JadeOrchidSong Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I started before the new year. I still have 25% left with skipping some big chunks. I feel lost. Does anyone else have the same feeling? I enjoyed the first part very much about the bishop. I also liked reading about Jean Valjean's life and about Cosette and Marius and Thenadier. Some other parts are hard for me so I have to skip some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Do you know the plot already? Perhaps looking at a chapter summary in something like SparkNotes or Cliffs would help you. I read it last summer--knowing the musical plot line helped me a bit, because I could remember the characters pretty well. Maybe seeing a production would help a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I am 8% done....I had a.rough time with the first book, it was so ling and drawn out. I did a quick review of French history when I got to the part where the bishop had the political discussion with the dying man. I am enjoying it, but taking it slow and reading many portions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excelsior! Academy Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 So far I have only been lost in one chapter. I am only finished with volume one, so I still have a lot to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Don't worry! It'll make perfect sense the third time 'round! (Skip Waterloo. I know there are dedicated fans who read Waterloo, but really, just don't. :p) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Yeah...I liked parts of this book a lot and parts of it (the fighting stuff) I didn't like at all. I can't really say it gets better as you keep reading, because it doesn't (IMHO). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Don't worry! It'll make perfect sense the third time 'round! (Skip Waterloo. I know there are dedicated fans who read Waterloo, but really, just don't. :p) :rofl: I actually reread it last year, and thought I remembered it being much more interesting when I read it at 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Do you know the plot already? Perhaps looking at a chapter summary in something like SparkNotes or Cliffs would help you. I read it last summer--knowing the musical plot line helped me a bit, because I could remember the characters pretty well. Maybe seeing a production would help a bit. I agree with this; I think this is one place where having seen the musical/movie helps with understanding the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I agree with this; I think this is one place where having seen the musical/movie helps with understanding the book. I agree. The only time I get "lost" is the places when I'm crying so hard I can't read. Then it's more despair than lack of information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I tried reading it many years ago and got bogged down. I never finished. I loved the story about the candlesticks and the bishop though and I SO wanted to read the whole thing. But, like I said, got bogged down.. It moves very slowly. So yeah, I felt lost too. I had seen at least one movie version and was familiar with the overall story, so that didn't help me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbanSue Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Normally I'm a "read every page" type girl. Including all introductions, prefaces, afterwords, and notes. I haven't read it since high school, but with Les Mis I suggest skipping Waterloo except for the very last page. There is one incident that matters later on. And then also skip the long discussion of "argot", I think. The street language of Parisian criminals. Those might be interesting in themselves but they do not forward the plot. Then, yeah, maybe read a plot summary somewhere. The book is really fantastic but I knew the story before I read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMomof4 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I started this before the movie came out - I've seen the musical twice, so I know the plot well, and I still haven't finished it. I think its funny how irritated we get when a modern writer fill his book with off topic, preachy writing, but when Hugo does it it's supposed to be part of the charm. (I'm on my phone but insert confused smiley here.) Seriously, if this were a book written today there's no way I would pay attention to the irritating political ramblings that go on for hundreds of pages. I'm debating whether to finish it or not. I did read Anna Karenina since I put down Les Mis..... surely that counts for something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I have read the book, seen the musical on a broadway, and I still don't think I could adequately tell the plot. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I can't stress enough how important it is to skip huge chunks of anything written by Hugo! Lol. He does go on and on about the minutiae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaJeanne Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I am 8% done....I had a.rough time with the first book, it was so ling and drawn out. I did a quick review of French history when I got to the part where the bishop had the political discussion with the dying man. I am enjoying it, but taking it slow and reading many portions! I looked up French history at that point, too. Because clearly Hugo didn't explain enough! lol I just finished last week and felt so accomplished! I don't think I ever felt lost with regards to the characters or plot, but I know I didn't "get" everything. I think it would have been fun to read it in french (I hardly know a word of it). Just from the few notes I read, there were quite a few places where Hugo made plays on words that just didn't translate well into English. It didn't detract from the story, but it would have been fun to understand them. I also skimmed a lot when he got to comparing different political figures, French landmarks, or streets. There was that long section about Paris being like the world that I understood very little of. I just told Hugo that I believed him since I didn't relate to any of his many comparisons! I am so glad that I read this book. Overall I really enjoyed it. I do think it was the most challenging book I have read in a long time. I need some brain candy now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I had to read this book in high school.....in French. I hated it. I still hate it today. I will not go see it in any of its incarnations as a play, a CD, or a movie. After more hours than I care to remember, with that $%^& book and an (apparently worthless) French/English dictionary, all I got out of it was that somebody stole a loaf of bread. At least the title is accurate...it truly is miserable. Here's a review of the movie a friend of mine posted on Facebook. It's spot on. Oh, and I can't paragraph with this :cursing: Windows 8, so I apologize for running it all together. Review starts NOW: "Went to the movies with the wife. We saw this obscure movie I had never heard of, some French foreign film. They must have been giving away free tickets because the lines were out the door. Anyway, the movie starts and Wolverine is singing his guts out. Then Catwoman starts crying and singing, and it's all very moving. The only problem was, the girl next to me, who had apparently read the book or something, starts singing along. It was very distracting. So Wolverine is on the run from the Gladiator because Catwoman had a baby at Borat's house, but now she wants Wolverine to care for her. Time skip. A bunch of kids get shot, and in the end everyone dies. Four stars." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Couldn't agree more, Diane. Had to read it in French in college. Didn't help. The story is so miserable. Saw the stage show twice. Never again. I feel like a social outcast when I say that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMomof4 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I had to read this book in high school.....in French. I hated it. I still hate it today. I will not go see it in any of its incarnations as a play, a CD, or a movie. After more hours than I care to remember, with that $%^& book and an (apparently worthless) French/English dictionary, all I got out of it was that somebody stole a loaf of bread. At least the title is accurate...it truly is miserable. Here's a review of the movie a friend of mine posted on Facebook. It's spot on. Oh, and I can't paragraph with this :cursing: Windows 8, so I apologize for running it all together. Review starts NOW: "Went to the movies with the wife. We saw this obscure movie I had never heard of, some French foreign film. They must have been giving away free tickets because the lines were out the door. Anyway, the movie starts and Wolverine is singing his guts out. Then Catwoman starts crying and singing, and it's all very moving. The only problem was, the girl next to me, who had apparently read the book or something, starts singing along. It was very distracting. So Wolverine is on the run from the Gladiator because Catwoman had a baby at Borat's house, but now she wants Wolverine to care for her. Time skip. A bunch of kids get shot, and in the end everyone dies. Four stars." ROFL!!!!! Love that review - although I do love the play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I've seen a performance of it, and it was amazing, but the book! Agggh, that book! I've made it through the part about the bishop twice and then I just crap out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Don't worry! It'll make perfect sense the third time 'round! (Skip Waterloo. I know there are dedicated fans who read Waterloo, but really, just don't. :p) Yes! This is the exact same advice I give. Why torture yourself? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excelsior! Academy Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I had to read this book in high school.....in French. I hated it. I still hate it today. I will not go see it in any of its incarnations as a play, a CD, or a movie. After more hours than I care to remember, with that $%^& book and an (apparently worthless) French/English dictionary, all I got out of it was that somebody stole a loaf of bread. At least the title is accurate...it truly is miserable. Here's a review of the movie a friend of mine posted on Facebook. It's spot on. Oh, and I can't paragraph with this :cursing: Windows 8, so I apologize for running it all together. Review starts NOW: "Went to the movies with the wife. We saw this obscure movie I had never heard of, some French foreign film. They must have been giving away free tickets because the lines were out the door. Anyway, the movie starts and Wolverine is singing his guts out. Then Catwoman starts crying and singing, and it's all very moving. The only problem was, the girl next to me, who had apparently read the book or something, starts singing along. It was very distracting. So Wolverine is on the run from the Gladiator because Catwoman had a baby at Borat's house, but now she wants Wolverine to care for her. Time skip. A bunch of kids get shot, and in the end everyone dies. Four stars." That review is hysterical!!! Dh is NOT a big musical fan. At the beginning of the movie he kept asking me why wolverine wouldn't just break out his claws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I had to read this book in high school.....in French. I hated it. I still hate it today. I will not go see it in any of its incarnations as a play, a CD, or a movie. After more hours than I care to remember, with that $%^& book and an (apparently worthless) French/English dictionary, all I got out of it was that somebody stole a loaf of bread. At least the title is accurate...it truly is miserable. Here's a review of the movie a friend of mine posted on Facebook. It's spot on. Oh, and I can't paragraph with this :cursing: Windows 8, so I apologize for running it all together. Review starts NOW: "Went to the movies with the wife. We saw this obscure movie I had never heard of, some French foreign film. They must have been giving away free tickets because the lines were out the door. Anyway, the movie starts and Wolverine is singing his guts out. Then Catwoman starts crying and singing, and it's all very moving. The only problem was, the girl next to me, who had apparently read the book or something, starts singing along. It was very distracting. So Wolverine is on the run from the Gladiator because Catwoman had a baby at Borat's house, but now she wants Wolverine to care for her. Time skip. A bunch of kids get shot, and in the end everyone dies. Four stars." Haha, I remember when that review was going around on Facebook. Hilarious! But I :wub: the play & liked the movie. And the book in English (minus the parts on Waterloo!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoorsy Type Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Loved the book, but had to watch the musical and then listen to the music constantly to keep going. It's the reason I only have three books read this year LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 I have read the book, seen the musical on a broadway, and I still don't think I could adequately tell the plot. :lol: The plot got drowned in all the extras. It is like panning for gold for extracting iron from the iron ore. That is the analogy I strongly feel about this book. Now it is hard for me to keep the story line straight. I will finish it, but have to skip read. 25% left. Too bad this is the first book I am taking on for the 52 books/year challenge. I am seriously a few weeks behind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Reading Les Mis in one hand and a dictionary in the other was not fun and didn't last very long. Thank goodness for the movie! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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