Victor Hugo

Miserables, Les (Penguin Popular Classics)

Amna A.

"There comes a point where the unfortunate and the infamous are grouped together, merged in a single, fateful word. They are les miserables -the outcasts, the underdogs. and who is to blame? Is it not the most fallen who have the most need of charity?"

By far the most fascinating book I have read. Victor Hugo creates astounding characters, each with their own distinctive personalities, showing their massive changes through the course of the book and how the unfortunate events have shaped them as they intertwine with each other.

First, there's the naive, heart-broken Fantine, who had later been put to face her greatest fear of her daughter not living the life she deserves to live. To avoid this, Fantine sacrifices everything, including the last breath within her to ensure her daughter's safety, which was not spent completely in vain.

Javert. The inspector whom was always on the lookout for Jean ValJean, believing that no matter what, a thief is a thief. That changes when he is confronted by Valjean. Captured and about to be executed, Javert experiences forgiveness from the ex-convict whom he had been hunting down. Valjean made him aware of how people have this ability to change for the better. Knowing this, Javert releases the ex-convict, who had done more good than the inspector ever had.

Valjean himself started out as a poor pauper, being imprisoned 19 years for stealing a loaf of bead and then attempting to escape several times. But what took away his innocence was not the crime of thievery that he had committed, but the hate that he has wielded in his heart during his time in prison. The act of him being imprisoned for 19 years was what made him believe that he was indeed an enemy of the public, however, the trust of a bishop in him was what crumbled away the hatred and replaced it with the will to spread goodness around him.


...There are just too many thoughts about this book and so little words to be able to explain them.

maitha mana

Victor Hugo once again excelled at summarizing the harshness of the world yet the inner beauty that lies deep within. This story is a perfect example of how all great people started out as nobodies, and the most important lesson: forgive but never forget. This book is more than just a 'story'. It is the all the good, the bad, and the ugly portrayed in different ways. It is the sad truth of every society yet the spark of courage in every wronged man. It is a message in a bottle that has sailed the bitter seas just to remind us all, that there is a sun behind every cloud.

"So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilisation, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine, with human fatality; so long as the three problems of age- the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night- are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and from a yet more extended point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless." -Victor Hugo himself.

Miserables, Les (Penguin Popular Classics)

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