I was under a false impression that I have read this great novel by reading an abridged version earlier and liked it for its story. However, only now I read it in the full form and how I liked it!!! I decide to read Les Miserables after swimming deep in The Hunchback of the Notre Dome.
Such a master story teller!!! Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables is one of the finest examples of how soulful stories can influence human thoughts. The stories will haunt you from the beginning and till end! The novel contains stories which any other author would have used for 10 novels. Let it be the Jean Val Jean and the Bishop, the Mayor, Fantine’s story, Cossette’s story, Stories at the time of revolution....the master story teller connects all with a sole link Jean Val Jean the central character.
Character creation is another best side of Les Miserables. Each character holding to the core of the nature is every author tries to do. Victor Hugo succeeds in keeping the basic nature in characters at the same time permit the characters to change, as if to guide a change within, beautifully. Some in the middle and the rest at the end and some are left without change to remain miserable. He made his characters larger than life and time but he didn’t forget to immortalise some of his small characters like Garvoche & Eponine.
Les Miserables creates best of situations making possible the impossible. The author dares to go extremes of good and bad and bring the message in its harmony. Heart touching, shocking and nail biting situations - Victor Hugo is a master of grand masters, no doubt.
Presence of poetry is another fine point of this novel. You can short and long poetry in dialogues and narration. Beautiful and thoughtful!!! Some of Kahlil Gibran’s poetry were heart touching and now I know an author who have inspired Kahlil Gibran too and one who knows to tell it better.
Symbolisation is another greatness of this novel. While reading The Hunchback of the Notre Dome, it was clear that Victor Hugo loves to use symbols to make his characters are not only human but representatives of human nature as well. It is not an easy task to keep symbols for characters which spread like life and sea through 1000 plus fine print pages and Victor Hugo succeed in it. Let it be Jean Val Jean, Marius, Javert, Thenardier, Cosette they all are pillars of human natures on which Victor Hugo build the temple called Les Miserables.
The author imported some of his characters and symbols from The Hunchback of Notre Dome, however, in content and direction, this one is unique.
Views build on observing human nature and by deep thoughts are woven all along for people who look for thoughts in novels like this. I enjoyed them all.
While poverty and misery let it be physical or spiritual is the basic land on which Victor Hugo plants his seed called ’hope’ and enlightenment. Who will give enlightenment to the millions of poor people and bring is there a Jean Val Jean around you or in you? Victor Hugo tests the hope to extremes of fates but saves it from all dangers and keeps it even when the novel ends.
My favorite author is Dostoevsky. For long I have been his fan and even now I consider him as the greatest writer who can bring people’s mind to paper. After reading Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, I now know an author who was inspiration to Dostoevsky in its true sense. No doubt that Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky is been influenced by Les Miserables.
Les Miserables is a historical novel as well where the story teller in Victor Hugo overtakes the historian to the joy of the readers. I will not find it surprising if the novel inspired Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace where the genre and the mixing of styles are very similar.
The minus point for the book is insertion of lot of history which will be interested more to the French readers but not to the liking of the world readers. Mercifully, unlike the Hunchback the author is wise to only include it in the later parts. The reader should be wise to skip few pages if the history/details if they are tempting to stop the reading. There is a good flow of story till end and the hope should lead the reader.
It took 17 years for Victor Hugo to write this 1000 plus page novel, which published after 6 months of advertisement. No wonder, Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables is one of the finest in the history of novels so far. Recommended to all serious readers of novels and anybody wish to enter the field of literature.