Miserables is a book unlike any other, describing spiritual dilemmas and the nitty gritty of life. The book, though long and full of essays and side stories, revolves around Jean ValJean, a convict sentenced to the galleys for stealing a loaf of bread. Every character, from orphaned Cosette, to the incorruptible lawman Javert, to old Mabeuf, to the weasel Thernardier, and revolutionary Enjolras, is fully explored, their lives tied together in fascinating ways. Hugo uses his work to show that the smallest good or clandestine deed will eventually come to light and affect your life. His characters come from all walks of life, make drastically different choices and come to separate endings, some happy, some less so. There are many lessons that could be gleaned from these pages, so many that they couldn’t fit in this paper. The importance of perseverance is a common theme in this book, meaning, the persistence to do something despite delay or difficulty. Marius shows this consistently, first when he is thrown out of his grandfather’s house and must make it in Paris without financial support, and then later after he sees Cosette. He sees her in the Luxembourg gardens and, despite knowing nothing about her, uses every avenue until he finally finds her. When he learns that Cosette will move to England, he goes to his grandfather, the man he loathes, to beg for the funds to follow her. Jean ValJean also portrays this quality while keeping Cosette safe, giving up everything for her. His life is one of sorrow, intense struggle, and sacrifice. Through everything, he showed a strong faith in God, even to the end of his life. He shows that our struggles in life do not mean we are doing the wrong thing, only that God has plans for us that we can not comprehend or begin to understand. This theme flows through the entire book. It makes you wonder, how did my comment in the grocery store affect another person or, how will being friendly affect your life in the future. It is interesting to consider. Fantine’s story showed the importance of sacrifice and good judgement. Her life would have been so much different if Tholomyes was a good man and father to Cosette. Instead, he dumped her and she ended up selling everything she had to save Cosette from the street. Also, leaving your daughter to people you barely know is not the best decision. Javert was an interesting character. He showed how people can be so focused on one thing, convinced that it is right, that they get the rug ripped out from under them when they are proven wrong. I learned that putting your identity in one place is harmful, not just to you, but to everyone around you. It becomes harmful when you develop tunnel vision. Javert was so focused on upholding the law that he did not believe a person could change, or that the law could be wrong. The Bishop of Digne proved how important godliness is. He was a saint, though he didn’t seem to know it. There are so many things we can learn from him. He did good deeds and never spoke about them, showing humility if ever they were brought up. He lived simply and offered everything he had to everyone who passed his threshold. He understood that everything he had was a gift from God, and did not begrudge thieves what they stole. He was kind, merciful, and generous. His sister was also a righteous woman, spending so much time on her knees that her health suffered from it. You will not find many people like this, they are rare gems. The Thernardiers showed how it is essential to know who you are talking to. I have rarely found a character in a book that is as twisted, slippery, and blackhearted as this man, especially not one who could still seem legit and innocent. Be careful where you place your foot lest you slip. This family also shows how dishonesty doesn’t just go away or shrink, it expands and will come back to haunt you later in life. They ruined their children by their wicked ways. Many characters in this book also exemplified helping those in need. The Bishop, of course, Jean ValJean, and Gavroche. Wherever Jean ValJean had the ability to help, he helped, usually with money, but at other times with actions, such as the time he pushed the cart off of Monseigneur Fauchlevant. Then there is Gavroche, a gamin who is lucky to get a meal and shelter on a good day. He took pity on two urchins he found wandering the street, gave them food, and shared his shelter for the night. This teaches that we should always help people in need as long as we have the ability to do so. I enjoyed this book. The characters were amazing, the plot was moving, and the descriptions were, well, descriptive. Through his writing he paints a picture of Paris as it was, so clearly that you can believe you live there and are experiencing the jests of the gamins, the fear of running from gendarmes, or the unrest of a city about to launch into yet another revolution. I loved how the author had so much first hand information and was able to write about existing problems so knowledgeably. Even though he wrote in a different time and place, his words are still relevant today. He gives the reader a way to value life and the ability to relate with and appreciate the position of those different from them. It is long to read, but totally worth it.

I feel humbled, elated, jubilant and serenely contented, after finishing the longest novel, I have ever read in my life! Victor Hugo’s tour de force Les Misérables. With its hefty size of 1,468 pages, completed in 31 days, I look back at my failed attempt, last year, when I gave-up around 26% on my Kindle.I’ve always wanted to read this magnum opus of a novel, but always felt intimidated by its Brobdingnagian size ( that too in tiny print)! To add fuel to the fire, the translations were quite candidly offputting as well. From time-to-time, the desire to read it, would surface, especially, when the 2012 movie came out, but would wane out naturally. However, last year, when I watched the 6-hour/episode of Les Mis on PBS’s Masterpiece, a mere desire grew up to be a full-fledged cacoethes to read the novel in full. Thank you, PBS!Out of the various translations, I found this one by Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee (Signet Classics), which is apparently the only complete and unabridged paperback edition available as one volume, to be the best. I really fell in love with this version, so much so that I was waiting for my evenings to continue where I had left it the previous day.I did struggle a bit over the Battle of Waterloo sections with all the intricate details that only Victor Hugo can muster. As a linguaphile, I found his obsession over argot and cant bemusingly bright, curious, and entertaining. While I was somewhat lost a bit over the coordinates on the Paris Sewers section, I was laughing out loud over his deep disdain over the concept of sewers and how he had thought it out as to the environmental degradation and the corrosive, pollutive effects of letting out millions of gallons of sewer into the Seine.I couldn’t stop marveling over the Chekhov’s gun of meticulous plots he had planted throughout the novel, so much so, not a minute detail was lost. Besides the plot, what a rich, noetic, thoughtful prose that makes it a feast to an ordinary reader, with a cornucopia of apothegms interspersed throughout the novel! Besides, I feel, as though right from Mabeuf and Fauchelevent to Jean Valjean and Cosette or Javert and Monsignor Bienvenu, the powerful characters in the novel – from small to big – are all indelibly etched in our collective consciousness. Oh well, what else to expect from a classic, eh?Thankfully, besides my Kindle version (of the same book), I decided to purchase the paper-version this January’21, which is what is now heavily underlined, scribbled, and highlighted to delirium, so much so that this 40-day old book now of mine has become threadbare and sports a look of several years old! Just to collect the notes, my scribbles, and my thoughts from this book to my personal vade mecum will take several weeks, if not months. And that is the experience, I will always savor, whenever I fondly recollect of reading Les Misérables in full, for the first time.While the 2012 movie was good, PBS’s Masterpiece version was better, the best experience was in reading Victor Hugo’s in his own words. I could see how, even in the 6-part/6-hour extended PBS Version certain directorial digressions had to be adopted for the screen.Also, while there were some teary moments ("No vacuum in the human heart!"), there were also some, real moments of exhilarating guffaws – for e.g., the scene when Jean Valjean had to escape out of the nunnery by faking his own death with Fauchelevent’s help.And, yes, I will be re-reading the same classic on my Kindle, in not too distant a future.

Produto bom, bem embalado e em perfeito estado. Só as páginas que são bem finas e frágeis

Great book! i love the story of Les mis and the theatre production of it. I have just finished reading this book, and can say it was as good as i expected but wow it isn't exaggerated that it is long! This version has just over 1450 pages, and claims to be the only complete and unabridged version. I went for this copy mainly for that reason.True there are sections that are more context than story, and are quite long, which some people may find unnecessary. Yet, i found them very interesting as you learn a lot of the history of that time from a french perspective, from a person living in those times. These chapters are mainly the first book of each character; these include a description on the battle of Waterloo, context about Louis-Philippe and the July Revolution of 1830. I don't know if these are parts that are cut from other versions or not but they can be skipped without it making a huge difference, except maybe the July Revolution one.The one part that i thought to be a bit too long was the first book of Fantine's volume; so like the first 50ish pages. They are just background about the bishop who let Valjean take his silver. Probably so that the reader can understand better why he let him take it. I would say that if you persevere past that point then book 2 introduces Valjean and the story picks up and is great.I wanted the full version of this because i wanted to be able to choose for myself what parts weren't needed. Also, i didn't want a version which had simplified the language. Also, this is an adaption of the Charles E Wilbour translation, which i think was the fist? maybe.So overall, if you want to read about the context of the story and events in history that happened during this period, and are not bothered about the fact that the language is a bit more complex with long words and descriptions, then i recommend this book.

There can't be two opinions about Les Miserables . It is one of the greatest novels in the world and Signet Edition is the Best.

Melhor que o esperado, capa e impressao de melhor qualidade que a maioria dos papersback que encontramos e de pocket books tradicionais. Recomendo.

It's size is not a common one. It's hard to hold and read.