Customer Reviews

Les Miserables, French Edition

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

A few words of advice about Les Miserables...

Buy an old copy (am I allowed to say that!). I found mine in an antique bookstore. It's an old beat-up hardcover. It just makes the whole experience more...historic!

Dare to read the unabridged edition. If Hugo could have told this story in fewer words he would have. Don't cheat yourself out of the real thing. Charles Wilbour's translation is an excellent one.

Take your time with it. When you get frustrated by lengthy explanations and background information, put it down and come back to it. But don't give up!

Les Miserables is one of the greatest stories every written. Hugo brings to life such weighty concepts as Grace, Forgiveness, Repentance, and Redemption and Salvation. The spiritual imagery is very rich. The interaction between Jean Valjean and the Bishop is absolutely life changing.

"Jean Valjean my brother: you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!"

... but this was the most popular book, read by soldiers, North and South, during our Civil War. We should be better for hearing democracy in Beethoven, piety in Bach, compassion in Mozart -- and perhaps we do, one person at a time, but I fear we are always running out of time.

I read this book thirty years ago, over two winters, setting it down midway in March 1977 I believe. I had heard a near-complete reading on NPR, spread over at least a month of Saturday afternoons. I always made sure I was home for that; I was a single parent, then, father of a seven year old boy. To use a cheap term of the day, I could 'relate' to Jean Valjean, and I was thrilled by the music that opened each episode: the March to the Scaffold from Berlioz' "Symphony Fantastique." After the final episode, I went out and bought the Modern Library Giant, and began to read.

The radio production was not complete! While I found the details surrounding the Battle of Waterloo truly informative -- the description of the battlefield as a captial A was a vivid model of simplicity -- the long section on the history of the nuns' order where Valjean and his young ward take refuge, and where she is educated, invited a lot of skimming.

Skim where you will, but try to read the complete book. At some later time you can return to those pages you skimmed, and discover what you missed.

Les Miserable, The Brothers Karamazov, War and Peace, Moby-Dick, Joseph and His Brothers, Remembrance Of Things Past (okay, In Search Of Lost Time), Ulysses -- all of these demand much of us, particularly our time. That is a good thing, considering the many ways modern life invites us to waste time, and I could not begin to choose the best among these. Fortunately I don't have to; I might run to "As I Lay Dying" or "Lord Jim" instead.

Meanwhile, I'm glad I devoted a chunk of my life to this book. I do know I emerged a better man for that, and how sad I was when I read the final page, and closed the book.

I just finished reading the original unabridged version of this book, in French, and believe me, I was moved. So when my wife and I wanted to get an abridged version for her to read in English, we bought this one. On skimming through the book, and maybe it's just us, but we found no trace of Fantine's story before she ended up in Jean Valjean's care, or of Jean Valjean's rescue of Cosette from the Thénardiers, which are both very moving parts. If those are missing, there are probably other very touching and important parts missing. We plan on taking our version back and getting the full version. It would be better to just skip past the sections that talk about the convent, the battle of Waterloo, the sewer system, etc., because they're wasy to skip, and the rest of the book will still be there. Honestly, Les Mis is probably the best book I've ever read, but it has to be purchased in it's full format to really be truly appreciated.

Hugo's books are not an easy read in a sense that they are very much emotionally involving. About 15 years ago I was pulled in by "The Man Who Laughs." The kind of emotional punch it packed was astounding. During the same year I first read "Les Miserables" - and for me Jean became a hero to look up to. But it's not only a book about one remarkable individual - it is also a book about the world we live in, just a moment's pass on eternal clock.
Hugo places the reader in the midst of dark valleys of 19th century Paris or it countryside and one can't help following Jean and Cosette with Javert hot on their heels. One reason we feel so much "inside" the story is that each character, even the non-sequential ones, are incredibly well-drawn, their faces (or mugs) are as clear as etchings. But it's not only that, otherwise it would be easily dismissed as so many works by so-called "scholars". The narrative is infused with white-hot passion. Yes, Hugo is taking a preacher-like stance on many issues, but without that the story would be simply entertaining but not involving and provocative which it remains to the present day. (After all, the villains have just changed their masks. Instead of unwashed rags they may now wear Italian business suits.)
This book cries out to its readers to take action, to ask themselves if their lives have meaning, to stop the pursuit of worldly possessions and concentrate on the pursuit of the moral ones. It is also about the second chances, about real and fake love, and about misplaced guilt and internal conflict.
I really hope the teachers don't make this book a "requirement" or that the students read abridged versions of it.

Les Mis'érables en franç'ais est un trè's excellent livre. Le texte est vraiment mieux que les traductions en anglais, tous ceux qui ne montrent pas la vrai beaut'é et grace de la prose d'auteur. L'histoire est d'un homme qui est presque detruit par son systeme de justice, d'un homme bon qui doit colleter avec son gouvernement parce qu'il croit dans le mieux-'être de toute la humanité', mê'me s'il doit donner sa vie.

D'ensemble, ce livre est un oeuvre de g'énie, et oui, peut-ê'tre les anglophones devraient le lire en anglais avant qu'ils commencent 'à le lire en fran'çais. Mais, de vraiment comprendre l'esprit d'un cerveau, on doit lire Les Misé'rables dans la langue d'origine. Je jure qu'on ne sera pas d''éçu avec le livre original. Il en vaut la peine de lire ce livre en fran'çais, m'me si seulement d'enrichir la vie et l'esprit. Achetez ce livre et soyez content que vous avez gagn'é un vrai chef-d'oeuvre pour lire et ch'érir pour toute la vie.

I am a university professor -and French by birth and parenthood- and I teach Masterpiece of World Literature. Knowing very well the original text of Victor Hugo and having presented papers on Les Miserables in international academic colloquiums, I decided to put Les Miserables on my program. As the original has quite a voluminous number of pages and I have to cover many pieces, I decided to go for an abridged version of it.

My disappointment is total!!!

1. This is the most ancient translation of Les Miserables made in 1862 (like that the publisher doesn't need to pay any copyright to any translator or author making a full profit) and the English is dated and not always faithful to the original (for instance when Cosette watch herself in the mirror the French original says that she felt like she was ugly [laide] but it is translated homeless (a word my student didn't even understand).

2. In addition, the abridged work made here is one of the worse I have seen. The classic pieces have been removed (like: who was Fantine and how she got Cosette and was abused by a student in Paris and how she was really in love with him - she was a grisette - Fantine selling all she has (hair, teeth ...) to provide for Cosette and becoming a prostitute is removed - the famous episode of Valjean taking Cosette back from the Thenardier is not even there!!!! Valjean giving the factory back to the workers, etc ...). The first part Fantine should be renamed as so much on Fantine has been cut!
The cut is completely arbitrary and there are absolutely no transitions between the cuts! It is a lame work.

I had to make photocopies of the missing text to be able to do my class!

3. To add insult to injury, my bookstore also ordered used version of this book and with exactly the same cover, same ISBN. So i had 48 students in class with the same cover book all the same look but ... from previous editions to the new one, all the pages number were wrong form one version to another because the editor in the last edition decided to increase the font size. There are - at the end of the book- more than 70 pages additional which makes it impossible for students to follow from one version to another and impossible to quote in an academic work!!!!!
This is close to a crime for an academic!

Therefore, I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS VERSION.

Buy the original and read portions of it rather than this! I do recommend warmly the original text of Hugo. Julie Rose is the one who made the most recent translation. Rather go for this last one.

My son read a softcover version of this book - same translation. It is his absolute favorite book of all time, and he really wanted a hardcover version. This is the same translation, all 1600+ pages, and it is complete in one neat volume (hard to find). Read this book, be prepared to cry and have your heart stolen, and be glad to add it to your permanent collection.

A very good abridgment, but it cuts out much of Hugo's work. As an example it removes the very long and potentially dull narration of the Battle of Waterloo which is a plus for those looking to follow Jean Valjean and his quest for redemption. But it also removes the heartwarming tale of how Jean Valjean rescues Cosette. This offers a nice short read with the core material covered in the full work.

Remarquez qu'on ne décrit pas le texte de l'edition Petits Classiques Larousse comme étant "intégral." C'est parce qu'il est abrégé: beaucoup de morceaux y manquent partout. Si je me donne la peine de lire quelque chose, je veux lire le texte entier. Ne soyez pas déçu comme moi.

I started the unabridged version in tenth grade and continued to read it off and on until I finaly decided to finish it this Summer (two years later from when I started it). I have never read a plot this wonderful. Hugo amazingly begins so many differant plots which all tie in together into one phenomenal end. This book shows what one act of kindness can do to a man who has nothing, and what the price of making a promise really is. And though there are lengthy parts where Hugo talks about History and philosophy, reading them only deepens the insight into the book. From the Thenardiers, and Gillenormands, to the Bishop who gives Valjean a second chance, to Fantine's horrid death, to Javert's noble act to do the right thing--not arrest Valjean--, to Jean Valjean's blessed end, I have read no greater book. I used to praise The Sound and the Fury as my favorite book, but that pales in comparison to Les Miserables' greatness. This is one book in which I feel should be required reading for the entire human race.