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

Reply to comment by GroundbreakingWing48 in Classic literature that’s also very readable. by MinxyMyrnaMinkoff

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*