Sunday, July 7, 2013

Les Miserables

Josh gave me a Kindle for my 26th birthday (almost 2 years ago) and since then I have been downloading and reading a lot of the Classics (most are FREE!). I feel like it is good to be "well read" and to read a lot of different styles and genres. But I feel like I have not read as many of the Classics as I should have, so I committed myself to start now!

I just finished reading the unabridged version of Les Miserables. I am not going to lie. I struggled through parts of the book. I love history, but 19 chapters about the Battle of Waterloo and multiple chapters about the Paris sewers was a little much. Hugo has the tendency to write lengthy paragraphs and to go off on LONG tangents. Personally, I know about the battle of Waterloo and the French Revolutions so I skimmed over those chapters, but if you don't know about French history then reading these chapters can teach you plenty and help you to better understand the story!

Minus the aforementioned parts, I thought that the book was great!


It's a story about love, compassion, redemption, and revolution. I love books that have deep character development, themes, and symbols. I really loved the characters in this book, all of them. From the evil ones (Thenardier) to the the heros (Jean Valjean), and all that fall between. Each one was so complex and developed. And what about Javert?! I still don't know what to think about him. Neither a hero nor villian, all you can do is pity him. I love it!

Next on my list is The Count of Monte Cristo! 

Eek! I think I need to read something less lengthy and intense before I tackle that one though. 

3 comments:

emilie s. d. p. said...

Hi Courtney. I did something similar when I got my kindle a few years back. I love the classics, especially because they're free! If you're looking for recommendations, one of my favorites is Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (he can be a bit long-winded but I really loved it). It's still one of my favorites. If you like Dickens you'll probably like him. Keep posting, I love reading your blog.

Courtney N said...

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll add them to my list :-)

Leslie Elaine said...

That is a great idea. My high school, in the low-income and poverty area, didn't read a lot of classics so I feel like I'm missing out and a lot are free on the kindle and I tell myself I should read them, just haven't yet or like I buy them with the intention of reading them and haven't yet..maybe I should get off the computer and read them. haha