Les Miserables

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

I started this book because I knew it was a classic book. I’ve seen the movie and was touched by the message that it brought and was sure that the book would give more detail and convey a better story. I was correct in assuming this. Les Miserables tells the story of a convict that finds a new life after being forgiven by a Bishop. Jean Valjean, the convict, takes care of an orphan girl, Cosette, gives generously of his money to the poor, as he hides from the police since he escaped from the galleys. He ends in aiding a young gentleman that becomes the suitor of Cosette, and leads them to marriage. Jean Valjean is rejected by the young man after he finds that he was a convict, until the true story of the Jean’s generosity is made known by an interesting twist of events. Forgiveness is eventually given and the young people are happy in ending up together.

The character Jean Valjean was interesting to follow. At sometimes he made me frustrated because I didn’t understand why he would be so hard. But as I read I understood that his hardness came from his unfair treatment by those that knew him to be an ex-convict. It was impossible for one that was released from the galleys to do anything. Jean Valjean learned forgiveness from the Bishop that he first encounters and from then on lives by kindness and mercy. His heart is softened toward the needy and he does everything in his power to help those around him. I’m not sure that I could relate to him very well. He was a very secretive in all he did. I could almost relate to Cosette because she was a young woman and she falls in love. Of course my heart goes out to the love story that is entwined in this book. She is very innocent and chaste. In some ways I want to relate to her because of her innocence.

Marius was one of the characters that was really interesting to me. I don’t quite understand him and he brings curiosity to my mind. He rejected his grandfather because of his political views, but ended being a little wishy-washy when it came to standing up to his peers about it. The characters were each believable in their own way. This book really tells of the decay of society in France after the revolution. The poor were truly destitute and there was no way out. Children ran in the street barefoot during the winter and died of starvation. The characters represented different levels of society and what each thought of the other.

The point of view is that of an observer. He knows everything that is happening and the true story. The characters are limited in their knowledge and are sometimes mislead by others or their own ideas. The view that I had as a reader brought me into the story knowing that some characters were wrong in their judgments and I felt angry or grieved or frustrated by them. It gave me emotions that I could put into the story.

The location is what makes this story true. The time period is also equally important. It is based on the post-napoleon France where the country is trying to recover from civil war and tension is still very strong between the people and the government. There is a bit of history given in some of the chapters and it adds to the realistic scene this story sets. I didn’t know very much about the French Revolution before and was interested in learning more. A little of it was over my head, but I got the gist of the story. And since it was presented in the midst of this fictional story it helped me to understand how it really was for the people at that time. Even though this story switched between different characters it was still chronological to the events. There was some back stepping when it told the historical events, but this helped set up the platform for the ongoing story.

This story brought on all different emotions as I read it. I was angry at Jean Valjean for taking advantage of the Bishop and his family when they showed him kindness. And angry again when the Bishop forgave him. As Jean Valjean’s character developed I sympathized with him in his hardships. I felt joy when he was able to escape from the police and hid with Cosette in a convent. There was excitement when Jean Valjean followed Marius into the barricade to save him and bring him back to Cosette. There was pity on the poor family that had to stoop to thievery and deceit to feed themselves.

My favorite part of this book is the ending. I don’t want to give it away, but all the kindness that Jean Valjean gave and the selflessness that he lived is appreciated and seen for what it was. He truly lived for his Cosette and her happiness and it was realized in the end. The little things that he did that reached those around him were recognized and it ended well.

The saddest thing about this book was reading about the children that would starve and not be taken care of. I don’t like to read about the mistreatment of children and how they suffer. It makes me glad that society has come a long way from that, but at the same time there are places were children still suffer like they did in France long ago. I don’t like facing that reality because it makes me uncomfortable. But I know see the truth of what those children had to face.

I really enjoyed this book. I finished it in a week because it kept me so interested. I read of the wonderful kindness and mercy that one person can have can effect the rest of someone else’s life. The bishop’s kindness brought about many blessings on others because it showed Jean Valjean to live a new life. This book is a ten. I would recommend it to everyone.

Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoe (unknown-1731) – Well, this book starts off very boring. I almost didn’t continue reading it. The first couple of chapters did not grab my attention at all. Part of the struggle I had was the writing style. It’s written entirely in first person with very little dialogue. That is just not a style that I am fond of. The story line was not one of too much excitement. A man was trapped on an island. And it told of his despair while on that island. The beginning of the book was a bit of back ground to how he got to this island. It wasn’t very descriptive and rushed through. I didn’t realize that it was a background to the story for quite some time. I thought the whole book was going to be rushed as well. To some degree there was a rush to the plot and not in a keep the book moving kind of way. It seemed to skip some parts mostly to keep it from being too long. After getting through the intro and on toward what life was like for him on a deserted island it did get a little more interesting. One thing that was surprising to me was the amount of theology included within this book. Crusoe happened to have a bible among the things he rescued off of his ship and proceeded to become a strong Christian. He shares his struggles and how he learns from the bible about God and how to be a true follower. It was interesting to read because most books I read have people that are nominally Christians but don’t really live it. This man lived it and was passionate. He even witnessed to one of the natives that he eventually saved from others and kept as a servant. In the end he is saved by a ship and a captain that he saves from a mutiny. In short, it is an ok read. The beginning is boring but it picks up as you go and becomes a little more interesting. At least enough to get through it.

The Eustace Diamonds

Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) – I absolutely loved this book. The characters were interesting, the story was well written, it was easy to follow. First off the characters were so well described that by the end of the book I felt like I knew them. Lizzie Eustace, a very unlikely heroine, is a person that I thoroughly despise. She is full of lies, and trickery. As a young widow she is faced with the trouble of some diamonds that her husband “gave” her. She completely believes the diamonds were a gift, but the rest of society believes she stole them from the Eustace family. It was interesting to learn the value of titles and property ownership of England in the eighteen hundreds. This story of this book is based upon that value and the attempt to recover property to the family. The other characters are continually manipulated by Lizzie because of her beauty and also her lies. She is described as very clever. Indeed she is. As the reader, I was given important information that none of the other characters received. It made the story all the more interesting to have all knowledge while the characters were limited. I was very happy that the story kept moving. There was never a dull spot. I wasn’t surprised in any place by certain events because I had special knowledge, but it didn’t keep me from reading. There was a certain suspense that kept me entertained and drew me to the end of the book. I learned a lot about the society of the English in this book too. The views on women and politics and marriage and an assortment of other things was a lot to take in. I do feel that from reading this book I might be able to understand other books from this time period a little better. One other thing about the characters is that I could relate to each of them in a different way. Many of the characters were dynamic in their attitudes and feelings. This made them seem much more real to life and interesting. Most people aren’t the same throughout their life and so the dynamics of what these characters went through was good to read. I could go on and on. I highly recommend this book if you want to learn about 19^th century English society.

The Mayor of Casterbridge

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) – This is a book worth reading! I was thoroughly entertained throughout and finished it quickly. The story seemed to start rather abruptly. It jumped right into what I thought was going to be the climax. But it just built upon that point as the background for the rest of the book. I liked that it moved along. There was never a dull moment where I wished it would just get to the next part. The characters were very interesting. They were easily depicted in the beginning and were very distinct in there character. One thing that I thought was interesting was that one of the main characters, Henchard, changed and matured through the story. I liked how that change came about from the different circumstances he was in. Granted he still wasn’t the best of people when the end came, but he did strive to improve although it seemed like so many were against him. There were many twists to the story as well. It was somewhat predictable in the turns it took, but they came about when they were least expected. That’s how it kept moving. The writing style was also very easy to read. I believe this was a cleaned up version so that it wasn’t in the older English that it was originally written in. But the flow of the language and the dialect used for the characters were easy to read and understand. I enjoy a book better when I’m not squeezing my brain to get it. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting an entertaining read.

The Portrait of a Lady

Henry James (1843-1916) – Well it took me forever to get through this little book. For one, it wasn’t very interesting. And secondly it didn’t go anywhere. I felt like there was no build up to a climax. I easily lost interest a few pages into the book. As I continued, hoping to find something to make the story worth my time, but I didn’t. It seemed to be well written. And I assume that is why it is deemed a classic. I just didn’t find the story line worth reading. I don’t like to read a book that I have to force my self to finish.

The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) – This book was way too long. The story could have been told in a quarter of what was written. For me there was too much talking. The philosophies of the characters were way too long. I can understand the desire to write this book as a way to explain different views on life, religion and politics. But it wasn’t very relevant to me and so I lost interest. Dostoevsky still does a great job explaining the characters. They are very definite in their characteristics and as I read about them I can picture them very clearly. There are very good descriptions, not only of the people but of the places and situations, throughout this book. The descriptions of the philosophies are too long, but of all the other things it is quite interesting. Some characters I enjoy and others I hate. My opinions were formed very quickly and easily because of the descriptions. The writing style almost changes throughout the book. The entire story is a collection of twelve short books. I can tell the Dostoevsky wrote the different books throughout a long period of time. It all flows together, but going from one book to the next it is a little disjointed. The ending is not at all what I wanted it to be. I can see it coming and I started to get angry at how I know it will turn out. It’s a little disappointing that it ends in the way it does, but it couldn’t be helped. That’s just how it is and I’m sure Dostoevsky had a point in writing it like he did. The epilogue doesn’t end in a way that makes sense. It just sort of drops off. I didn’t learn anything further about the characters that I didn’t already know. Generally the epilogue will carry the story a little further to satisfy the curiosity of the reader, but in this case it did not satisfy any desires I had about what happens later to the characters. In all this is a good book if you want to read about Dostoevsky’s views on politics, religion and life in Russia. Otherwise, read something more interesting.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Baroness Orczy (1865-1947) – What a great adventure this book holds! I couldn’t put it down. The story was a little different than what I anticipated, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Scarlet Pimpernel is an unknown English gentleman helping to rescue countless French noblemen from their doom on the guillotine. The identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel is so well concealed that even his wife has not the slightest suspicion. The story mostly follows Lady Blakeney. She has to decide between betraying the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel (which is unknown to even her) and the life of her brother. This decision leads her on an adventure to find her husband and warn him of the danger that is coming. Fortunatly he is not as dumb as most think he is. His cover of being a fool makes him unsuspected and leads to his success. There is rekindled love between Lady Blakeney and her husband Percy. This of course is interesting to read. It adds a little flavor to the story. I think it is quite obvious that a woman wrote this book. The characters and the story line are definitely following a woman’s ideas. The contrast of a woman’s romantic story is quite different from a man’s. I do recommend this for anyone that is looking for a quick read of an adventure with a dash of romance.