Les Misérables (Signet Classics) [Unabridged] [Mass Market Paperback]

Victor Hugo (Author), Lee Fahnestock (Translator), Norman MacAfee (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995

Victor Hugo's towering novel of Jean Valjean, his unjust imprisonment, and his lifelong flight from a relentless police officer.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Hugo's classic tale set against the backdrop of political upheaval in 19th-century France retains its timeless appeal in this notably condensed rendition of the struggles of former convict Jean Valjean. While the abridgment inevitably cuts many of the intricate subplots and minor characters who enrich Hugo's vast tome, this suspenseful central plot tracing Valjean's endeavor to emerge from desperate circumstances while being pursued by the duty-obsessed Inspector Javert remains intact and comprehensible to listeners. The principal characters retain their epic proportions, and the major themes of redemption through good works and the importance of authentic charity are undiminished. Narrator Michael York adds vigor and distinct characterizations to the broad cast of characters in this fittingly dramatic performance. Suitable for collections that do not already contain one of the many audio versions of this work (e.g., Audio Reviews, LJ 5/1/93).?Linda Bredengerd, Hanley Lib., Univ. of Pittsburgh, Bradford
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

''When I was fifteen, I was completely bowled over by Les Miserables. All my life long I have continually been discovering fresh aspects of Hugo's genius.'' --Andre Maurois --This text refers to the MP3 CD edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 1488 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics; Unabridged Version edition (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451525264
• ISBN-13: 978-0451525260
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (437 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Hugo, Victor
  • #54 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > General > Literary

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

574 of 615 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Give me 100 pages and your life will change, May 9, 2006

By 

Paul Lehmann (Dallas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Les Misérables (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

Here's my story about how I came to love this book.

If you're an average schmuck, with a job (not in academia), a life, and some curiosity, this review is for you.

If you're a literary blueblood, this review isnt for you. If your sworn enemy in life used to be your closest friend until they disagreed with you about whether Beowulf was a real person, be offended by my apathy and go away. If you had to turn off the TV newscasts on 9/11 because they were getting in the way of your arguments of whether sonnets devalue prose, just move on down to the next review.

I'm not a Literature buff. I tolerated English in high school and college because I had to, skipping what I could, skimming what I could get away with, and bluffing where needed. The thought picking up a stack of books and being dictated a marathon schedule to read them by still makes me bristle with quiet rebellion.

After school I ended up with a job with lots of down time between bursts of madness. I decided to make use of slow time going back and leisurely reading some of the 'classics' that I probably should have read before. Twain, Tolstoy, Dickens, Stowe and others pulled from the titles of Cliff's Notes (Hey, if Cliff says they're important....) Funny, but classics are much more palatable when they are read on a leisurely timeframe. Some I liked, some I couldn't care less about, but Les Miserables was, literally, a life-changing text.

I fell into Les Mis completely by accident. On day I forgot to pack whatever book I was working on that day and dug around looking for something other than Harlequins and Clancys. I picked up Hugo's Hunchback more by default than choice, liked the book, and in the closing commentary a writer mentioned that Hunchback was merely a prelude to his greatest work, Les Mis.

But starting Les Mis was a trial. French words scattered in the text were stumbling blocks. Hugo's text is a jealous mistress- it demands your full attention while reading. Les Mis is not in the genre of modern novels...grab the reader's attention in the first pages or lose them forever. I got bored reading about a bishop's daily routine. It takes 100 pages for the story to kick in. I stopped reading it twice, only to pick it back up a few months later and start all over.

But, as anyone who was read the novel can tell you, those first chapters are essential to the power of the story that follows.

I pushed my way through, got caught up in the current of the story once it began, and floated out the other side a better human being because of it.

Les Mis is a fantastic, detailed journey through human psychology. With 1400 pages, subplots, a cyclone of characters over decades of history, it can be difficult to distill WHAT the book is about into one word, but here's my try: Redemption.

Les Mis can be trying at times. Hugo is very detailed. He takes the reader though various side trips along the way. More than once he spends 100 pages setting up two pages of storyline. But his detail produces a work that is untouched in its ability to reveal the characters.

We see the difficulty in Valjean weighing wealth and praise from the multitudes against "one voice cursing in the darkness."

We see a character in Fantine pulled from innocence with a slow cruelty found nowhere else in lit: being turned for more misery (in surprising ways)like a pig on a split...with a reader helpless to intervene.

I see the police detective Javert as an embodiment of 'the system,'not necessarily as evil as one reviewer suggests. Hugo's penchant for overly-through descriptions adds multiple dimensions to what would otherwise be a flat character somewhere between a Napoleonic Joe Friday and Robobcop. We see Javert recite all the reasons he is right...and Hugo agrees with Javert... but we see that sometimes there is a larger truth than being 'right.'

Writing this a decade later I still see in my mind one of the most powerful images in the story: a middle-aged man and a small girl, both written off by the society around them, each with little in common with the other,walking down a deserted rural road, both clinging to each other because the other is all they have in the world.

For those who are used to watching all the loose ends coming together at the end of every hour of television, Les Mis will be a rude shift. It ends in a way that can be described as happy in its own sense though everyone doesnt ride off into the sunset or end with a joke and everyone laughing.

Frankly, I think it is impossible to appreciate the nuance of the musical without reading the unabridged text.

I finished reading Les Mis for the first time over 10 years ago. I still remember reading the last page, closing the book, and spending hours reflecting on the immensity of what I had experienced.

Girlfriend read it on my recommendation with similar effect.

Friend decided to stick it in his reading lists on my suggestion. When he started, he came to me frustrated with the slow start. "Is all this about the Bishop necessary to the story?" I said yes and he kept reading. A decade and hundreds of classic novels later still names Les Mis as his favorite book.

Shortly after reading it the first time, he recommended the book to yet another colleague looking for something to read to pass the time. As he handed it over, he issued a challenge: "Give me 100 pages, and your life will change."

He did, it did, and I now offer my friend's challenge to you!

115 of 119 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Characters, Poetic Plot Make This the Best Book Ever, April 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Les Misérables (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a high school sophomore amd we had to read this book for school last semester. Honestly I wasn't encouraged by it's seemingly impossible thickness, nor by its slow start. Having never before seen any Les Mis movie or play or the musical (which is ALMOST as awesome as the book) I didn't know anything about the plot or the great characters and the whole experience was new to me. This is the only book I've ever read that has kept me up hours as night just to finish one beautiful part after another. My sister made fun of me that I would always talk to the book but when the believable characters act in ways that so thoroughly move your heart it's hard to resist sighing or commentary. Hugo is truly a master at combining every element of everything human to create characters from all walks of life and intertwine them into a poetically romantic plot that can only be described as beautiful. But don't skip the descriptions just to move from event to event. Hugo, I feel, has the unique ability to convey idea and thoughts and descriptions in a way that touches your heart and makes you think and yet at the same time doesn't bog you down with flowery adjectives. The language in his page-long paragraph descriptions flow so naturally you find yourself nodding and flipping pages and before you know it you're on to the next event in the plot. My friends laughed at me when we recently traveled to Paris and I wanted to buy the two-volume unabridged original Les Miserables- even though I don't know a word of French! It is a tragedy for any person with a poetic mind or a romantic heart to miss this book-truly a human classic.

77 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful Tips for Reading Les Miserables, August 9, 2005

By 

Mitzi "Ditsy Mitzi" (Bristol) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Les Misérables (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

Having not read many literature books in my lifetime, undertaking to read one of the finest piece of work ever written is a challenge.

If you are like me and have read the reviews on Amazon before tackling this gigantic novel then I do not need to go on about how great this book is and what it is all about.

Also, if like me, you are a beginner in the world of fine literature, the following are a few tips I would give to those who haven't read Les Miserables. Here goes:

1. Get the book and do not be intimidated by its size. It is huge but the chapters are not very long.

2. Make sure to buy the Signet Classic version translated by Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee (ISBN 0-451-5256-4). One reviewer said that this was the best version available and I totally agree with that. This is the new version based on the 19th Century Charles E. Wilbour translation. I had another version of this book and this one is by far the only completely unabridged paperback and also more reader-friendly.

3. Have a dictionary handy as there are many words that need translation.

4. Knowing the French language/history is a bonus but not required.

5. Have patience - this book will require time to read and when I say read, I mean savor each word. Do not read hastily or skip over parts that you think are not important. Yes, Mr. Hugo is very meticulous and detail-oriented in his description of characters, things and places but by reading and in some cases (like me), re-reading you will realize that they were written because they are essential to the plot of this book. Also make sure that when you are reading the book, there are no distractions, i.e., tv, radio...as this book requires total concentration in order to fully appreciate it.

6. Do not be tempted to see the movie or show instead of reading the book. Read the book first and then go see the show or watch the movie if you want to. Be prepared to be disappointed with movie/musical as they cannot convey the, emotion, wisdom, love, etc... contained in the written version. Seeing the movie/musical instead or reading the book is like watching a Yankees game on TV instead of being at the stadium in NYC cheering along with the rest of the fans. Well you get my drift....

7. Be prepared to be changed by this book. No, it is not the Bible but it does deal with all aspect of human emotions and by reading it, you will want to be a better person. I know I do!!!

With that being said, enjoy the book as it is a reading experience that you will not soon forget.