Les Miserables

By: Victor Hugo

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 57 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Set in the Parisian underworld and plotted like a detective story, Les Miserables follows Jean Valjean, originally an honest peasant, who has been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. A hardened criminal upon his release, he eventually reforms, becoming a successful industrialist and town mayor. Despite this, he is haunted by an impulsive former crime and is pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert.

Hugo describes early 19th-century France with a sweeping power that gives his novel epic stature. Among the most famous chapters are the account of the battle of Waterloo and Valjean's flight through the Paris sewers.

(P)1996 Blackstone Audiobooks

Great Literature

This audio book is well worth the listening time. It is fast-moving, exciting and philosophical. I especially loved the way the author described the spiritual struggle of the main character.

Wonderful story, poorly written

If you could sum up Les Miserables in three words, what would they be?

The story is deeply moving - even weeks after finishing the book, I find myself walking or driving, think of a scene and growing happy or melancholy. Not many stories haunt me like this.

However, it is not as good as Dickens. Dickens (of the same era) tells a story which paints an image in your mind of life back in the 1800's. In contrast, Hugo tells a story, then frequently stops and directly explains what you should have understood from the story - as if the reader is too stupid to understand without a professor's detailed dissection and explanation. This rehashing gets tedious very fast.

So I'd say:
- one third of the book is the wonderful story.
- one third of the book is interesting historical detail and context.
- one third of the book should have been edited out.

Would you recommend Les Miserables to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, it is a wonderful story, just be prepared for some boring, pointless parts.

What does Frederick Davidson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The ability to listen when I drive :) I do like the emotion.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There are so many places in which I smiled to cried.

I think the section about Cosette carrying the water and with the dolls is perhaps the most moving (first the lead-sword in a rag, then the purloined doll, then her own doll).

Any additional comments?

As I frequently listen to good stories 3 or even 4 times, I'd love to find an abridged version which cuts out the 1/3 of content which shouldn't be there.

A Tour de Force

Les Mis', now know for the wonderful musical, remains a masterpiece of drama as this production makes clear. The story is so cleverly constructed it makes one think that Hugo came forward in time and wrote parallel plots, cut and pasted them and, then, returned in time with the finished manuscript. There are lfew more memorable heroes than Jean Valjean or more sympathetic villains than Javert. Even today, many years after I first read the novel in print, it is hard to resist the feeling that Marius does not deserve their sacrifice, albeit made for Cosette by Valjean and for Valjean by Javert, and not for him.

As for the performance, it suffers from the understandable production issues inherent in older audio books. There is a fair amount of Fredrick Davidson's breathing caught on the audio and there are some odd pauses and strange background noise (once sounding like a tap running). Notwithstanding this (and having been spoilt by current production standards, it takes a bit of getting used to) Davidson's range is so vast and his continuity so sustained, one can't help but be impressed overall with his performance.

Like all epic works, parts of the narrative need to be persevered with. It is no different to reading the text in that regard. However, I realized with the audio that I actually took more in because I suspect I did not read the long descriptive bits before. For example, the history of the nun's order came as a surprise to me, no matter the previous readings, as did the famous detail of the Battle of Waterloo. I enjoyed both much more in audio than when reading the novel.

A full listening for me was broken into three sittings, interspersed with other audio books; again, as I might go about reading an epic novel. It worked well splitting the Parts, 1 - 3, 4 - 7 and 8 - 10. I'm confident that other combinations would be equally successful. Although I don't think I could have downed the whole 10 Parts in one sitting, a complete listen over about two months worked for me and was very rewarding overall.

Poverty and its cousin misery are here to stay

Victor Hugo's classic that has drawn crowds to its musical rendition for decades provides stark realization that poverty has been with us for hundreds if not thousands of years, and is likely to go with us into the future. In places Hugo's lengthy descriptions and wanderings off the story nevertheless provide insight into French life in the early 19th century. But don't lose concentration at these times - you may lose context and detail necessary later. Generally well narrated, the accents of woman and children a little weird coming from a mature and deep male voice box, but not distractingly so after one gets used to it. In places the pauses for breath a little inappropriate. 60 hours of good listening - I wouldn't want the abridged version.

Amazing story but...

Hugo tells an INCREDIBLE story. It was a beautiful mix of romance, action, and familial love. It's a story I'd love to hear over and over again. I was truly enraptured with the characters and the plot. However, I think he was absent the day they taught economy of writing. All authors have tangents and some add to the depth of the story but in this case, they became monotonous and had little bearing on the plot. Over an hour describing the minutia of the Battle of Waterloo, another hour on the practices of the nuns, 45 minutes on the construction, cleaning and reconstruction of the sewers in Paris and another 45 minutes on his personal philosophy of revolution. It was a bit much and those are just one ones I remember off the top of my head. I would love to hear and abridged version since these distracted me so much from the lives of the charming and delightful characters he spent so much time developing.

The narrator on the other hand was TERRIBLE! He slurps and smacks all the way through it. I could hear his breathing and it was incredibly distracting. His accent was snobby and I must agree with other reviews who said if an accent was to be used it should have been a French accent not an English one. His singing was cringe worthy: like fingernails on a chalkboard! It's a good thing the book was so good or I'd have given up on it based on the narrator.

One other thing I found to be of interest, not positive or negative: the words "sepulcher" or "sepulchral" were used at least 31 times in this book. I started counting around the 5th or 6th occurrence because it is a word not often heard in our language today so it caught my ear. It was kind of a game I played, listening for them.

I do recommend the book but an abridged version my keep it going a little better.

I've Eaten My Vegetables

Would you try another book from Victor Hugo and/or Frederick Davidson?

I am unlikely to purchase another Victor Hugo book, and will try to keep an open mind about Frederick Davidson who may be an innocent casualty of my listening experience.

What was most disappointing about Victor Hugo’s story?

My ignorance may be a factor in this review which reluctantly disparages "Les Miserables." It does appear to be a book written for a distinctly different era in which writers were paid by the word. While Hugo is quite gifted as a writer and thoughtful as an observer, he bored me nearly to death with his pontifications, his tendency to meander away from the meat of the story into lengthy and tedious detail and his predictable and saccharine ending. I particularly disliked the portions that were done in song and in French by Mr. Davidson. Two or three minutes of listening to someone with a poor to average singing voice sing words I could not understand did not add to my listening enjoyment. I finished the audiobook today after pushing myself to listen a little bit every day hoping that I might conclude the book with something good to say. In the end, I concluded I had done the right thing to complete what I had started, but it brought as much joy as one gets when finishing a plate of vegetables you hate but know are good for you. I acknowledge again that my ignorance of Hugo and literature from 1862 may render my critique useless to other listeners, but for average people such as me this book should not be purchased for entertainment or illumination; it should be undertaken as one does any other chore you sense may contribute to character building. At least now I can say I have completed this famous book.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

There was very little I liked, unfortunately. I disliked most of the book, but especially the parts where Mr. Davidson was asked to sing for several minutes in French.

Do you think Les Miserables needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Let's let Les Miserables and Victor Hugo remain an important part of history.

Much more humorous than I imagined

Being completely new to Hugo's work, having never read abridgments or seen the movie, I was truly delighted with Wilber's translation and the English turn of phrase common to the 1860s.
Hugo had a fantastic sense of humor that Fredrick Davidson really maximized with a dry, satirical presentation.
The unabridged edition is long. Very long. But the history and commentary on the era sprinkled with humor then masterfully woven into the turn of the plot are worth every minute.

Long, but worth it!

Beautiful story, beautiful language! Hugo sure does take off on some side paths to explain details and history before he move on with the story, but it is well worth the time spent. What a great story!

Among the greatest books ever written.

What made the experience of listening to Les Miserables the most enjoyable?

Hearing Hugo's marvelous prose come to life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Les Miserables?

Jean Valjean's inner battle as he debates whether he should free the man how stands to be condemned in his place.

What about Frederick Davidson’s performance did you like?

Great jobs bringing these characters to life.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It it were possible.

Fantastic story, long digressions

Truly a timeless masterpiece well known for its musical adaptation. The novel breaths depth into the already lived characters. The long digressions and history lessons do make it somewhat tedious, but the overall read is well worth the time.