Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I know it's scary. It's probably one of the longest and hardest to read books you've ever picked up (or at least it was for me). Hugo goes into painstaking detail with his history, his scenery, and his character development. Reading on can be frustrating sometimes because you just can't see where the author is going. Minute descriptions of people, places, and political views abound. But you come to trust in Hugo...because you realize that no lengthy discussion is wasted with him. It has a purpose and a place and provides a richness to his story that I have never seen in any other work. The scope and depth of the story is UNBELIEVABLE. The characters are so completely flesh and bone that you know them. You know who they are and exactly how they will react in a situation before it ever happens. The scenes are so masterfully laid out that you can envision every detail in your mind. And oh, believe me when I say the storytelling is breathtaking. Les Miserables is about poverty and the human condition, set against the backdrop of decades of French history. But it is so much more. It's a story of the redemption of man, despite everything the world can throw at him. It is a story of fear and sadness, but most of all, hope. The hope that we can do better. The hope that religion will not lead us down a path of self-righteousness, but to true righteousness, which to quote the book of Isaiah is "to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke". There is so much to be learned about forgiveness, love, happiness, and life from this story. Les Miserables is not just a book. It might be the best book ever written. It is a LIFE CHANGER. Don't be afraid of it. Experience it for yourself.