Customer Reviews

Les Miserables (Enriched Classics (Pocket))

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I like teaching this novel, but I don't have time to teach the full text. This abridgement does a good job of capturing the fullness of the story and the characters in about 40% of the pages. I like the historical timelines at the beginning and the Notes sections at the end. My students find the novel easy to manage, too.

The power of God's love is exhibited in the transformation of this individual, Jean Valjean. This tale follows his life, from the young convict that is broken and wretched, to the matured, changed man that has found restoration through the Lord. This is a wonderful story, but the original version is way too long with French history that probably goes on for hundreds of pages. Fortunately, this condensed version cuts out a lot of the unnecessary rambling history. I wish I had read this version originally because I just ended up skipping a lot of it anyway. Trust me, you won't miss anything.

It's no wonder Les Miserables is a classic. Victor Hugo takes the reader into a psychological realm that was well ahead of his time. There are no human virtues, and few human follies, that this book doesn't explore. -Stephen Prins, author of: Strife of the Lorin