A Review of Les Mis

So, after the attempt at reverence in the previous blog post normal service is about to be resumed for a review of this wonderful, maddening book. It’s been an epic journey but one I’ve enjoyed. If you’ve got a lot of time on your hands, it’s well worth a read. So, here are a few points.

Some fantastic, unforgettable characters. Valjean, Javert, the Thenardiers, Gavroche, Fantine. Hugo makes the reader love them, hate them, pity them but above all understand them. This is balanced out by Cossette and Marius, who entirely deserve each other for being completely wet. I did think that there would be some sort of trial for them where they would grow as people or demonstrate the strength they’d developed in the course of their lives, but they don’t seem to. Marius seems to be rather unaffected by his experiences on the barricade and Cos is a bit of a silly girl.

Poor Eponine gets short shrift, she’s a great character who doesn’t appear enough and who doesn’t have her emotions described, although she does get a better role in the musical. She gets the feminist prize in the book (other than having the bad taste to fall for Marius), Cos loses it both for being wet and silly and for being treated like some sort of chattel by both Valjean and Marius, who are both obsessed with her. She is completely passive throughout the entire book, allowing Marius to moon over her, Valjean to plan to take her away to England then Marius to separate her from her only relative. Hugo has a weird way of describing her, putting her on a pedestal yet providing voyeuristic suggestive descriptions of bedchambers and marriage beds. Another Victorian downfall is the lurid sentimentality, particularly in the case of portraying Cossette and Marius’s romance, which is both ludicrous and sickening at times.

The Revolution is one giant damp squid. He spends ninety percent of the book leading up to it then it just abruptly ends as if it didn’t really matter that much. This links to his portrayal of the deaths of most of ABC, Gavroche and Eponine, they all come in such quick succession that they don’t seem that tragic and then they don’t seem to affect any of the characters left. Most of Marius’s friends are dead and he doesn’t care about it. Some of the death scenes are better, particularly Javert’s and Valjean’s and I think the description of Valjean’s spiritual crisis is a highlight of the book. 

Meticulous research on practically every topic known to man, particularly the history of the period. He certainly knows his stuff and gives the reader what is undoubtedly an accurate picture of the revolution. Yet there are frustrating digressions and essays at every turn, when you just want to know where the plot is going. It’s like he’s thrown everything in, all his research, all his ideas, everything, to the point of insanity. By the end, you feel like you know Hugo intimately as he so often speaks through his characters and when he’s not doing that he’s putting his point across even more obviously with a seemingly unimportant essay about sewers or religious orders or street slang. You read them in case there is some point to them, but it’s mostly his way of putting all that research to some purpose. He really could’ve done with an editor and I’m sure you can get one of those ‘half the time’ books without all that guff in it. 

A vast, weaving, intricate plot. Yes, he suffers from that old Victorian downfall, over-use of coincidences but it’s still an achievement, particularly in the way that he has blended history with fiction in such a way that it makes the book quite believable at times. He also uses real locations very well.

Appealing themes and imagery. Above all, Les Mis is a hopeful book, one that looks forward to a future where love and justice are more commonplace than they were at the time. The message is clear that anyone can change and become a better person, that we should avoid false judgements and self-interest and take care of the unfortunates. 

Overall, Les Mis is a true epic, it makes you feel all wrung-out and emotionally drained by the time you finish it. At times it’s been a pleasure to read it and despite its downfalls I have become very fond of both the book and the author reading it. It can be a lyrical, beautiful book at times that makes you feel like you are a better person just by reading it. It’s not for everyone and it’s not a book that can be read in a rush on the bus, but if you’re prepared to put the time in, it’s a rewarding experience. Not sure if I will read it all again, but at least I will know what parts to skip next time!