Els miserables (1862)

One of my absolute favorites. ( )

One of the best of all time ( )

A classic novel that deserves its place in the pantheon. Its plot is a little bit melodramatic for modern tastes — relying far too much on improbable coincidences — but the core of the conflict is as solid today as it was in the 1860s. The characters of Jean Valjean and Javert are dynamic and compelling (Marius and Cosette perhaps somewhat less so). Most of all, however, this is a brilliant wordsmith at the heights of his powers. Even in translation, Hugo is compulsively readable, with well-turned phrases on every page.

Les Misérables' infamous tangents, multi-thousand-word digressions into the backstories of the battle of Waterloo or a fictional convent or the Paris sewers, often immediately following cliffhangers, were much less frustrating than I expected simply because of Hugo's writing. (The fact that I am interested in them as a historian of the period also helps somewhat.)

Were Hugo a modern author, I feel like this novel would be 300 pages shorter, and then he'd publish a series of spin-off novelas and short stories — "Read this short story to learn how Thénardier saved Marius's father at the Battle of Waterloo! Buy this novela to learn the backstory of the saintly bishop who turned Jean Valjean's life around!" And I'm not sure if the book would have been better for it or not!

It's no surprise that streamlined adaptations of the novel have proven so popular, nor that the book itself remains in print — even if a shockingly high number of people seem to believe it's set during the French Revolution. ( )

Probably the book that had the most effect on me. ( )

A groundbreaking and vital novel about a small rebellion by a group of students following the French Revolution. Although I love the story and the musical it inspired, the actual book felt dense and at times pretentious. ( )