Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

32 reviews

chalkletters's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

In January 2023, I discovered Les Mis Letters — a substack inspired by Dracula Daily which was sending out a chapter of Les Misérables each day in 2023. I’ve seen the musical twice, and listened to it substantially more than that, but never read it, so after very little consideration, I decided to dive right in. I spent a weekend catching up the chapters I'd missed, then the rest of 2023 doing my best to make time for my chapter each day. I did not always succeed, sometimes I had to catch up three or four chapters over the weekend, and I didn't finish on the 31st, as I 'should' have, but instead on the 3rd of January 2024. 

I really enjoyed reading Les Misérables this way at first, and I doubt I would ever have made it through 'the brick' in any other way. When he's digressing about battles shaped like letters of the alphabet, a chapter is about as much Victor Hugo as I can manage. Unfortunately, I really lost steam around the barricades where, for what felt like weeks, we leave behind the characters we've spent a lot of time with to talk about the history and philosophy of revolutions. Even once the barricade has fallen, we never really return to the characters we love until the very, very end.

When the characters are strong, they're really strong! The first book, all about M. Myriel is a delight, and sets up the second book beautifully. The interplay between Javert, Jean Valjean and Fantine is engaging enough to keep a reader going through the digressions. Even the introduction of the Marius-Cosette storyline is surprisingly entertaining. Unfortunately, Marius loses a lot of points once he and Cosette actually interact, and even more points for his treatment of Eponine. (Her affection for Marius is somewhat bewildering in the musical, it's downright inexplicable in the book.) 

Obviously, in a book with 365 chapters, there's a lot of material that didn't make it into the adaptation. Some of that is great: Jean Valjean giving Cosette an expensive doll she's been admiring for days; what the fandom refers to as 'the coffin heist', Marius's cousin. On the other hand, a lot of is comes in the form of digressions about French politics and history and philosophy that a lot of readers aren't going to have enough context to follow or find interesting. That said, some people really enjoy these digressions! And many wonderful people have posted explanations and analysis of them, which can be read alongside the chapters, and which will certainly help provide some context, though perhaps only enough to make the digressions bearable rather than interesting.

Les Mis Letters used the Isabel F Hapgood translation which, because it was written in the 19th century, reads like a 19th-century novel. This, combined with the digressions, definitely slows down whole sections of the book. More modern translations are, apparently, easier to read, but that would mean devoting another 365 days to Les Misérables...

While I'm glad I read Les Misérables, I'm also looking forward to not having that daily obligation on my to-do list in 2024!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Slavery

neens_m's review against another edition

challenging hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent

alaskan_bull_worm's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A long book in which bad things happen to good people.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Excrement

viviuhler's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Death, Sexual violence, and Violence

mmehdi_auteur's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Classism

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Police brutality, and Alcohol

sperdutaneilibri's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Police brutality, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Blood, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

allapaz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

we did it, joe

it’s impossible to finish this book without a sense of deep accomplishment, wow, truly my favorite musical, to read the original source material was a wild ride. I did not expect to laugh out loud as many times as I did, or be so blown away by Hugo’s writing in some sections and repeatedly rolling my eyes in the next. a wonderful tome

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Blood

neviris's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

the shadow side of society in the days of the French Revolution in all of it's varieties. amazing book and writing style. historical chapters were rather boring. however, this book lead me to one of the rare occasions where I questioned my own lifestyle and habits and led me to be grateful for the way I am able to live my life. it changed me for the better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Misogyny, Suicide, Excrement, Stalking, and Alcohol

shelbydm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, and War

Minor: Sexual content and Death of parent

linnylionheart's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Antisemitism, and Kidnapping