Les miserables book too longest

Charles francoisbienvenu myriel has been bishop of digne for nine years. Les miserables, a story of the rich cultural context of the french revolution, is one of the worlds longest novels, 1,900 pages in its original french. Les miserables goodreads meet your next favorite book. Gone with the wind, which i read when i was a sophomore in high school, is probably a close runner up in length, but les mis is a good 300 pages longer. Far from seeming too long, it made the wait for the sixth book seem neverending. Les miserables, or popularly referred to as les mis or les miz, is a musical based on the novel of the same name by french poet and playwright, victor hugo.

To be fair, i did skip over all the parts that didnt pertain to the story ie, about half of it. Oct, 2017 dad surprises his daughter on her wedding with a les miserables musical flash mob sung by the brides fellow theater friends. Naturally, it also contains one of the worlds longest published sentences. In 1862, he wrote his longest and greatest novel, les miserables. Les miserables is considered one of the longest running musicals in the world, with a 25th anniversary production in 2010. Les miserables by victor hugo paste paste magazine.

Jul 11, 2008 les miserables is one of the longest novels in european literature. Compiling a list of longest novels yields different results depending. Dec 18, 2012 victor hugos les miserables debuted 150 years ago in 1862 and now has become the literal definition of the big book. If a writer wrote merely for his time, i would have to break my pen and throw it away, the largerthanlife victor hugo once confessed. But during the french revolution, he was forced to emigrate to italy, and his wife died before having children. Hugo now turns to another leading character, marius. But length is not just a question of pages, its also a question of tempo. Victor hugos novel of early 19th century france, as told through the experiences of the exconvict, jean valjean. I expected the language to be flowery and challenging for a modern reader to digest, but that wasnt the case. Its not easy to put les miserables in a nutshell, considering that its one of the longest novels ever written. In a 2010 interview with mackintosh in the financial times, he admitted that the success of les miserables was by no means assured. Victor hugos the wretched les miserables is by far the longest book ive ever read, over 0 pages and well over half a million words, and if youre considering tackling it too, i strongly suggest you just watch the musical instead.

Im pretty sure its the longest book ive ever read, with the exception of the bible. Set in the parisian underworld and plotted like a detective story, the work follows the fortunes of the convict jean valjean, a victim of society who has been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. What a great book, but some of the history lessons were a little too long. Jul, 2007 when i read some book, ive heard of the one of the longest sentence in english. The great french novel why do we still read les miserables. Jan 03, 2020 the longest book i read in 2019 was les miserables, by victor hugo. As for the story itself, les miserables is simply one of the greatest stories ever told. It was enough money to build a small railway or endow a chair at the sorbonne. If you were to ask theatre goers to name their favorite musical of all time, i would wager many would say les miserables.

Thank goodness, too, because les miserables is a looong book. The narrator for this book has a fascinating range and magically creates many clear voices. Nice to know about waterloo, french revolution, french slang words, the. Jan 16, 20 however, it became a global boxoffice phenomenon. Les mis was thought to be too highbrow, it had a title no one could pronounce, it was the rsc, and so on. Momentum remains the most important factor in establishing a hit show and maintaining it. So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to. Earlier this month, penguin random house bid more than sixtyfive million dollars for the global rights to books by barack and michelle obama, breaking the record for u.

The version i read was isabel florence hapgoods 1887 english translation. Les miserables i have been posting quotes from this book for a while now. It is a social commentary on the struggles and hardships of parisians, and is a tale of. Jan 21, 2020 les miserables, a story of the rich cultural context of the french revolution, is one of the worlds longest novels, 1,900 pages in its original french. I want to know 823 words of sentence in les miserable. Nov 17, 2018 thank goodness, too, because les miserables is a looong book. The story of jean valjean, a poor french boy who is arrested at the age of 19 for stealing a loaf of bread for his family, and who is sentenced to the quarries for seven years. Word count is a direct way to measure the length of a novel in a manner unaffected by variations of format and page size. Victor hugos les miserables debuted 150 years ago in 1862 and now has become the literal definition of the big book. Look back at the 33year history of the worlds longestrunning musical.

Les miserables is one of the longest novels in european literature. The longest novel is artamene ou le grand cyrus, originally published 164954 in ten parts, each part in three volumes. If you have a stack of other novels youre itching to get at, steer clear of this one until afterward. Great book spent 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, for almost two months listening to all 5 volumes of les miserables. Based on victor hugos classic french novel of 1862, the musical. If i read it in print form, it would have been 1463 pages. The longest novel is artamene ou le grand cyrus, originally published. The novel as a whole is one of the longest ever written, with 655,478 words in the original french. Set in early 19thcentury france, the plot follows the stories of.

My breakdown of the jeff samardzija trade is up for insiders now. Jul 06, 2018 all in all, it took me about 2 months of off and on reading. Les miserables follows exconvict jean valjean as he struggles to become an honest man. The book itself is in easy to read english, just a lot of it. In a nearby town, georges pontmercy, marius father, a hero of the napoleonic wars, lives in retirement. By 1987, it hit broadway earning it a total of eight tony awards, including best musical, best book and best score. They are just background about the bishop who let valjean take his silver. Amazing young singers, live from spirit ypc duration. The one part that i thought to be a bit too long was the first book of fantines volume. Les miserables the book by victor hugo is incredibly long, but. Jan 15, 2020 momentum remains the most important factor in establishing a hit show and maintaining it. At 1260 pages depending on the edition, its quite possibly the longest book ive ever read. All in all, it took me about 2 months of off and on reading. Fortunately, i listened to it on audiobook instead.

This is a list of the novels over 500,000 words published through a mainstream publisher. Gillenormand, by threatening to disinherit marius, has forced georges. Les miserables is the tale of the poor people of paris in a time of war and chaos in postnapoleonic france. The strange power of les mis, the book the new republic. Hugo explained his ambitions for the novel to his italian. Mar 02, 20 the most famous and revealing scenes in victor hugos les miserables get underway fairly late in the novelon page 1,280 in the pleiade editionat the moment when the physically powerful. Marius is a seventeenyearold who lives with his grandfather, m. But he savored his victory a little too much and let valjean get away in the process. The story of the worlds longest running musical in words, pictures and rare.

When the book was finished, hugo tried and failed to write a preface. Buy les miserables classics by hugo, victor, denny, norman, denny, norman, denny, norman from amazons fiction books store. Contrary to popular belief, the books of les miserables arent set. Im not sure if its longer than war and peace, its tough to say based on different editions. Book one, fantine so ive decided to take the plunge and make another attempt at victor hugos epic masterpiece, les miserables. Second, the neophyte belgian publisher albert lacroix was the. He was the son of a man of parliament, and he spent his younger years devoted to worldly affairs. So ive decided to take the plunge and make another attempt at victor hugos epic masterpiece, les miserables. And this is something javerts going to have a tough time forgiving himself for, since he is usually bythebook in everything he does.

I had meant to read it for years, but kept putting it off. Indeed, this 19thcentury french authors books from the epic drama les miserables to the classic unrequited love. It was an instant popular success and was quickly translated into several languages. Mar 23, 2017 les miserables was born of one of the riskiestand shrewdestdeals in publishing history. Hugo explained his ambitions for the novel to his italian publisher. The nostalgia chick referred to les miserables as les coincidences, because of the way the characters lives all intertwine, and this is all the more true in the book. Apr 30, 2016 les miserables i have been posting quotes from this book for a while now.

The fate of hugos protagonist jean valjean in tim hoopers 2012 film adaptation is quite a bit different than the original novel intended. In the englishspeaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original french title. The book, first published in 1862, is set in 19th century. See more ideas about les miserables, les miserables book and les miserables victor hugo. When i read some book, ive heard of the one of the longest sentence in english. Probably so that the reader can understand better why he let him take it. A lot of the introduced characters encounter other characters, so we get an increasingly complex net of relationships. Compiling a list of longest novels yields different results depending on whether pages, words or characters are counted. Cameron mackintosh changed very little of the novels plot for the stage version. How les miserables was the biggest deal in book history. Nov 01, 2003 from laurence porters introduction to les miserables. Les miserables, victor hugo les miserables is a french historical novel by victor hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. Ive just plowed my way through les miserables, one of the longest novels there is. Feb 01, 2019 les miserables is the tale of the poor people of paris in a time of war and chaos in postnapoleonic france.

Les miserables, novel by victor hugo, published in french in 1862. From laurence porters introduction to les miserables. The unabridged sometimes went deeper into history and side tales than i expected but always came back to add depth to the story. Not too many years ago, it was added to the required reading list for the agregation in french literature, the competitive state examination that qualifies teachers at advanced levels. I read this book after going to see the musical in the west end, so roughly knew the. Colm wilkenson and terrance mann performing les miserables on broadway, 1987. Ever since its first performances in 1985, les miserables has been a smash success, and is now the longestrunning musical in the world with an awardwinning hollywood movie to its name. Hugo spends the next chunk of the book describing the convent that jean valjean is hiding in. Victor hugo tells his classic story of redemption and struggle, now a major motion picture, of a tormenting police officer and a former convict.