Los Miserables

by Luciano Saracino, Fabián Mezquita, Victor Hugo

Adaptación a la historieta del clásico de Víctor Hugo.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Classics, Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

80 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2013

Reviews

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of feels...

Great graphic novel adaptation of a true classic! This is a quick read but captures the main essence of Les Misérables well. I also appreciate the trivia about French history and her various revolutions at the end. Interestingly I couldn't stop thinking about the 2012 film and was visualizing it the whole time. This book is a good place to start if you find the original novel too daunting.

[Aleieen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es la primera novela gráfica que leo/veo.
Entretenida y me gustaron las ilustraciones. Muy corta a mi parecer. Tremendo trabajo el adaptar un libro a una novela grafica así y que sea atractiva para adolescentes.
Compraré otros títulos de la colección para regalárselos a mi sobrina.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A review with my daughter Gwendolyn follows my long, boring introduction.

I've been a Les Mis fan for a long, long time. Since the early 90s. (I realize some of you have been fans since 85, or something. But I was born in 82, so cut me some slack.) My sister listened to it with me, and explained what was going on - who the characters were. What they were thinking, and feeling.

I saw the show in New York. I saw the travelling production on opening night at State College. (I can't believe how young I must have been. And how fancy everything was. I remember huge platters of chocolate covered strawberries. Everybody was wearing tuxedos. I was dressed up - shirt, slacks, tie... but not a tux.)

I saw it several more times in New York. A perk of college was student rush.

I got to go back stage, and under the stage. To see the dresses, high above. How they would bring them down on wires so the cast could just slip right in and out. I still carry the back stage pass around. (It's not a pass exactly. I mean... it kindof is. Long story.)



I showed Gwen some clips from the movie and she was hooked. We watched more clips. I explained the context, much like my sister had explained it to me.

We recorded a video of Gwen singing Castle on a Cloud - this was back in 2016. Almost exactly 3 years ago. Wow. She has grown.

Anyway, we checked this out of the library a few weeks ago, but only got around to reading and reviewing it today.

Dad: Pull a chair around, or you can sit here. *Points to chair on left.*

Gwen: I'll just stand up. *Keeps standing to the right.*

Dad: So, why did you pick out this book?

Gwen: Ummm... I didn't really pick it out.

Dad: What do you mean?

Gwen: *Whispers* You picked it out.

Dad: Wait. I did? When?

Gwen: Um. *Still whispering* You asked me if um... if I wanted to read it.

Dad: Oh. Yeah. I kindof thought you were with me when I got it from the library. I guess I just grabbed it for y-

Gwen: I WAS with you.

Dad: Oh. That's what I thought. ...Either way... why did

Gwen: Aren't we gonna just... talk about the book?

Dad: Okay. Yeah. Sure. So, did you like it?

Gwen: Yes. I did.

Dad: You were already familiar with Les Mis, though, right?

Gwen: Yes.

Dad: Did this change anything you thought about it?

Gwen: Yeah. I didn't know they called her Lark.

Dad: I didn't know that either. I'm going to write an intro later and put you singing "Castle on a Cloud" in it. What do you think about that?

Gwen: Okay.

Dad: What was your favorite part about the book? And is it the same as your favorite part from the musical?

Gwen: My favorite part is when the priest ummmm... gave Jean Valjean the silver candlesticks.

Dad: In both? The book and the musical?

Gwen: Well, I haven't seen the musical in a long time.

Dad: We should watch it again. Did you know that the candlestick scene is my favorite scene?

Gwen: I think you told me that once, but I forgot.

Dad: The final question, of course: how many stars?

Gwen: Can we do 4 and a half? Four and a half.

Dad: Unfortunately, goodreads doesn't allow for half star ratings. It's something that the community has discussed at length.

Gwen: Four. Is that all?

Dad: For the review?

Gwen: Yeah. *Looks at me quizzically.*

Dad: Yep. That's it. Go get ready for the show. (She and her sisters are going to see Disney's Aladdin as performed by the local middle school.)

Gwen: And mom.

Dad: And mom.

[Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exquisita obra llena de atributos en manos de un exquisito escritor que cuida celosamente el estilo de los cimeros escritores del S XIX

[Jules Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book! I am a sucker for romance books, so the fact that Cosette and Marius fall in love. I am also seeing the show in Nov so this helped a lot. Totally recommend for someone who has not seen show!

[ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

okiieee so I got this for my birthday last year and I think I skimmed it then, so now I read it and it was...way too fast. This was obviously for younger kids because the prostitution was completely left out. The revolution only lasted for about three pages and it just seemed like the author was trying to get it done. (Also Cosette's facial features kept changing what it looked like and that got me annoyed lol)

AND WHERE WAS EPONINE AND GAVROCHE AND ENJOLRAS AND GRANTAIRE WHAT they left out literally all the favorites

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whoever thought they could successfully tell the story of Les Miserables in 71 pages is smoking crack. If I didn’t already know the story inside and out, it would be utterly confusing. What’s the point of creating a graphic novel that is like an adaptation of an adaptation of an adaptation of the novel?

[Eva Nieves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprised by how short it is. This graphic novel has 70ish pages in total and the actual book has more than a thousand, but it made me want to read the book. The story was appealing and important with the political war going on.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a graphic novel person, but I really enjoyed this. I think my existing knowledge of the story helped, but it was really well adapted and the illustrations were excellent.

[Kas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely retelling of a classic, beautifully drawn and adapted.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this graphic novel as part of a lesson plan about Les Miserables for my 11 year son.

Considering the size of Victor Hugo’s novel, it is remarkable how well the general story is presented in a 71 page graphic novel format. Obviously at that length it is a much simplified version of the story, but I found it served one point very well. It made both my son and I more interested in reading the novel.

There are some frustrating aspects of this version of the story that will be especially glaring to fans of the original work. Characters such as Eponine, Enjorlas, Gavroche and others were left out of the story completely. This isn’t a significant problem for an introductory story, but it did create one inconsistency that I found jarring. Since Enjorlas wasn’t included in the story, all of his essential actions at the barricade were given to Marius. While this works in an abridged version of the story for kids, it does disservice to the core of Marius’ character - his conflicted journey as he chooses between the revolution and love.

That said - this is a fine entry point for young people into the story and creates some discussion points that were quite nice. In fact, there are even Discussion Points and Writing Prompts in the back in the book which could be very helpful to anyone trying to use this in a classroom setting.

[Tony Crown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es una versión resumida de la historia, y no tengo problemas con el adaptador. Debido al formato, es normal que se corten demasiadas cosas en un libro tan extenso. Mi nota negativa, sin embargo, va al terrible trabajo del ilustrador Fabián Mezquita, que siento que su dibujo es demasiado pobre para tal. Hay paneles en donde me senti horrorizado por las feas caras de los personajes (Sobre todo el pobre Valjean en el capitulo 3, "Cocotte")

No es una version que recomiende de la historia.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Admittedly, I read this as a challenge - to read a graphic novel. I found it a little disjointed, having read the original tome some time ago; it seemed to me that there were pieces missing, which connect the main events. It may not be so to a reader who has not experienced the story any other way. Having said that, I found the illustrations reflective of the drama and grit of the setting, and gist of it was sound.

[Sarah Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like these graphic novels that are based on classics, I’m currently reading Les Miserables for a book challenge and I thought it would be nice to read this alongside. This is so short, maybe a bit too short? It was way too watered down for me. The actual book is far too long. I wish it was a little more watered down. Overall I liked the parts the author chose to include and the illustrations are well done.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a big musicals fan and Les Mis has a special place in my heart, so when I saw a Les Mis comic book, I had to buy! This vvv quick read is a great introduction to the story but misses out TONS of story. It’s more basic than a general overview and skips out characters (Eponine does exist!) but the actual comic is really cool.

[Siobhan Leahy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good guild to the original story, making the text more accessible to younger wider audiences. For me it was a trip back to 15 year old me lovinging musical theatre and singing (badly). The graphic novel dies lack the emotional connections the original text brings but is a good place to start.

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the illustrations, and the basic story is still good. However, it has been shortened so much that it does neither flow very well not captures enough if the source material to do justice to the original.

[Cucky Rainbowhell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un poco confusa para los niños, pero, resumir esta novela a unas cuantas paginas es tarea dura!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice short version of a timeless story.

[Natalia Hincapié · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encantó... La historia, su descenlace. Todo

[Maria Tereza Cavalcanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma HQ incrível, sucinta mas com muito conhecimento. Leve de se ler e pesada de se pensar.

[Pamela Rock Aceituno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sinceramente no esperaba mucho, y me gustó bastante, está muy bien logrado y lograron retratar muy bien las piezas claves de esta gran obra, y el arte es una completa belleza.

[Nikki Locking · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and written. The main plot points of this classic are told in a clear and clean manner. This would be perfect for an elementary or middle school class study or lit. circle.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting version of the classic.

[Alessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

La historia me gustó mucho. Creía que era aburrida y por lo mismo evitaba leerlo pero es todo lo contrario. Les aconsejo leerlo si tienen la oportunidad.

[laur · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is such a bad adaptation. you can't tell such a long and meaningful story in 70 pages. also enjolras isn't even in it so >:(

[Joy Musselman · Rating 4 out of 5]

love this story! and really enjoyed the graphic novel adaptation of it.

[Gabriel]

I really enjoyed the artwork. The story is definitely written for a younger audience. Based on what other reviewers have said a lot is missing when compared to other versions/formats so adult readers who know the story may be disappointed after reading this graphic novel. (Audience: Child)

[Pug · Rating 2 out of 5]

Update:
Two years later, and nothing has changed: so much left out, so many cut corners. It felt so rushed, and whole important plot points were glossed over. I guess it's only 80 pages, so some of that is forgivable. But some of it is just outlandish, especially to anyone who is familiar with the story. For example, Marius asks "who are you?" and Valjean says "Cosette's father." No, he did not. Another example, Javert committing suicide right in front of Valjean. Come on! And the most irritating section: "The supernatural being in the darkness. It was he who watched Valjean." REALLY, don't you mean, God? So offensively watered down. Particularly considering that Valjean's Christianity was a huge part of his character.

Original review:
So much left out of this book, so many cut corners. It made the story sound really dumb and cheesy. The lousy illustrations didn't help, either.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up because I wondered how anyone could fit such a large story into such a little graphic novel. I quickly had an answer: by dropping many characters, much of the story, and most of the character development. It doesn't deviate in many major ways from the familiar story, (except the cutting of a number of fan-favorite characters and heavily censoring Fantine's plight) but it all goes by so quickly that each character's decisions or actions come across as very rash and sudden. It's likely not bad as a refresher or maybe an introduction to the story, but I don't see how it could ever replace the novel or any of its many longer adaptations.