What is this? A film or a book review! It is obvious that I have too much time on my hands. But I would like to share with you an achievement. I have read Les Miserables. Yes the whole book, in English. I cannot claim extra praise by reading it in French, unlike my friend Kathy, who read it in French as part of her A Level French studies.
I spent seven weeks reading Les Miserables, not constantly of course, and sometimes I managed only a few pages at a time. Heavy reading. And heavy to hold, that is if I was reading an actual book. But luckily it was in digital form, on my tablet, and on my telephone, so I could pick it up as I went along.. And much lighter to hold. My digital version said 959 pages, but it was strange reading a small section of each page on the telephone. Lots of flicking over there.
I started reading Les Miserables when I left the UK mid May and finished it at the end of June. I read it as I travelled through the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic Slovak Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy and France. I must admit, for my own sanity, I also read brochures, maps and some much lighter literature. Just for a bit of light relief.
The fascination with Les Miserables and Victor Hugo started when I saw the musical in 1989 in Adelaide. And renewed again when I watched the film version of it on the plane coming back from Australia this year. On a small screen, you might say! But yes, it was captivating, and perfect really, as there was no chance to hear all the imperfections in the singing. And it took one's mind away from being up in the air, miles from anywhere.
I also once visited a Victor Hugo museum, at a place called Villequier, Normandy, on the banks of the Seine River, not far from the river mouth. We were not really looking for the museum but stopped because it looked a nice spot for lunch. I was with Aaron, Kylie and Emma, on a five day visit to Normandy, in 1996, in our small car, laden down with luggage and goods bought from the hypermarket.
To be truthful I had to recently do some research on the internet in order to find the name of the town we visited, as the museum is not as well known as the two main main museums, the Maison de Victor Hugo in Paris, where Victor Hugo lived from 1832 to 1848, and Hauteville House, in Guernsey on the island of Jersey, where he lived in exile for fifteen years from 1851. His crime was his political leanings, very vocal. and he opposed Louis Bonaparte. But the museum in Villequier is the departmental museum of Victor Hugo.
Villequier was also important, for tragic reasons, as this was where his daughter Leopoldine, 19 years old, drowned in a boating accident. She was in a boat, with her husband, and newly married, when it capsized. Leopoldine was dragged down into the Seine river by the weight of her skirts and her husband drowned trying to save her. And this affected Victor Hugo greatly. So much so he wrote a poem about her, and if I remember correctly from my visit there, he used her as a model for one of the characters in Les Miserables, but I have forgotten which character, and the internet did not tell me that.
Les Miserables is a very difficult word to translate into English apparently (The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Victims - Wikipedia). But I think all these translations are pretty correct, as this is definitely not a happy book, about happy people and happy places. Dark, dark, dark!
As well as being exhaustingly depressing, Les Miserables is extremely complex, with its exacting historical content, character analysis, sub plots, and sub sub plots. The book also depicts architecture, politics, moral philosphy, justice and religion. Many, many chapters are devoted to the Battle of Waterloo, and to the priest that befriended Jean Valjean and to explain moral points. Intertwined with the history and character analysis there is a story of romantic and familial love.
And the end of the story is just as dramatic and emotionally packed as in the film version. It takes quite a few chapters for Jean Valjean to die, and by the end you feel emotionally drained. The words display a fair bit of imagery, so one does not need acting, singing and visual imagery to obtain the very strong emotions Victor Hugo is portraying in his book.
Victor Hugo was a very powerful and brilliant writer. There was no doubt about that. Also the book is free to download from Kindle books, if you have plenty of time to spare. Or you can read the abbreviated version on Wikipedia. Much quicker, but you miss out on all the detail, and sub plots. And feel less drained emotionally and mentally.
All in all I am pleased I made the effort to read Les Miserables, and feel richer for the experience. An achievement, I say!
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