Les Misérables – Victor Hugo

Alex Briffett — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 20:02:22 +0000

Les Misérables, translates literally from the French as ‘the miserable ones’. The misery that Hugo refers to is “utmost poverty, destitution; but Hugo’s misérables are not mereley the poor and wretched, they are the outcasts, the underdogs, the rejected of society and the the rebels against society.^[1]

Its main protagonist is Jean Valjean, an escaped criminal, sentenced for stealing bread as a child to feed his starving family in 19th century Paris. Valjean crosses paths with Cosette, an unfortunate orphaned girl and all the while is hunted down by the merciless policeman – Javert.

For many, the book may be too much like hard work. It is meticulously written to the extent that the first chapter of Part Two consists of a 45 page commentary on the Battle of Waterloo. I could not say how accurate this account is, but it certainly brings the famous French defeat to life.

If you cannot stomach the book, then I would highly recommend the musical at: http://www.lesmis.com. I must have seen it 4 times over the 25 years it has been running and have not yet been disappointed. The songs include I Dreamed A Dream, made even more popular by the recent Susan Boyle version.

Les Misérables was written in 1862 and is therefore long since out of copyright in most countries. Download the free Kindle or ePub version for your phone, from the Gutenburg Project.

The Stieg Larsson Trilogy & Book Four – God’s Revenge

Alex Briffett — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:45:28 +0000

Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy is truly a compelling read. The content is often truly horrific but page-turning nevertheless. The main protagonist is Mikael Blomkvist, the bed-hopping, chain-smoking journalist who starts the first book ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ awaiting a prison sentence for libel. The other hero, and arguably the more important, of the story is Lisbeth Salander. She works for a security company but her appearance is as unconventional as her life. In Swedish, the first novel’s title translates as ‘Men Who Hate Women’ but this was changed for the benefit of the UK, USA audience. Perhaps the publishers worried it would be misinterpreted as a misogynist self-help guide.

The 3 films of the triology were made in Sweden and follow the books very accurately. A mean feat considering each book consists of over 500 pages. Read the books before watching the films though. The tragedy of Stieg Larsson’s death before the books were published is felt deeply by many people. Having put down book 3, I instantly wished that a secret fourth would be discovered. It appears that Larsson had already started a fourth and it will be finished by his partner Eva Gabriellson. The fourth book will be called “Guds hämd” (God’s revenge).

Books

DVDs

Alex Briffett » book

Les Misérables – Victor Hugo

The Stieg Larsson Trilogy & Book Four – God’s Revenge