Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| starmelace |
Just got the book...I just got the book. Any recomendation on how I should read it? (all at once, chapter a day...ect.) |
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| Orestes Fasting |
As much as you feel comfortable with at a time. It's a long book.
If you hit a boring stretch, there are sections that can be skipped, because Hugo tends to go off on digressions that have nothing to do with the plot. The first fifty pages are arguably a digression concerning the bishop who saves Valjean; they provide a fuller picture of his character and a mouthpiece for Hugo's views on religion, but the plot doesn't really pick up until the chapter "The Evening of a Day of Walking." Which edition of the book do you have, by the way? |
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| starmelace |
Thanks for the advice. Yeah, I have heard people complain about the part with the bishop. It's a Fawcett Premier Book... | ||||
| Paula74 |
Oh, just read it all at once! 
Which is what I almost did when I bought my first copy...except for annoying little things like school, food, and sleep interfering! 
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| starmelace |
Lol, that's what I'm doing. i like it so far. I just reached were he becomes Mayor Madeline. | ||||
| lesmisloony |
Which translation? | ||||
| Orestes Fasting |
Most of the generic "[publisher] Classics" editions use Wilbour because it's public domain and it's the easiest to come by. And hey, Wilbour's a fine translation, maybe not the most accessible but definitely a classic.
As long as it's not the Isabel Hapgood translation then we're good. |
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| starmelace |
Yes, Wilbour is the translation I have. | ||||
| LesMisForever |
Hello starmelace...a new face right? 
I second what OF. Read it as comfortable as you feel. You are not into a competition to finish it in a record time. Actually, unless you are a natural fast reader, then i think you should read it slowly. As for those "boring" bits. Well, in the past we had a thread about them, and the outcome was interesting. Although each one of us had some parts that pushed him/her to suicide (lol), those same part were liked by someone else. Maybe there was one exception. For example, i liked very much the bishop part (btw not for religious reasons). I also loved Waterloo. It is a brilliant piece of writing. The point i am trying to make is that unless you read it, you don't know whether you are going to like it or not. Furthermore, i believe exactly those "boring" parts combined with the lenghthy descriptions of characters, even those very insignificant, and circumstances that make the novel. If you strip the novel down to the basic plot, then it is just piece of melodrama with convulted, highly unlikely plot. It is full, and heavily reliant on coincidences. Quite frankly, without the brilliant writing, and those socio-politcal comments, i wouldn't give the book even a glance. So, soldier on, dig your heel deep, and read the whole book. I suppose you can skip one part or two if you feel you lost intrest in life , but try o read as much as possible. It is a much more rewarding experience that way.
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| starmelace |
Yes, a new face 
I have the abridged version actually *glares at used book store* So I don't have to worry too much about boring and never ending bits. Normally I am a fast reader, but i don't want to miss anything, so I am reading slower. I plan on reading this version, then finding the unabridged and reading it. Not sure if I should have done it the other way around but... *shrug* Thanks so much for the advice! |
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| bigR |
Abridged?  Abridged versions should burn in hell! No wonder you reached so quickly the part when Valjean becomes the mayor!
No, really, publishers can do this kind of things because poor Hugo died more than 100 years ago, and his work is public domain, etc, but some kind of cultural instance should be in charge of protecting dead people's work. If he wrote 1.500 pages it is because he thought that those 1.500 pages were relevant. By publishing an abridged versions publishers are mutilating his work and deciding by themselves which parts are relevant and which are not! The way I see it, by reading an abrlidged version of a book you are not reading that book. You are reading something else, with a different pace, different characters, different eveything. So, to answer your question: no, you shouldn't have done it either this way or the other way. There is no excuse for getting an abridged version! Ever. Actually, I find it kind of weird how many people own an abridged version of the brick. I don't think that you could even find a french abridged version of the brick... it's simply not done around here... And I certainly do not have such an strong opinion about abridged versions of the brick because I worship it or anything like that. Actually I'm probably the only person around here who doesn't even like it: It's pretentious, and boring, and the plot is unbeliveable, and the characters are totally flat, and when it got published in 1862 it was already old fashioned... But it has to be read in its enterity so that readers can really appreciate how bad it is! I love it nevertheless. Why? No idea. Have you ever been in love with someone you didn't really like? Well, that's me and the brick. But I wouldn't love it as much as I do if I hadn't been through the whole sewers crazy chapter and I hadn't had the chance to rant about the insanity of Hugo's project to recicle human excrements (no, I don't think you get that in the abridged versions  )
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| starmelace |
Lol, don't like abridged versions?
Shame on me, tsk tsk tsk Only copy they had! I promise, scouts honor, that I will read the unabridged version *backs slowly away in fear* J/K. Thanks for the advice.
I feel the same way as you do, only with Phantom of the Opera. It simply isn't the same abridged. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Oh, it's abridged? Toss it out and get the unabridged version. Now. There's a grey paperback edition with the musical logo on the cover that should be eight or nine bucks at Barnes & Noble or whatever other chain bookstore you have nearby.
If there existed an abridged version that only cut out Waterloo, the convent, the sewers, and other lengthy sections that weren't directly related to the plot, I might not foam at the mouth so much. LM without the digressions wouldn't be the same, but the digressions aren't the only thing responsible for the book's original length. Half the charm of the book is the way Hugo dwells on his minor characters, goes on at length about the plot, sets up convoluted subplots and mini-subplots, and wanders off on little anecdotes. The abridged editions all have a distressing and trigger-happy tendency to slice out anything not directly relevant to the bare bones of the plot, even though the wealth of detail and subplots are half the fun. For example--did your edition have the chapters "In the Year 1817" and "A Double Quartet?" If it didn't, you just missed Fantine's entire backstory. |
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| LesMisForever |
Abridged version? Oh No!
Personally, i think it is better not to read it at all rather than reading an abridged version. Or at least get the full version and skip things if you find them boring, but abridged versions are the worst (that goes for all novels). Basically, you are reading someone's else opinion about what you should read. Although it is probably done with good intentions, but the outcome is not that different from censorship. You are getting a butchered, and stiched up thing. Now, may i ask you why are you reading the book? The plot is not that different from the musical. Yes, there are some differences, but they don't change the main line. The whole point of reading the book in my opinion is to know those characters better, and you can achieve that only by reading the full version. You get to know them, and their circumstances very well, and only then you will get really attached to them. Take the students for example. While in the musical they are all more, or less like one person (apart from G.), when you read the book you will get to know them as individuals, because Hugo give you a long description about each of them and that is the real fun. |
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| starmelace |
*hides* Don't hurt me, don't hurt me! I promise, I will read the unabridged. As soon as I come back from Israel. *Looks around warily* Trust me, I was p/oed with they only had one copy. And my mom, wonderful as she is, made it sound that unabridged was hardly any different than abridged. Now I have to go smack her. | ||||
| LesMisForever |
Well, they say that women fall in love with the wrong men. It seems that you fell in love with the wrong book
Interesting thoughts about the book, but it is too late for me to give a meaningful reply. (O/T: Congratulation for Spain about EURO2008. At last Spain won!. It was great team. The played very nice football throughout the tournament, and the best team won the tournament.) |
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| starmelace |
Lol congrats to Spain. Yeah, I agree with the whole falling in love with wrong men and wrong books. At least a book can talk back or give you grief....we hope
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| Huzzah for Combeferre |
Actually, the books are fairly similar... If you don't pay attention the missing rants... Or lack of character development... Or lack of anything really truly interesting at the barricades... |
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| Paula74 |
May I smack her for you? I bought the unabridged first...the same day I saw the musical for the first time. I didn't realize it was abridged and it was the only one the store had. It. Was. Awful. Far too much vital material was cut - Fantine's backstory is a good example already mentioned. I rarely throw away a book. If I don't like a book, I'll give it away. But this was a rare time when book met trash can in my house. |
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| starmelace |
Lol, yes you may. Do you have a good recomendation for which version of the unabridged I should buy? | ||||
| Huzzah for Combeferre |
If you don't really care for long digressions, but still want all the character development, then go for Penguin addition: It takes out the Argot section, and one other which I can't remember right now, but puts them at the end of the book in case someone wants to read them. | ||||
| Catherine |
^
Yeah, thats the Norman Denny one I have. |
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| starmelace |
That's good, thanks for the advice. Do you think Amazon would have it? | ||||
| Huzzah for Combeferre |
I'm sure. But if for some freaky reason they don't, they always have one in stock at Borders or Barnes and Noble for about $17.00. | ||||
| starmelace |
Ok. I'll look at Amazon first, then at B & N. | ||||
| Huzzah for Combeferre |
Here. It isn't the version I was talking about, but: It's completely unabridged, it's totally cheap, and it has supplemental text at the end.
Linkity: Les Mis Book That's the brick I read, lo those many long years ago. It is well written. My wife read the abridged book. After she finished I tried to discuss the story with her and she kept saying who?, where? what? There were so many plotlines missing that I finally gave up on any further discussions. |
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| starmelace |
Thanks, that helps | ||||
| Huzzah for Combeferre |
Anything for a fellow Mizzie. | ||||
| Orestes Fasting |
Heh, that's the version I mentioned a few posts back. I swear by it--unabridged, in one volume, paperback, good translation. The only problem is that if you read it too many times (*innocent face*) the spine starts falling apart because it's so thick. My copy is sticky-noted, annotated, and held together by duct tape. | ||||
| bigR |
Well, yes... me and the brick... not a healthy relationship (also because of all the money and time I spend on it). But I'm totally hooked. OT: Thank You! Wonderful victory and wonderful team... a shame England couldn't make it (I love english football style), but we'll face each other in 2 years, I hope
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| bigR |
Sorry for the double post, but DON'T GET THE PENGUIN NORMAN DENNY!!! These people should go to a deeper hell circle than the publishers who sell honest abridged versions. Norman Denny IS ABRIDGED. They don't say it, but it is. He skips sentences and even paragraphs whenever he feels like it. They guy decided to cut the text whenever he felt that Hugo was rambling. And he even isn't very clever at it. An example: Norman Denny skips the whole paragraph about Orestes and Pylades from grantaire's introduction. Bravo! Specially when you have an important chapter some 500 pages later that is titled "Orestes fasting and Pylades drunk". A title based on the paragraph Denny decided to cut out. Forget the penguin, please! Get the one with the little cosette logo that Orestes told you about. |
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| SomeoneLikeYou |
Fantine's story in both the book and the musical makes me cry every time...she didn't deserve what happened to her. The only thing she wanted was to give Cosette the best possible life.
The only difference is that the book gives a little more background on Fantine...like her relationship with Cosette's father, how she wound up bringing Cosette to live with the Thenardiers, etc. |
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| starmelace |
I know, I feel so bad for Fantine. She was a good person. Bad things just happened to her. Can you imagine having an illegitamite child back then? | ||||
| lesmisloony |
Um... what? The "only" difference, really? |
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| starmelace |
Whoo, I just bought the non-penguin, unabridged version! | ||||
| Catherine |
Yeahhh, well I've nearly finished it, so when i have I'll get t'other. Stupid lying people!! |