Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Frederick Davidson (Narrator) made this an easier ‘read’ than my last try, the unabridged paperback copy in the 80s. He made the French words sound proper, though I wouldn’t know if they were true French; still, it was far better than my inner voice trying to pronounce them out. He did a great job with different male characters. On the other hand, he did children and female characters appallingly. This book could have used two narrators, a female actress for the children and women, and, sure, Frederick Davidson for the men.
The first time I read it was my intro to all things Les Miserables. I have since learned to play and sing all the music and have watched every version of the story possible. So this listen brought with it layers of meanings and music. At one point, I even put on Pandora on the Les Miserable channel. But it was distracting because it was out of order.
This read also brought a world perspective far different from the 80s. A pandemic and financial life that seems to rival any Victor Hugo had seen and portrayed makes this far less sad. Not everyone has it bad in the book, and the same now. Those with money don’t do so badly, but the majority work hard for low wages and low respect. And we have an illness that threatens the lives of everyone, especially the poor.
Still, I think everyone should read this. Someday I would like to have actual French literacy and a true understanding of France post-Napoleon.
Fabulous story, massive book !
I read Les Misérables——love that book and musical
💜🎵🎹🎼🎭
If I never fell in love with the musical- most likely never would have read the book
That was the beginning of the research for the musical. Learning to play the songs (piano) and singing them for voice class came next. I followed the same process with Phantom of the Opera. Then Into the Woods. I love musicals! Got to be in Oliver and My Fair Lady. Mostly chorus. But loved the experience.
While not talented to be in musicals, still have a massive love for them
Wicked sparked the love while Les Mis would turn that love into more of a passion- the two musicals most responsible for my love of musicals today. Those two are basically tied for my favorite musical
Thanks for the memory jog. I need to put my energy into Wicked. I’ve seen a lot of the songs on talk shows and loved them. And I have the book. A new passion is calling! Musicals and followers are the best!💜🎵
Seen Wicked 5 times- only once was on Broadway and the others were the US Tour. Crazy how much the musical has changed over the years
How exciting! I’d love to see it!
Well, a little more on Wicked’s meaning: