Litwit Lounge discussion

Have any of you read Les Misérables? Sadly, I had to return my copy unread. I'm afraid I let myself get distracted by to many other, including books.

For those of you who have read it, do you recommend any particular version? Also, how important, if at all, do you feel it would be to understand the time setting of the French revolution?

If anyone else is interested in reading this, I plan to be getting back to it in about a month and would love to have someone to discuss it with. Admittedly, it is a long book, part of the reason I'm mentioning it now.

I find that the complete and unabridged version is well worth reading. Now having said that and perhaps setting myself up as an elitist pedant, I think that this is a great classic and it deserves all the little nuances in the writing that are left out in the abridged versions: in fact I don't see how the abridged version makes a lot of sense with some of the things left out. I suppose that's to be expected in a world that reads things where information is repeated for those who get bored with reading each of the words.
On the other hand, this book requires that you leave off other ventures and really pay attention. Frankly that's a hard sell these days, but I think the result is more than worth it. When one completes this work, he or she understands that it really is a timeless classic as well as a social commentary, not just of the period but of mankind in general. I hope you give it a chance.

On the other hand, this book requires that you leave off other ventures and really pay attention.

Point well taken.

And yes, I am definitely coming back to it -- thinking perhaps I should just buy my own copy...going to peruse some used bookstores and see what translation I can find.

This was a huge commitment read for me. The book is well-written, but can run dry sometimes with all of the historical detail Hugo includes. I read the unabridged version, and my copy came with an Introduction and Notes on the Historical Period. I found that they helped me understand the immensity of this novel much better.

I would like to second the motion. This book is still on my to-read list, and I would very much like to tackle it. A group read would be a wonderful way to do so!

Should we have a target completion date as well?

At least a month, and possibly up to 3 months... not only because its length but also some folks may be reading other things as well.

Anyone want to chime in on this? Feel free to do so here or send Charly or me a message. I will be sending out an announcement message to all our members, and hope to get some feedback that way as well. :-)

I don't think I'll be joining in. Sorry.

Sorry I'm joining this discussion so late! Somehow I missed the original suggestion of a group read; and what with my Goodreads notices piling up and older ones getting buried in the inbox beneath newer ones, I didn't discover it until now.

I'm conflicted. Les Miserables is on my to-read shelf (like a lot of other classics); and I don't mind the idea of reading a long book as such. (Except for our "car book" that I'm reading to Barb at any given time, I only read one print book at a time, so the concentration Rhonda recommends won't be a problem for me). On the other hand, it IS a long book, that'll take a considerable chunk of time to read. Five of my other groups do common reads every year, that I feel obligated to participate in because I'm a moderator; and I have some other reading commitments as well, though most of them are only commitments to myself. I'd already mentally mapped out a reading schedule for 2016 before this came up (and of course Les Miserables wasn't on it).

One of those five groups is my classics group, Vintage Tales, which will do its annual common read in March, with a poll posted in February to select the book. I could suggest this book; and if the group votes for it, and you guys want to schedule your common read for March as well, I could do both simultaneously. (Of course, I can't guarantee how the poll in Vintage Tales will turn out --but even if I wind up reading another book there, the rest of you could still do your common read here.) What do you think about that idea?

Sounds good, Charly.

If we started in January, perhaps we could finish up by end of March??

Given that it's apt to be such a long read, I think I'll plan to sit this one out for now, and read it sometime in the future by myself. I don't want to commit to an extremely long read right now; but I hope there's good participation in the read, and that you all have fun with it!

I'd like to discuss by section at least. I have many things on my TO READ list so I don't mind pushing it back some.

Sometimes, when only two people want to read a particular book and discuss it, a "buddy read" (rather than a group common read) works well. (One of my Goodreads friends and I usually do one of these every year.) The way that we do it is:

Once we've picked a book, we agree on a convenient time to start more or less simultaneously. We read at our own pace, using the reading progress function to keep each other posted as to where we're at (she usually reads faster than I do, but typically has another book or two she's reading, so can pause to let me catch up if she needs to.) To discuss what we're reading, we use the Goodreads personal message system; I put the chapter I'm on in the subject line of the messages, as an added way of orienting ourselves to each other's reading progress. (Page numbers can differ by editions, but chapter divisions don't.) This has worked well for us in the past.

Reggia and Charly, this may (or may not) be something you'd want to try in this case.

That's a very interesting how you worked the "buddy read".

I still plan to send out a group email as we may pick up some who are unaware and would be interested.

Yes, I certainly can. :-)

yay!

Looking forward to it! :-) I might start a little early...

It's been so long getting started that I'm afraid I'll get behind. ;-)

Great idea!

My pace has so slowed considerably (in these past 4 yrs due to job change) -- that's my concern, as I don't want to leave you or others waiting for me to catch up. Anyway, I think it'll go great with the sections, and if I haven't mentioned it before, I do have my own copy now. :-)

Charly wrote: "So you really don't have to go crazy about your pace. By the way, I think Alice and Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were originally separate publications when you get to them as it regards..."

Yes, although they're often published together in omnibus editions today, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) is a different book than Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). (Of course, the later one is the sequel; but they're still distinct books.)

Charly wrote: "Two classics that we all know and many have never actually read."

I read both of them in an omnibus volume as a fourth-grade kid (it was one of the donated books on the couple of shelves that passed for a school "library"). I've never reviewed either of them, but I wasn't terribly impressed with them at the time. They struck me as way too surreal --of course, back then, I didn't know that was the word that described it!-- and even as a nine-year-old child, I was never a big fan of surrealism, or nonsense.

Getting closer... wonder what version/edition others of you will be reading. I have the one by Wordworth Classics.

By parts sounds like the best way to go. :)

Sounds good to me. Still need to find myself a copy...

Found my copy (in 2 books) at my local HalfPrice Books

Charly, which edition did you read? I think I think I'm going to have to get a different translation in order to finish this up.

Okay, I did some research, er googling, and have discovered that my Wordsworth edition is a Wilbour translation. Evidently, it is the first English one and considered truest but I've never come across so many unknown English words in my life!

I saw your review... so you would recommend the Penguin translation?

I bought a different edition at my local Friends of the Library shop, woohoo, and it's leatherbound! Hopefully this will be less tedious reading. My first edition used many words that seemed like unusual variations of more common English words, and it really slowed me down. At the same time, I was adding to my French journal new French words and phrases so-o between the two... I started becoming distracted from the story itself.

Just bumping to see if anyone would like to comment on these translations, or give feedback on the translation you read.

Reggia wrote: "Just bumping to see if anyone would like to comment on these translations, or give feedback on the translation you read."

Check out this link:

https://owlcation.com/humanities/Best...

I read the Norman Denny version and it is good. (caveat/proviso: my English is not that good to pass judgement :( )

Thank you for that, Li!

Because of a point made in that article, I may go back to the second version I had tried, because as burdensome as some of the English words were I would miss all the French words and phrases I was learning in it.

To be sure English is the only language I know and speak, but many of the words were translated ever so differently than the most common form or usage.

I have never in my life taken so long to get through a book. Once again, I feel it's the translation.

Anyway, I've finally made it to the catacombs, yes, the part that some people say can be skipped, but no, no skipping for me.

...

Got interrupted, and don't remember what else I intended to say, but I will tell you this: I am several pages into the catacombs and wow! So much food for thought, so much to consider, history of which I'm unaware and need to know so I can understand so many references he is making. For instance, there's is Basil's mask and the alphabet whose figures he calls grotesque.

At another GR group that reads classics, another member and I are talking about reading over a year. To complete the book in a year requires reading just more than seven chapters a week. That gives plenty of time to learn more about the June Rebellion.

I hear you on the rebellion. I tried to read a bit about it, but I couldn't fit it into the narrative of the story. So maybe that's what I've learned to do, and maybe appreciate... that is, to just take each part and not worry about it how it will all come together or not. In fact, I've been feeling much the same way about stream-of-consciousness writing. It's not that I'm confusing the two, but that I'm now comfortable with going here or there. Perhaps it's age, lol! In any event, I'm going to try re-reading some authors who use this style and see if I fare better than a decade or two ago. :-)

Reggia I agree that any book about the June Rebellion will not directly inform the novel, yet reading about the June Rebellion will given context for the novel and give me opportunity to learn about the June Rebellion. . . . ..I will also be reading a book about Trafalgar with a GR friend at one of my nonfiction groups. I also read a overview of the French Revolution. Ideally I will read French Revolution, Trafalgar, and the June Rebellion, but who knows. Reading is an adventure.

Indeed, it is! I picked up Trafalgar Companion and another one about Napoleon that I might better understand those days.

Reggie (and anyone one else interested), I am reading The Novel of the Century: The Extraordinary Adventure of Les Misérables by David Bellos. Bellos says that the street fighting in the Les Mis is not based on the 1830 Rebellion but the 1832 Rebellion, a rebellion known to historians who stidy more arcane parts of French. So why the lesser known 1832 Rebellion than the better known rebellion? Because the the 1830 Rebellion is something than benefited Hugo and other artistic people. The Rebellion of 1832 changed nothing, so it was safer for Hugo to use the 1832. Bellos indicates there are truths of the second rebellion to tells truths of the 1848 revolution.

For those who want to watch the old black and white movie version of the novel: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7q...

Finished Part One.
Sometimes I sensed the Romantic emotionalism. (view spoiler)[ When I got to Fantine's deathbed scene where Javert in the corner of the room, I felt emotionallly played upon with Fantine's dramatic death and with Javert dishonoring her with his presence. (hide spoiler)]Yet I could not stop. I had to read on.

Cynda will back full time 2024Also. At the local library I found the comic book retelling of the novel Les Misérables by Marcia Williams retold and illustrated by Marcia Williams. The prologue--a police notice--works just as well as any.prologue, letting the reader/citizen know that citizens must obey the law or expect punishment--no leniency will be found.

The narrator in the novel shows us this truth. We have a whole long novel to get that idea beaten into our understanding. A reader of a comic book does not, so that horror must be put up like a big signpost.

I do not particularly recommend this comic book. Articles and essays and other sources found online might serve better.

Ah yes, I remember that now (Javert in the room)... think I'll return to that passage now... I forgot to watch the movie! Today would've been perfect! Except I can't watch to the end... close but not there yet.

Gpbig, I had to look that up, lol... I get it now. :-D

Sorry Reggia. Time for me to practice eye exercises again. I will this week.

No apologies! It was entirely right as I found when I looked it up, and now I've learned something new. I like that!

About those eye exercises though... have a program with which you're experiencing success? I've looked into it, but haven't stuck with anything.

My ENT referred me to physical therapist group that does some work with those with vestibular issues. I use the double cat image, working to merge the image into one. I use a line with dots, starting at dots farthest away from nose to those nearest to nose. And I use a pen to follow with both eyes, always starting and returning pen tip to nose tip. There are more exercises too. I recommend visiting You Tube if ENT or physical therapy is not an option. So much there.

This year I am returning to the yoga mat. And then next year I can return to physical therapy. Yoga gives me real advantage of having some basic skills and basic balance and strength which I can use to advance my vestibular exercises.

Thanks, Cynda. I'll search on Youtube... just want to keep my eye muscles in good shape, and use readers less and less. Light, however, plays the biggest part of when I need to use them.

Things like Yoga and Pilates are so helpful. I can attest to the Pilates having kept my core strong, and enabling me to have flexibility. It certainly makes a huge difference in what I am able to do on a daily basis. :-) I'm so thankful to have stumbled upon it when I did.

Reggia there are yoga eye exercises in You Tube, general eye maintenance exercises. I have used them too.

Thanks, Cynda!

I'm in my last 100 pages of Les Mis... and thoroughly enjoying! I'm finding myself smiling, laughing, even shedding a tear (not so with the rest of the book)... still taking notes on French words as well as unusual forms of English words... and looking into historical mentions that take place within the text.