About this title: Hugo's wrenching story centers on Jean Valjean, an honest peasant sentenced to five years' hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread, then 19 more for trying to escape. Turned into a hardened and ruthless criminal by his experiences, he reforms, becomes mayor of a French town, but is tracked down by the pitiless detective Javert for another obscure ...
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Fawcett Books, New York
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780449300022ISBN:0449300021
Description: Good. 334 pp; spine creasing, edge wear; Hugo's wrenching story centers on Jean Valjean, an honest peasant sentenced to five years' hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread, then 19 more for trying to escape. Turned into a hardened and ruthless criminal by his experiences, he reforms, becomes mayor of a French town, but is tracked down by the pitiless detective Javert for another obscure crime, and incarcerated. Escaping again from the brutal French prison, he befriends a prostitute named ... read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13:9780679866688ISBN:067986668X
Description: Fine. 067986668X Excellent condition Soft cover book, clean pages, No creases to spine, this book is Near NEW! Shop & Save With US. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13:9780679866688ISBN:067986668X
Description: Very Good. 067986668X Great condition Soft Cover book, clean pages, mild creases to spine, light edge/corner rubs, this book is GREAT! Shop & Save With US. read more
Description: Very Good. 1853260509 Great condition Soft Cover book, clean pages, mild creases to spine, light edge/corner rubs, this book is GREAT! Shop & Save With US. read more
Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. Backpack wear to cover, including some creasing, edge wear, scuffing Tanning pages are free of writing or highlighting. Multiple creases to spine. Sound enough to get you through your class. Fast confirm and shipping! ! ! Text in English, French. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 416 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
"This is one of my all-time favorite books. I love the richness of the story, the grandness and generosity of the sentiments, and the deep human insight. I find this old translation to be just lovely. I can open it to many a page and just read, like poetry, for the beauty of the language. But it is most worthwhile for the depth of humanity that Hugo shows. It's a crime to miss this book - you are among the miserable of the earth in a very different sense if you don't take the time to read it.
Another wonderful element is the sense of history that you get from it. The Napoleonic wars still inspired passion. It's great to see the battle of Waterloo recounted from the French side. There a forty or fifty page chapter that is worth reading for the history alone - all triggered as an aside to explain why Valjean was convicted a second time despite his good works, because, in court, he referred in passing to Napoleon as "the Emperor." It brings history alive in a way that history books alone do not."
"This is my all-time favorite classic; I've read it at least twice and will probably read it again (when I have a spare minute!). What I love about this book is the contrast between the justice of Javert and the mercy of Jean Valjean. Javert is determined to do everything right and satisfy the demands of the law. Jean Valjean finds himself on the opposite end of the law, and yet he is in a better position because he is determined to share the mercy given him to those he meets. Javert ends up committing suicide, unable to bear the burden of his own self-righteousness. Jean Valjean is welcomed to his Maker after a difficult but rewarding life. I find myself being Javert more often than not, but my aim is to be a Jean Valjean!"
"I'm tempted to say, "Somewhere in the 1,300 pages of this book is a 400 page novel that is absolutely fantastic," but that isn't quite fair. Yes, Hugo goes on long rants that seem to have nothing to do with the plot at hand. Is it superfluous? Perhaps. But so is the cream in your coffee.
Victor Hugo could condense the first 50 pages into the sentence, "The Bishop of Digne was a saint." But rather than to do that, he leads us through a series of stories that exemplify this point. He could have told us simply that a certain villain fought at Waterloo and stole from the dead. Instead, he precedes this with a colorful, deep description of the battle and its driving forces. Such details, while an epicurean example of nineteenth-century long-windedness, add a lavish richness and palatability to the central plot.
That said, the story is very compelling, character development is rich and convincing, and the story carries with it an enlightening first-hand view of the French Revolution."
"Let me start by saying that I love this story. It is one of the greatest stories of forgiveness and redemption that has ever been written by man. It is everyone's story.
The novel is set in the first half of nineteenth-century France. It is, as the title suggests, the story of the miserable, the down trodden, the outcasts. The story's protagonist, Jean Valjean, is a poor man who, in a desperate attempt to feed his starving family, steals a loaf of bread. His punishment is five years at hard labor plus fourteen more for his attempts at escape. After his release, he is rejected at every turn and finally finds himself in the household of Monsieur Myriel, a kindly bishop who treats him with honor and respect. Valjean repays him by stealing his silver flatware, the only thing of value the bishop owns and is quickly caught by the police. When they return him to the bishop's home, the bishop tells them that the silver was a gift and that Valjean should be released. This act of kindness and generosity changes Valjean forever.
The story is an allegory. In its most basic form, the story's message is that of mercy vs. justice. The lessons of mercy and forgiveness that Jean Valjean learns from Monsieur Myriel lay the foundation for the rest of his life. He is hunted, attacked and persecuted, but it is the memory of the bishop's kindness that influences his response to it all, often bringing more hardship upon himself.
While mercy is represented by Jean Valjean, the face of the law is that of Javert. He is relentless. He believes that the law is the highest authority. He has no concept of repentance or forgiveness. Contrary to what others may believe, though, I do not see Javert as the face of evil. I believe he is the other half of the allegory, justice. His years of pursuit of Valjean were not driven by hate or revenge. It was his belief in the absolute justice of the law that drove him. I don't see him representing evil because he expects the same for himself as he demands of others. It is this expectation and Valjean's response to it that ultimately are Javert's undoing. Does the story have a representation of something more sinister? Oh, yes. It is the Thénardiers who represent evil and selfishness and greed...the darkest corners of the human soul...not Javert.
I can't discuss this idea of mercy vs. justice without thinking of this passage from the book of Romans:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Five years for stealing a loaf of bread seems a little harsh...okay, really harsh, but according to the law at the time, that was the punishment. In the same way, our sin, no matter how small it may seem to us, separates us from God...permanently. It is only through his grace and mercy and the ultimate gift of His Son that we can be reconciled to him. The justice that we deserve is balanced by the mercy of our Father.
The version that I read is a new translation by Australian Julie Rose. Despite Hugo's overwhelmingly prolific tendency to go off on a tangent at every possible opportunity (why use 50 words when 500 will do?), this version is very readable. It is unabridged, so the hundred or so pages of descriptions of the history of convents, the Battle of Waterloo, the Paris sewer system are there in their uncut glory, and you'll learn (?) more about the political history of France than you ever wanted to know. I did find that there was some information in these passages that were important to the story, but for the most part, skimming them doesn't lessen the reader's understanding. I gave it four stars instead of five for the rambling. The story itself is worthy of a minimum of ten stars."
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