-please click here before reading the following post. Just so we're kind of on the same page, because this soundtrack has been in my head and on my iPod and coming out my mouth nonstop for the past 24 hours. So now you know how I feel...and when your family threatens to break out the duct tape...you're welcome-
"'So here you are!' he cried to Valjean. 'I'm delighted to see you! Have you forgotten that I gave you the candlesticks as well? ...did you forget to take them?"
-page 111
"He had painted [the sign] himself, being a jack-of-all-trades who did everything badly."
-page 151
"[Cosette] was known locally as l'Alouette, the Lark.The village people...had thought it a suitable name for the apprehensive, trembling creature, scarecely more than a bird....but this was a bird that never sang."
-page 154
So. One of my summer goals this year is to read Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. Because I fell in love with several songs off the soundtrack around Christmas, and I adored the movie...and it's just not fair to neglect the book.
I expected to hate it. And be bored for the whole flipping 1200 pages. Because, really. It's TWELVE HUNDRED PAGES.
And, just wow. Because this book is seriously incredible. (once you get past the first 62 pages, which explain the backstory and life and family and yearly living expenses of a character who only shows up once. Because for some reason it's necessary to have SIXTY-TWO pages of information which we never ever need. Not to mention the 30+ page history lesson we get later on the battle of Waterloo and Napoleon's ENTIRE life, when all that was really needed was a sentence saying "this character fought in the battle and did this. now, back to the main story and the whole point of the book..")
But to get back on track...in between the history lesson and needless backstory is the core of the les Mis. story...and it's so good. I'm on page 371 and I just can't put it down. And I'm so thankful that Hugo decided to write a 1200 page book, because that means I'll get to experience the awesomeness that much longer.
If you've seen the movie, you have to read the book. Everything makes so much more sense...like where Fantine's husband went, and what really happened when Valjean turned himself in after discovering that another man was about to be punished in his place. And it's so much more desperate...and so much more beautiful.
And there are some brilliantly powerful lines in this book, guys. Some funny, some kind of knock-the-breath-out-of-you-for-a-second, and some that stick in your head for minutes after.
I never understood why people loved this book so much (because the first time I tried to read it I stopped at page 50 because of the afore-mentioned irrelevant backstory) but now I do.
Okay, I'm done ranting now. But this book is excellent and I can't wait to keep reading and if you've never read les Mis. before, you're missing out. Majorly.
The end.
"'So here you are!' he cried to Valjean. 'I'm delighted to see you! Have you forgotten that I gave you the candlesticks as well? ...did you forget to take them?"
-page 111
"He had painted [the sign] himself, being a jack-of-all-trades who did everything badly."
-page 151
"[Cosette] was known locally as l'Alouette, the Lark.The village people...had thought it a suitable name for the apprehensive, trembling creature, scarecely more than a bird....but this was a bird that never sang."
-page 154
So. One of my summer goals this year is to read Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. Because I fell in love with several songs off the soundtrack around Christmas, and I adored the movie...and it's just not fair to neglect the book.
I expected to hate it. And be bored for the whole flipping 1200 pages. Because, really. It's TWELVE HUNDRED PAGES.
And, just wow. Because this book is seriously incredible. (once you get past the first 62 pages, which explain the backstory and life and family and yearly living expenses of a character who only shows up once. Because for some reason it's necessary to have SIXTY-TWO pages of information which we never ever need. Not to mention the 30+ page history lesson we get later on the battle of Waterloo and Napoleon's ENTIRE life, when all that was really needed was a sentence saying "this character fought in the battle and did this. now, back to the main story and the whole point of the book..")
But to get back on track...in between the history lesson and needless backstory is the core of the les Mis. story...and it's so good. I'm on page 371 and I just can't put it down. And I'm so thankful that Hugo decided to write a 1200 page book, because that means I'll get to experience the awesomeness that much longer.
If you've seen the movie, you have to read the book. Everything makes so much more sense...like where Fantine's husband went, and what really happened when Valjean turned himself in after discovering that another man was about to be punished in his place. And it's so much more desperate...and so much more beautiful.
And there are some brilliantly powerful lines in this book, guys. Some funny, some kind of knock-the-breath-out-of-you-for-a-second, and some that stick in your head for minutes after.
I never understood why people loved this book so much (because the first time I tried to read it I stopped at page 50 because of the afore-mentioned irrelevant backstory) but now I do.
Okay, I'm done ranting now. But this book is excellent and I can't wait to keep reading and if you've never read les Mis. before, you're missing out. Majorly.
The end.
Your words of praise do make me at least think of trying this book one day.
ReplyDeleteGrace
Ahhh, you have to. Don't be discouraged by the slow parts...it's so fantastic. :)
DeleteI've got it in my To Read Classics pile. :) I liked the movie too, and I really do want to read it someday but I'm stalling. :P
ReplyDeleteStall no longer! I'm on page 500-and-something and I'm still hugely enjoying it (although I'm currently in the middle of another slow part *siiigh*) and I'd like to buy a copy for myself, since the one I'm reading is on loan from a friend.
Delete