Les Miserables Victor Hugo
Discuss This Book--Simply put, this book is a story of a maan's life. Jean Valjean's life. The life of a convict. However, this book is not one that can easily be put into simple terms.
Jean Valjean began life in poverty. To survive, he stole a loaf of bread, and for it he spent many years of his life in prison. When he was finally released he carried with him a note from the state warning the public that he was an armed and dangerous criminal. Naturally the public shunned him.
It was a Bishop that turned M. Valjean's life in the right direction. M. Valjean stole the Bishop's silver, and was caught very quickly, but the Bishop made a gift of his silver, and told M. Valjean that with the silver he was buying his life, and that he was to use the silver and the money from the silver to make a good honest life for himself.
M. Valjean, amazed that anyone, especially a Bishop, could show such kindness toward a wretch like himself, followed the Bishop's instructions to the very end of his life. He changed his name, and managed to create a new life for himself in a new town. A clever idea made a fortune for him, and his new town.
Under his new name, M. Valjean takes under his care a very unfortunate prostitute, Fantine. Fantine lived a miserable life trying to provide for her child Cosette, who was under the care of a family in a nearby town. Fantine desperately wanted to bring her child home to her, but was too sick and poor to do so. When Fantine died, M. Valjean vowed to take care of Cosette.
M. Valjean adored Cosette, until the day he died. He would have gladly given the world to Cosette, and he enjoyed every moment the two of them spent together.
There are several villans in the story, but the two most prominent are Javert, a police inspector endlessly persuing Jean Valjean, and Thenardier, a very low class criminal who would do nearly anything for a few sous (pennies). M. Valjean seems to attract the two of them like magnets.
Of course I left HUGE parts out of that story, and very important parts at that! But to give a decent idea of this book, I would have to type the whole story out. I highly recommend this book. I will warn you that it's a long book (1400+ pages), but it is well worth reading. It could be called the story of a man's life, the epic tale of the French underworld, a love story, a tale of French history and warfare, a struggle against our own conscience, or we could just call it by the name the author gave it. Les Miserables.
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