Les Miserables

I don't know if this will surprise anyone, but I always try to be reading a "fun" book to go along with those I am forced to read. Generally I get through about 2-3 books a week for school, but they are all too often less than entertaining. Interesting, yes, enjoyable... not so much.

Anyways, my most recent reading project has been Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Not the abridged version either. Yep, a full 1,463 pages of enjoyable reading - minus the forays describing the sewers of Paris, the Battle of Waterloo, and assorted political commentaries on the French government.

This time through the book (I have read it a couple of times now), I was impressed by some of the observational commentary that Hugo put in there. I figured that relaying some of it might be a good blog entry, so here goes:

Page 682 - Marius, one of the characters who was going through a difficult financial time, is described here pertaining to his feelings on debt:
"He had done everything except go into debt ... For him a debt was the beginning of slavery. He even felt that a creditor is worse than a master; for a master owns only your person, a creditor owns your dignity and can belabor that."
As a student living in debt to some degree - AMEN! I wish I could get by without debt.

Page 894 - Jean Valjean is being described here as to how he felt knowing that his adopted daughter loved him:
"He was content! ... Had God said to him, "Do you want Heaven?" he would have answered, "I would be the loser.""
This passage impressed me with how well Hugo captured the feelings of affection within a family, and when faced with the prospect of Heaven without that family relationship, it would seem we were losing out. It is good to have the gospel of eternal families.

Page 1396 - Jean Valjean is faced with his last test of honor and good. He had been a convict as a young man, but he had reformed himself. Unfortunately the laws of the land stated that he should spend the rest of his days in prison. After many years in prison, he had escaped and lived under an assumed name, but when his adopted daughter, Cosette, got married, he had to decide whether to inform her husband of his past or continue to hide it. He felt that God required him to tell the truth, and so he did - risking all he held dear:
"To continue [in hiding] smoothed the way for everything. Yes, except for my soul. There was joy everywhere around me, the depths of my soul were still black. It is not enough to be happy, we must be satisfied with ourselves."

I think that battle portrayed through Jean Valjean's life is one which we all must face from time to time, choosing to be what God wants us to be rather than what is easy or pleasant.

In the end, I give the book two thumbs up with one caveat. You might want to read the abridged version, unless you are into Parisian sewers.
PS The film and stage versions don't hold a candle to the book.