Les Miserables

I'm not much the literate type. I haven't read many books, even though I took honors english and AP english all throughout high school. Jahn no read no goooood, but lub dis one. I started reading Les Miserables after studying for my exams. It felt weird to have spent so much time with my nose buried in books and then to have nothing to read. I watched the musical in NY and was thrown off by the rapid changes in the plot. Who that one? He did what? Huh? Huh? In truth, I liked the sets and songs more than the actual story.

My sheer stubborness and boredom got me through the 1,200+ pages. Then I saw the musical again. It held so much more power and depth than my initial impression. There is so much to the story than what is seen on stage and the songs hold so much more power once you've read this literary perfection. I don't want to hype up the book, but there's just so much more depth than what I first thought. Les Miserable is a study of the human life and its relationships. There's just so much insight that Victor Hugo paints into his characters. It made me sympathetic to the poor, angry for the oppressed, repulsed by religious institutions, driven by faith and inspired by love.

Lately, I've actually started listening more to the muscial. If you see some fool driving in his black-hot camry, bellowing out "Look down! Look down! Don't look them in the eye!" on the freeway, wave hello and let me know if you want to borrow this book.