GroundbreakingWing48 t1_j6lna5u wrote on January 31, 2023 at 4:55 AM

The French stuff. Dumas. Hugo. Verne. Seriously, there’s a reason why they’ve all been adapted a million times. Fair warning - if you read Les Miserables, save yourself 1000 pages and read the abridged version.

steampunkunicorn01 t1_j6mhms7 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 11:21 AM

But then you'll miss out on the history of the Parisian sewer system

ConcernedMoralist t1_j6ozfi5 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 9:43 PM

Idk I think the cultural context, what the people were wearing, what they were dancing to, what they were gossiping about, what certain things were like is akin to a time machine, and I loved reading them.

steampunkunicorn01 t1_j6pca88 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 11:06 PM

Same, there is so much more to a story than just the barebones plot. Getting not only the little details that would otherwise be skipped, but also an insight into the author's thoughts (Les Mis is more essay than book, so it does the latter especially well) makes for feeling like one has entered into that time

LizzyWednesday t1_j6p10av wrote on January 31, 2023 at 9:53 PM

Maybe it's me, but I like those kinds of "extraneous" chapters, like the whale anatomy chapters in Moby Dick or the 8 million "Still Knitting" chapters in A Tale of Two Cities.

For the record, I did read an abridged version of Les Mis and felt like a lot was missing/inaccurate, which I found extremely frustrating. Reading the full-length version was much more comfortable. *shrugs*

BitPoet t1_j6n596g wrote on January 31, 2023 at 2:52 PM

I love the long version. Details of the strategy and horrors of Waterloo are a great way of introducing a character.

KansaisDorayaki t1_j6n4hp8 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 2:47 PM

I don't know about Dumas but Hugo it's not really entry level. Story is good but you have chapters of boring stuff in between (like the sewer system).

GroundbreakingWing48 t1_j6pgzqy wrote on January 31, 2023 at 11:38 PM

Hunchback of Notre Dame was pretty easy. The abridged Les Mis I read in 9th grade, so it can’t be that hard/bad. The key to the French literature is that there’s a bit of everything. Action! Adventure! Romance! Revenge! Sewer thieves!