Les Miserables (Penguin Classics) [B1459]

1982 PB printing of the 1862 original classic, clean with minor wear. A compelling and compassionate view of the victims of early nineteenth-century French society, Les Misérables is a novel on an epic scale. Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him. But his attempts to become a respected member of the community are constantly put under threat: by his own conscience, when, owing to a case of mistaken identity, another man is arrested in his place; and by the relentless investigations of the dogged policeman Javert. It is not simply for himself that Valjean must stay free, however, for he has sworn to protect the baby daughter of Fantine, driven to prostitution by poverty.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Genuinely . . WOW! This story is just incredible I was so blown away! I was already a big fan of the musical so I wasn't expecting it to surprise me at all but it certainly did. Reading this made me able to appreciate the characters on an entirely new level, especially Valjean, but also characters like Fantine, Marius, and even Javert. Valjean's character arc is absolute perfection and so inspiring! Also just getting to have a deeper dive into that time of history and the passion that the barricade boys had for liberty as well as their country was honestly so inspiring! Also, Marius and Cosette are so cute I literally cannot (although Marius did frustrate me at some points). The ending had me SOBBING... just the pent up emotion from the last few chapters made the ending really hit home. But yeah I am SO glad I read this I literally couldn't put it down! The only thing about the book that would warrant a 4.5 is Hugo's tendency to go into WAY too much detail over things that have very minimal impact on the story itself, but as this is not my first Hugo novel, I can't say that surprised me. But yeah this is def a new favorite, I will for sure be rereading in the future!"; "Me before reading the les mis: how did they fit this big ass book into one movie/musical? Me after reading the les mis: okay i see how without Victor Hugo's many rants, this book is significantly shorter."; "If you have any given any consideration to reading this book, read it. I have spent a little over six months reading this book and it was well worth the time. It is a true classic."; "I am so proud of myself for finishing this one! The characters were amazing, I felt like I knew their ins and outs and the reasons behind all of their decisions, even the ones I didn't like. Hugo does a fantastic job of writing their lives and wrapping up all of the loose ends neatly. This was one of my lifetime challenge books, one of those books I felt I had to read so it feels great to cross it off my list. I feel that I will have a much easier time with other classics from this point forward because this was a bit of a beast all told!"