Les Miserables

by Victor Hugo

Les Miserables is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, which is considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century. What drew me into the novel from the outset was the main character, Jean Valjean the noble peasant imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread. His sentence was lengthened by multiple escape attempts, until he was finally released 19 years later. Rejected by society for being a former convict, he meets bishop Myriel, who turns his life around by showing him mercy and encouraging him to become a new man. He assumes a new identity( Monsieur Madaleine) in order to pursue an honest life. He builds two factories, becomes one of the richest man in the area and by popular acclaim he is made mayor. Thus it would seem his life was set on a new course of usefulness and happiness, exceptfor Javert, a former prison guard who became the new police inspector in Valjeans town, who thinks he recognizes the mayor as an ex-convict who has broken the parole. Intersecting Valjeans story is that of Fantine, a fallen woman turned prostitute whose little daughter, Cosette, is being raised by an evil family. He confronts Javert over Fantines punishment, turn himself to the police to save another man from prison for life and rescues Cosette from the evil family. This is really just the beginning of things, the rest of the book details the pursuit of Valjean by Javert, his care of Cosette , her growth into a young woman, her falling in love with Marius. This is the basic plot, but there are so many more layers, subplots and characters in Les Miserables. There are discussion on poverty , politics, French history. The story also contains themes that capture the intellect and emotions: crime and punishment, the persecution of Valjean by inspector Javert, the desperation of the prostitute Fantine. I was also fascinates by the moments when the main character struggles, such as Valjeans dilemma when he hears that another man has been arrested under is name. Also, Hugo likes to tease his readers, by introducing Valjean under a series of disguises and false identities and letting us guess it is him. The experience of reading Les Miserables is unique. For hundreds o f pages youll be hooked, dazzled, unable to put it down. You will find interesting and valuable ideas and perception through the story about life, love, friendship, politics, prison life. Absolutely worth reading it !