Les miserables the musical is based on victor hugos epic novel, spanning two decades in the life of jean valjean. Les miserables is a french historical novel by victor hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. Les miserables 10th anniversary concert i do not own this. Movie i am proud of my naming abilities, and ill be examining books and. At first impression it can seem as though hugo pointlessly digresses from the plot, often writing chapter after chapter at 100 page lengths on events such as the battle of waterloo, social background of the time, minor characters, etc. Considered to be french novelist victor hugos masterpiece, les miserables, which was published in 1862, is a sprawling historical and philosophical epic that covers from 1815 through the paris uprising in 1832. Collecting les miserables by hugo, victor first edition. Adapted by andrew davies and directed by tom shankland, it stars dominic west, david oyelowo, and lily collins bbc studios handles the distribution for the series. In the 90s, when excitement about les mis on broadway was at its. The unabridged sometimes went deeper into history and side tales than i expected but always came back to add depth to the story. Les miserables penguin classics paperback april 29, 1982.
Hugo hoped les miserables would encourage a more progressive and democratic future. Les miserables achieves its immense length partly for this reason and partly because the bits of dialogue are in fact large lumps. It would be good if whisoersync for kindle was made available. Set in the parisian underworld and plotted like a detective story, the work follows the fortunes of the convict jean valjean, a victim of society. Consider jean valjean, introduced in the second chapter, a man who earned a fiveyear prison sentence for stealing bread for his widowed sisters seven childrenand who. How long is les miserables need to know, seeing the show in 20 minutes okay so i am leaving in 20 minutes, and i really need to know. Click the link for more information on the show, to buy tickets and much much more. The epic novel is divided in five volumes, each of which is divided into several books and subdivided into chapters, totaling 48 books and 365 chapters.
You need to read this book about three times before you really appreciate it. A favorite of readers for nearly 150 years, this stirring tale of crime, punishment, justice, and redemption pulses with life. This book is available for free download in a number of formats including epub, pdf, azw, mobi and more. Les miserables is a perfectly fine, if not good, cop thriller with a social urgency bubbling under the surface to provide added depth, but its no portrait of a lady on fire, which was sumptuous. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. Its also insightful social commentary, among the best and most interesting of writing genres, if you ask me. Les miserables is a french historical novel by victor hugo, first published in 1862, that is. One day, an ex convict wanders into the bishops village and cant find any food or lodging because everyone turns him away. Consider jean valjean, introduced in the second chapter, a man who earned a fiveyear prison sentence for stealing bread for his widowed sisters seven childrenand who then served an extra 14 for attempting multiple escapes. Les miserables is a novel of great enough length that there are several different plot lines happening throughout the story following different characters. This book is full of hugos political and religious ideas which at times get a little preachy and ponderous.
It is most definitely abridged, as my les mis fanatic daughter, upon first glance at the number of pages and chapter titles, emphatically attested to. Les miserables can be translated from the french into the miserable ones, the wretched, the poor ones. Its an everfascinating story, a sweeping spectacle that dazzles the senses as it touches the heart, and this audio edition captures its lasting greatness. In the englishspeaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original french title. Playbill gives the run time as 2 hours and 55 minutes, including 1 intermission. Les miserables 10th anniversiry concert full youtube. It takes out the long digressions of the convent, waterloo, and other dissertations, leaving a wellcut story that doesnt take out any important details. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Behr quotes this passage at length in behr, complete book, 3236. More than any other book, les miserables changed that. You can also read the full text online using our ereader. While the fictional aspects may seem to be an afterthought, hugos craft is. Rate this book 5011 downloads victor hugo tells his classic story of redemption and struggle, now a major motion picture, of a tormenting police officer and a former convict.
Compiling a list of longest novels yields different results depending on whether pages, words or characters are counted. He is seventyfive years old and lives only with a sister baptistine, ten years younger than he, and an old servant, madame magloire, the same age as his sister. Featuring such unforgettable characters as the quintessential prisoner of. If youre really up to it and like a good long book, the unabridged is about 4500 pages, but its divided into 5 volumes and then the books in each. A compelling and compassionate view of the victims of early nineteenthcentury french society, les miserables is a novel on an epic scale, moving inexorably from the eve of the battle of waterloo to the july revolution of 1830. It is also a historical novel of great scope, and provides a detailed vision of nineteenthcentury french politics and society. Spanning decades at over 2000 pages long, les miserables may sound like a chore but it is well worth a read.
Its great because its an imaginative, beautifully crafted and uplifting story. Because of the novel s length, it can be reffered to as the brick. Featuring the thrilling score and beloved songs i dreamed a dream, on my own, stars, bring him home, one day more, and many more, this epic and. Its about 830 pages long, unalike the unabridged version, which is around 0. Les miserables the book by victor hugo is incredibly long, but. Only three years after the original run closed, les miserables began a return to broadway on 9 november 2006 at the broadhurst theatre for a limited run that was subsequently made openended. Les miserables by victor hugo paste paste magazine. The book begins in 1815, following napoleons defeat by the. Les miserables by victor hugo goodreads share book. Les miserables the book by victor hugo is incredibly long. It is not the full, unabridged version of les miserables. Les miserables, by victor hugo, is an epic historical novel that, though titled les miserables, which translates to the miserable people, is also a story about undying love set largely against the backdrop of the june rebellion, also known as the paris uprising of 1832. If a writer wrote merely for his time, i would have to break my pen and throw it away, the largerthanlife victor hugo once confessed.
With hugh jackman, russell crowe, anne hathaway, amanda seyfried. The narrator for this book has a fascinating range and magically creates many clear voices. The books opens by describing the life of a really upstanding dude named bishop myriel. In 19thcentury france, jean valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory workers daughter. Les miserables is a 2012 epic historical period musical film directed by tom hooper and scripted by william nicholson, alain boublil, who wrote the original french lyrics, claudemichel schonberg, who wrote the music, and herbert kretzmer, who wrote the english lyrics, based on the 1862 french novel of the same name by victor hugo, which also. Victor hugos les miserables debuted 150 years ago in 1862 and now has become the. Book summary jean valjean, after spending nineteen years in jail and in the galleys for stealing a loaf of bread and for several attempts to escape, is finally released, but his past keeps haunting him. Buy les miserables classics by hugo, victor, denny, norman, denny, norman, denny, norman from amazons fiction books store. Davidsons reading of the last hour or so of les miserables should be among the halloffame of audiobooks along with frank muellers reading of tale of two cities i listen while i commute and i just kept driving to the end. Les miserables is one of the longest novels in european literature. It was quashed, and is remembered mainly for its inclusion in victor hugos 1862 novel, les miserables.
Les miserables is a terrific insight into french history. That aside, it is a beautiful book with a classic, elegant cover and nice feel. In practice, the show will run a little longer or a little earlier depending mostly on the conductor, but the show runs just under 3 hours. Maybe the gray paperback version with a young cosette on the cover. It was broadcast in the uk between 30 december 2018 and 3 february 2019. It was an instant popular success and was quickly translated into several languages. Two thirds of the book doesnt advance the plot, but it is a description of french life with amazing attention to detail. The longest novel is artamene ou le grand cyrus, originally published 164954 in ten parts, each part in three volumes. Most noteworthy characters in les miserables do most things utmostly. Notable for its many subplots and digressions from the main storyline, the novel s stated aim is a progress from evil to good, from. Les miserables is primarily a great humanitarian work that encourages compassion and hope in the face of adversity and injustice. This was at a time when i had just finished a grueling job rushing through 18 to 20 hour days nonstop which had lasted 7 years, and id spent much of that time dreaming of just sitting and reading long novels, without.
1394 105 21 389 1345 915 552 724 1359 1193 440 1101 1389 902 324 816 1252 836 123 1254 504 683 712 497 331 1318 1212 1393 1183 1074 654 905 681