Wendy’s Comments (group member since Aug 11, 2018)

Wendy’s comments from the Miscellany Pages - Book Group with Variety - Expand Your Reading Horizons group.

miscellanypages wrote: "I have finally finished Les Misérables and am feeling very triumphant! The book has been a big part of my life since I started reading it at the beginning of July. I became so immersed in the story..."

That's exactly how I felt! I was melancholy for a number of days when the book came to an end. I don't remember many, if any, other books that affected me that way.

I read this book in high school, and I loved every page of it. I remember that when I was down to the last 50 pages or so, I actually started mourning the end of the book. I was so immersed in the life of Jean Valjean, I was heartbroken that the story was coming to an end.

Now, many years later, I downloaded it to my Kindle to read again. As I started reading, I thought, "is this even the same book?" The introduction didn't even seem familiar to me. Even when I got to the familiar part, it was heavy going for me, and I have not finished it.

My two takeaways are this: I was a much better reader in high school than I am now! Back then I would plow eagerly into the longest of books. Now I shy away from anything over 400 pages -- it has to be REALLY good to keep my attention for that long. Secondly, I would honestly suggest that any newcomers might want to read a good condensed version of Les Miserables (that is probably heresy to some). I think the plot could stand on its own quite well without some of the digressions that are difficult to read through.

I have favorite books that I will read over and over, like Little Women. Les Miserables is not one of those, but it still is a favorite because of the indelible mark it left on me. I will never forget the time I spent with Jean Valjean, and how "real" he was to me.