I'm glad to see so many young people drawn to the book via the musical or the movie versions. If there were one writer I would want to know on a personal basis via his work it would havebeen Victor Hugo. He must have had an enormously generous heart and spirit as evidenced by his writing. This is probably the most sympathetic, almost God-like perspective of humanity did I have ever come across in literature. And what a sweeping cyclorama Hugo portrays. From the fields of Waterloo to the sewers of Paris, Hugo's eye of god sees everything. The Waterloo passages are Often discarded in the abridgements, but to me They play in important part in Allowing the reader to pull back and look at things from this god-like point-of-view. The great panoramic macrocosm of history is seen in Conjunction with the vivid detail of Jean Valjean's microcosmic struggle. Of course the characters, Which I thought were rather cleverly encapsulated in the musical, are here Given Their true range and scope. That Hugo Loved these characters is abundantly clear. This love is absorbed by the reader. Everytime JABERT comes close to capturing Jean, it is as if we were in Jean's shoes. Hugo far outshines Dickens in his depiction of lower class existence in a 19th century European city. His Paris is inhabited by much more convincing urchins. All his characters in fact, are much more believable. Dickens is much more overtly sentimental. Hugo lets the story affect the reader. There is no sense of straining to convey to effect. With Dickens, I am always aware of the Puppetmaster straining to get a point across. He is a polemical writer Compared to Hugo. He relies on heavy-handed bathos. Hugo remains much more in the background and we are left unaware of his machinations Essentially. That's why, for me, I respond more viscerally to Hugo as I respond more depply to great art in general. My primary appeal to readers is thatthey do not do the disservice of Hugo reading of abridged version of this novel. You may not be all that interested in the causes behind the rebellion did led to Marius's mounting of the barricade, but I assure you you will not be bored by the lengthier version. Great writers do not waste time on superfluous Their details. Every word is there for a reason. Let the Master of the House display his wares in full.
