Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| The Pirate King |
I finally finished Victor Hugo's Les Miserables.It took me a little over two months, but I finally reached the ending this afternoon.It really is amazing. I highly recommend everyone on this board to read the original work, if they haven't already. And you really need to read the complete unabridged edition. I read the MacAfee/Fahnestock translation, and it was was very good. More is added to so many characters, and Hugo's writing is so masterful that even his most seemingly pointless digressions are a joy to read. After reading this book, you receive the most amazing sense of fulfillment. You're not a true "Les Miz" fan until you've read the original work. (By the way, what other Hugo do you recommend? And which would be the best translations?)[/i] |
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| Quique |
Glad you enjoyed it. I'm starting on my third round of it soon. Haven't read it straight through for years and it's time to refresh my memory. | ||||
| Mademoiselle Lanoire |
I've only read 'Notre Dame de Paris', unfortunately. I started 'L'homme qui rit' but my copy started falling apart at the seam and I don't want to touch it until I can have it re-bound. | ||||
| Sweeney Hyde |
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is rather brilliant...Disney slaughtered it in their film almost beyond recognition. | ||||
| LesMisForever |
Glad you enjoyed it, and glad that you loved the writing, and some of the digerssions.
Personally, i loved Waterloo. I also loved The Bishop. His meeting with the old revolutinary was a joy to read. I would like to add my voice to "Sweeney Hyde", The Hunchback of Notre Dame is also brilliant, and has in "Esmeralda" one of my favourite heroines. The Disney movie, which i watched only because on TV did indeed butchered the story. |
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| PappyCat |
Although Hunchback WAS butchered by Disney, it was a lovely disney movie. | ||||
| Mara |
I read Les Mis out of interest and I'm using it for my schoolwork as well as a supplementary text. It was such a mammoth effort but completely worth it! I feel like it's enhanced my enjoyment of the musical. | ||||
| Elin |
I came across this article on the novel yesterday:
http://www.retort.brentley.com/RETORT/05/id_01.06_dan_schneider.htm Excerpts: "While Les Miserables is clearly a cut above the usual pabulum that is published and passed off as �literary fiction� today, it is not a great work of literature." "while the novel has quite a number of excellent moments, it has just as many, or more, bad moments- and I mean horrifically bad examples of writing; writing so bad that to believe it could belong to a �classic� or a �masterpiece� of the Western Canon boggles the mind." "This clich�-riddled piece of tripe could have been written by any PC Elitist published in the last twenty years. It�s truly that bad. However, despite such egregious lapses, I would state that one should read the full version, even though, literally, some of the abridged versions are more enjoyable to read, simply because there are many gems in the excess that are worth reading. Still, shit is shit, no matter how many roses bloom here and there, and this is why the worst parts of the book weigh down the whole. It is also a surprisingly quick read, considering its size, precisely because it is not particularly deep. Complex? Yes. But not deep, and that�s an important distinction." "In short, it�s really hard to take Victor Hugo seriously, philosophically, as a Leftist, Rightist, or anything in between, with such ill-written, over-the-top banalities as this at the base of the book�s reason. No amount of apologism based upon �different eras� can make bad writing good. Fortunately, the book has much good writing, and does serve as a document of its time and ethos, so it should be read. Just do not expect it to change your life, only claim a minor portion of it." |
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| lnstevens |
Changing storiesIm a great believer in seeing a show before you read the book otherwise you spend your time wondering where certain bits have gone, and why things are not explained, in the show.... ie like Gavroche being Eponine's sister and child of the Thenardiers. This is even more evident in some more modern shows like Wicked..... the show does not resemble the narrative in the book at all... for example Elphaba can not do magic... Fiero dies. McGuires origional work in my opinion is soo much better than the show..(dont get me wrong the show was great) Just not as great as Les Miserables which is quite possibly the best work i have ever seen in my life.But back on topic... the book is brilliant and takes you on an emotional journey. Once you have read the book, you can understand and empethise with the characters so much more. I think Boubil and Scronberg really stuck true to the origional narrative of Hugo. JUST SEE THE SHOW FIRST and then to become a real real fan read the origional work which inspired this masterpiece. Liam |
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| nycbound |
I read it for the first time when I was 14. Initially, I read it because I had just fallen in love with the musical, but after the first 50 pages, I was completely engaged. There are some wonderful elements that the musical didn't include. I even wrote a research paper about the juxtaposition of religious standpoints in the book when I was in college. | ||||
| Aimee |
Re: Changing stories
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| lnstevens |
Glad you agree.... we have met aimee..... im Kirstys friend we met at the last night of Les Miserables at the Palace. Hope you are well
Liam |
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| Aimee |
Of course!! 
Obviuosly I'd not put two and two together without you telling me but thanks for telling me its you. I hope you're well. Say hi to Kirtsy for me! xx |
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| lnstevens |
will do | ||||
| Eponine93 |
I've been reading it since Tuesday and I only have about 200 pages left. I'm at the equivalent of the sewer sequence right now. I'm pretty impressed with myself- I've skipped a few sections where Hugo really rambles, but I never expected to finish it that quickly. From now on, it's going to be a little tougher going because 1) I don't want my amazing experience reading Les Mis to end and 2) I hate the sewer sequence in the musical, so there's no reason to suggest I'll like it in the book.
Quickly... my thoughts: the characters in the book are so more developed. I've always liked most of the characters, but after reading the book, I can have no favorites. I really love all the characters right now. The only character I was dissapointed with the characterization was Fantine. I felt she wasn't developed enough at all. I know Hugo's intent was to make her a martyr, but I felt she was a very bland martyr. The Fantine section is my favorite part of the musical, but I didn't really love the section in the book. I'm not going to post my thoughts on everything right now, but I just want to say how much I love book!Marius, book!Eponine, and to an extent, book!Cosette. I really was surprised how much I loved Marius's character. He was never really a favorite of mine in the musical, but I love how he's developed and especially his history with his father and his grandfather. I cried as I read about his past. Also, his relationship with his grandfather reminded me a lot of my relations with my grandmother. I also loved how Marius and Cosette's love was developed, as well as Eponine's characterization. I love book!Eponine, despite her creepiness, a million times more than I love musical!Eponine. One of my favorite things about the book is when you read phrases and all of a sudden you realize: "Oh, that's where that song came from!" That happened to me several times, but most noticably when Thenardier was described as "master and mistress of the house" and when the students were singing at the barricade, which reminded me a lot of "Drink With Me". Anyway... I'm off to finish the book... after I'm done I'll post all of my thoughts on it... |
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| Orestes Fasting |
The original French lyrics to Drink With Me were taken almost verbatim from that poem, actually. |
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| Cassie |
I've read the book several times. The first time I was reading it I carried it everywhere in my bag (it weighed a ton)  just so I could read a few pages whenever I got the opportunity. I'd read it in two weeks, I found it wonderful.
I'm very interested in what you said about Marius. My own impression of the book was that, once Marius appears in the book I remember thinking Ahhh this story is about Marius and all the background story we're told about Valjean, is primarily to get Cossette in the right place, for Marius to fall in love with her. The musical of course tells the story from Valjeans viewpoint. |
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| Gargamel |
I think the succes of the novel is that it is rich enough so that each reader can have a different feeling about it. Some people will get closer to one character and some other with different ones.
When I was a kid, I was close to Cosette. Her childhood was so dramatic to me, and her life had some fairy tale aspects: A Cinderella-like childhood, Valjean as her saviour, Love at first sight with Marius... As a teen, I loved all the revolutionnary aspects, I loved Gavroche as a symbol of freedom, to the death. The more I read the book, the more I think that following Valjean is just a way for Hugo to show different aspects of human nature. Last time I read it, I felt like Forgiveness was everywhere: Javert thinks a mistake is not forgivable, Mgr Myriel forgives Valjean, Eponine kind of forgives Maruis not to love her, Valjean accepts that Marius can take his Cosette, Mr Pontmercy forgives Marius for his political viewpoints. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
You could also frame it as the story revolving around Cosette, and who the most important figure in her life is--in which case the torch passes from Fantine to Valjean to Marius. Even if the story is structured around Cosette, though, Valjean is clearly the main character. |
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| Set_Buildin_Dad |
I'm glad to see that you are all reading the book. I too was inspired to read the book after first seeing the show. Before that time I had been somewhat intimidated by the length of the book. I agree with the other posters who have come before me and suggest that you will get more enjoyment out of the show if you see it before reading the book. I do however suggest that you read a detailed synopsis of the story first. When I first saw LesMis I was totally lost.
I also agree that it is well worth the time it takes to read the unabridged edition of the book. It really captures a place and time in history like nothing else I have ever seen does. As an example: I understood the battle of Waterloo so much better after the book than what I learned in history classes. I actually think that history teachers would be well served use classic literature like this to explain the historical context of events that they teach about. Books like this make history come alive. |
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| Glissando |
I read it 2 summers ago and loved it.
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| piratequeen |
i read the first hundred pages and then really just forgot about it. i cant remember why. maybe it's time to give it another go
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| Orestes Fasting |
Because the first hundred pages are a charming but entirely irrelevant digression devoted to a bishop who is instrumental to the story but whom we will never see again. If you give it another go, I suggest using this page as a guide to skip or skim parts of the book. Because it really is full of digressions that aren't immediately relevant to the story, and it's helpful to know in advance what you can skim without losing vital details. (If you only want to excise the major digressions, skip "An Upright Man," "Waterloo," "Petit-Picpus," "A Parenthesis," "Argot," and "The Intestine of the Leviathan." The page linked to above has more information.) |
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| Inspector_Javert |
I read it in every year, it's just so great. I'm reading it right now.
I've read it first when I was ten. Now I'm twenty-four. Waterloo was very, very hard for me... but now I can read it. I never liked long, boring battle descriptions. I like the Petit Picpus sequence. I always loved reading about convent life. |
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| Tenalto |
Wow. Thread necromancy. How unusual. |