Les Miserables

By: Victor Hugo

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 57 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Set in the Parisian underworld and plotted like a detective story, Les Miserables follows Jean Valjean, originally an honest peasant, who has been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. A hardened criminal upon his release, he eventually reforms, becoming a successful industrialist and town mayor. Despite this, he is haunted by an impulsive former crime and is pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert.

Hugo describes early 19th-century France with a sweeping power that gives his novel epic stature. Among the most famous chapters are the account of the battle of Waterloo and Valjean's flight through the Paris sewers.

(P)1996 Blackstone Audiobooks

Too Many Words

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would like to recommend this book. Its obviously a classic for a reason. The problems is that as you are reading it, it's pretty clear that Victor Hugo was being paid by the word. No one is ever just happy. They are always "happy and joyful". Similarly, no one is sad, but instead "sad and miserable". Despite that, I was loving the book. And then I wasn't. The problem was the Hugo sometimes stops the action of the story to add in some digression that is - at best - peripherally related to the story.For example, there are two hundred pages on the Battle of Bordino that are completely unrelated to the story. Finally, after 196 pages of French history, the character of Th??nardier is introduced. I got through about three quarters of the book, but after the third or fourth very very long digression, I just gave up.I love a long novel (The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite), but this book needs a lot of trimming.

If you???ve listened to books by Victor Hugo before, how does this one compare?

About the same. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame contains long pointless descriptions of Parisian architecture that do nothing but pad the book's word count.

What about Frederick Davidson???s performance did you like?

Mr Davidson is fantastic as always.

Was Les Miserables worth the listening time?

Not really. This might actually be better listened to in abridged form.

An investment of time with good dividends

I figured I was long over due to tackle this tome. I'm glad I chose audio as the format and that I chose this edition. Now and then I referred to the text, for discussion purposes with friends. I found that this translation, by Charles Weber, to be superior to the translation of the ebook print version I had (by Isabel Florence Hapgood). When reading/listening to novels originally written in another language, the translation can make or break the experience. Comparing this translation to the Hapgood translation illustrates that point. I much prefer this translation. I also found the style and accent of narrator Frederick Davidson to be a very good fit. There are times that this older recording has some background noises, sometimes odd ones (once I could hear birds - yes, I double-checked to confirm they were in the recording). Those noises didn't bother me or detract from my enjoyment, but others might feel differently about them.

I don't think I need to say anything about the novel itself - it's all been said and, unlike Hugo, I'm not one to belabor the point. ;) I'll just say this: if you think you know the story because you've seen the musical or various movies, you've done the equivalent of a 2 day tour of a continent. There is more, much more, to be experienced.

A Monumental Masterwork

Les Miserables is a huge sprawling novel. It's very LONG!! But don't let that deter you. While it takes its own sweet time to evolve, grow and conclude the characters are fascinating and the story is beautifully painted by the author Victor Hugo. The language (translated from the originally published French) is poetic and highly evocative, occasionally offering flashes of humour in amongst the emotive scenes.

Some readers will find the heavy descriptions of historical aspects of French politics and its monarchy rather tedious, lapsing into many pages between the main storyline. Indeed, towards the end I found myself scooting past some of this detail. And, you also need to set aside plenty of time to read this unabridged version - it took me more than three weeks of constant commitment to plough through the work. But, having said all that, this is truly a literary masterpiece - most enjoyable and well worth the effort.

Wonderful!!!

One of the best audiobooks I have experienced so far! An absolute delight! Davidson narrates perfectly! You really feel the emotion. Loved it! Thank you Frederick for this masterpiece!

Room for improvement

Really love this story and I thought he was clear and very good at telling the story. The only issues I had was that he could have done a better job with the female voices.

Best Novel Ever Written

I love classic English and French lit, and this book may be my favorite of them all. I love how Hugo brings his characters from evil to good, and he describes human characters and the political scene of France in such a lively and engaging manner. Fantastic narration!!

A story of redemption, the story of an era

If you could sum up Les Miserables in three words, what would they be?

History - although telling the story of an individual's life, Les Miserables also paints a detailed and expansive picture of an era in French history. Not being a student of history, I cannot attest to the level of historical accuracy. However, the novel presents a detailed picture of the political, social, and moral climate of the time (1789–1832). The author presents a number of detailed and at times lengthy digressions into various of these topics which often seem to have only passing relevance to the action of the story, but do act to set a mood and context. Hugo is not just telling the story of Jean Valjean, he is illustrating fundamental concepts of the human condition, some specific to his time, but some timeless as well...and this is probably why this novel holds the place it does in the world of classic literature. Redemption - it seems that the concept of redemption was not considered in the criminal justice system, or even in the moral philosophy, of the time. Jean Valjean pays for the theft of bread - to feed his sister's starving children - with nearly two decades of incarceration (extended by a number of foolish attempts at escape). Once his term is served, however, it seems that society continues the punishment and virtually leaves him no choice but to return to a life crime. At the beginning, Jean Valjean is not a noble person crushed by circumstance, he is basically a simple minded brute. As his story progresses, however, he does receive a small degree of respect and faith which is the spark which sets him on the path to consciously redeeming himself through service to others.Tragedy - for all the good that Jean Valjean ultimately performs, it seems that society will not recognize the possibility of redemption and he must fight and flee the past for his entire life. It seems that for every step forward he takes he is beaten down and risks losing all the good he has done. The saddest part, is that being a product of this society, he cannot seem to forgive himself either. For all the good he accomplishes, he cannot seem to grant himself forgiveness for those crimes he has committed so long ago.

What other book might you compare Les Miserables to and why?

At this time I would have to say that Les Miserables is somewhat unique in my "reading" experience. It's been quite a while since I've had the opportunity to enjoy literature for literature's sake, so I don't have a lot of fresh references upon which to draw. That being said, this is a great book against which future readings will be measured.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

While there are moments in this book that moved me by the ability of the human spirit to overcome, and even soar in the face of overwhelming oppression, the overall reaction was often one of sadness. Sadness for both the individual sufferings of Jean Valjean and other characters in the story and sadness for the overall society painted by the book. While it is good to see that we (as in humanity) have moved forward, there are still unfortunately too many parallels to be found in the world of today. At the same time, the book is a strong reminder that struggles are only lost by surrender, despite external outcomes, victory is of the spirit and is achieved by how the struggle is faced.

Abridged or Unabridged....That Is the Question!

Unless you really enjoy reading French or Church history, or philosophy or understand French or Latin, I would recommend that you listen to the abridged version of this classic. I would say that over half of the book covered the above and it was frustrating listening to so much of those things and not the actual story and would often zone out until I heard a character's name. I ended up listening to the second half of the book in double speed. It was amazing how I got used to that speed.

Having said all that, I am pleased that I finished the book. I now have a better understanding of the story and the characters and look forward to re-watching the musical again.

Frederick Davidson was a wonderful reader and would have no qualms listening to his voice again.

Poor narrator

I was looking forward to listening to this amazing classic, but within a few minutes I realized that I just could not listen to this narrator’s annoying voice for even a few minutes, much less 60 hours.

Magnificent!

A literary masterpiece. You'll understand why this is a classic. The performance was flawless.