“Les Miserables” is an epic novel of a French writer Victor Hugo, published in 1862. There are many reasons why it was widely acclaimed by different critics and literature connoisseurs as Hugo’s main work and one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.

Over a thousand pages of text separated into two parts, the story of the book is centered around critical concepts for the author: the power of the law and the greatness of true love, human capability to be loving and cruel at the same time, social injustice where poverty lives next door to excess, as well as fickleness of happiness and pain.

The protagonist of the book Jean Valjean is really working on becoming a better person and fixing his previous wrongdoings. Having received 19 years of prison for stealing a loaf of bread, he knows for sure what is injustice and how unforgiving society can be. But through hard work and even greater self-analysis he finds his path and even builds a factory.

Having fallen in love with the daughter of a woman he once saved, Corsette, they enjoy a couple of years in hiding from his crimes. At that time he didn’t know that one day he would save the life of another man who fell in love with Corsette. Kind and self-sacrificing Jean even spares cruel and unflinching inspector Javert when political unrest takes over Paris. All this is on the backdrop of building barricades, conspiring against Republic and discovering the everyday life of French lower social classes.

The novel is a part of almost any school literary program and has been staged at the theatres and played on the movie screens numerous times. Despite that, it’s always worth rediscovering it one more time for its historical background, cultural descriptions, revolutionary sentiments and critical views of the author towards the politics of Restoration.

Author: David Sutton