Book review – Les Misérables

I’ll admit up front that I’m still not finished with Les Misérables, but in order to participate in the Classics Bookclub carnival at 5 Minutes for Books, I’m going to go ahead and put my review up today.  I feel a little bad about doing that, but if necessary I will update it when I finish the book later this week…yes, it should only take me another day or so.

Let me start by saying that I love this story.  It is one of the greatest stories of forgiveness and redemption that has ever been written by man.  It is everyone’s story.

The novel is set in the first half of nineteenth-century France.  It is, as the title suggests, the story of the miserable, the down trodden, the outcasts.  The story’s protagonist, Jean Valjean, is a poor man who, in a desperate attempt to feed his starving family, steals a loaf of bread.  His punishment is five years at hard labor plus fourteen more for his attempts at escape.  After his release, he is rejected at every turn and finally finds himself in the household of Monsieur Myriel, a kindly bishop who treats him with honor and respect.  Valjean repays him by stealing his silver flatware, the only thing of value the bishop owns and is quickly caught by the police.  When they return him to the bishop’s home, the bishop tells them that the silver was a gift and that Valjean should be released.  This act of kindness and generosity changes Valjean forever. (For a more in-depth look at the bishop, you can read Carrie’s excellent character analysis here.)

I don’t want to retell the entire story in this review.  It’s long and complex, and I could never do Hugo’s masterpiece justice.  Instead I will concentrate on my answer to one of 5MFB’s preview questions, “How would you classify this novel?”  I believe, without a doubt, that the story is an allegory.  Dictionary.com defines allegory as the representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form.  In its most basic form, the story’s message is that of mercy vs. justice.  The lessons of mercy and forgiveness that Jean Valjean learns from Monsieur Myriel lay the foundation for the rest of his life.  He is hunted, attacked and persecuted, but it is the memory of the bishop’s kindness that influences his response to it all, often bringing more hardship upon himself.

While mercy is represented by Jean Valjean, the face of the law is that of Javert.  He is relentless.  He believes that the law is the highest authority.  He has no concept of repentance or forgiveness.  Contrary to what others may believe, though, I do not see Javert as the face of evil.  I believe he is the other half of the allegory, justice.  His years of pursuit of Valjean were not driven by hate or revenge.  It was his belief in the absolute justice of the law that drove him.  I don’t see him representing evil because he expects the same for himself as he demands of others.  It is this expectation and Valjean’s response to it that ultimately are Javert’s undoing.  Does the story have a representation of something more sinister?  Oh, yes.  It is the Thénardiers who represent evil and selfishness and greed…the darkest corners of the human soul…not Javert.

I can’t discuss this idea of mercy vs. justice without thinking of this passage from the book of Romans:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Five years for stealing a loaf of bread seems a little harsh…okay, really harsh, but according to the law at the time, that was the punishment.  In the same way, our sin, no matter how small it may seem to us, separates us from God…permanently.  It is only through his grace and mercy and the ultimate gift of His Son that we can be reconciled to him.  The justice that we deserve is balanced by the mercy of our Father.

The version that I read is a new translation by Australian Julie Rose.  Despite Hugo’s overwhelmingly prolific tendency to go off on a tangent at every possible opportunity, this version is very readable.  It is unabridged, so the hundred or so pages of descriptions of the history of convents, the Battle of Waterloo, the Paris sewer system are there in their uncut glory (I skipped skimmed those parts), and you’ll learn (?) more about the political history of France than you ever wanted to know.  I did find that there was some information in these passages that were important to the story, but for the most part, skipping skimming them doesn’t lessen the reader’s understanding.

I have had the opportunity to see this musical several times, including on Broadway, and have also seen the 1998 movie version with Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean, a version which has its problems and that I don’t really recommend.  This is the first time, though, that I’ve read the book, and even though it was difficult to get through some of those aforementioned tangents, the book fills in the blanks that the dramatic versions just don’t have time to show.  I’m glad I made the effort to read this one.  I do recommend it to anyone who loves the  musical and wants to get the entire story.  It’s worth the time.

Encourage one another,