About halfway through this book I thought I'd never get through it. The endless descriptions of seemingly minor events were tedious and I was finding it hard to stay focused. But I have to say that after a couple hundred more pages (my copy was 800+ pages!) I started to appreciate those "minor" events and the descriptive language. If I had known going in to expect an epic I may not have been so unnerved. What I loved about the epic is that you really get to know the characters. By the end I really felt that David's friends were my friends and his enemies my enemies. Dickens' greatest strength is the ability to bring characters to life and I loved seeing the characters grow throughout their lives. I also like Dickens' tidbits of truths he puts in such as
"There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose" and
"It's in vain to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present"
and I can't resist one more
"Never be mean in anything; never be false; never be cruel."
That's the way I felt about Les Meserables. I loved (almost) every detour, even in the unabridged. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLes Miserables is one of my favorites although I have to admit to skipping groups of pages every once in a while :o
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