Overview
Ex-convict Jean Valjean struggles to redeem himself while pursued by the rigid Inspector Javert, in an epic argument for compassion over condemnation.
Hugo published Les Miserables in 1862, after working on it for seventeen years — including substantial revisions during his exile on Guernsey following the 1851 coup by Napoleon III. The novel, set against the backdrop of early-nineteenth-century France, follows the ex-convict Jean Valjean across decades as he seeks redemption while pursued by the inspector Javert. It is one of the longest and most ambitious novels ever written.
Key Ideas
Redemption Is Always Possible
No one is beyond salvation when shown genuine mercy.
Justice Versus Mercy
Mercy is the higher virtue.
Sacrifice and Love
Love expressed through sacrifice is the most powerful force for change.
Who should read this
Readers prepared for a very long novel that is also a social history, a political treatise, and a philosophical meditation. Hugo digresses constantly — there are entire chapters on Paris sewers, on the Battle of Waterloo, on the history of convent life — and readers who resist these digressions will miss the book's particular genius.
Who might skip it
Skip if you want a tight narrative — Les Miserables is over 1,400 pages and could be cut to 400 without losing the plot, but cutting it would destroy the book. Skip also if you know it only through the musical and are hoping for more of that; the novel is a different experience entirely.
The verdict
A novel whose scale and moral ambition I have not encountered elsewhere in the same measure. Hugo cares about poverty, about justice, about the history of France, about the individual soul — all at once, and with a sustained energy that carries across the book's vast length. The Christine Donougher translation is the most readable modern English version.
"Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise."
— Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
If you liked this
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame for Hugo's earlier masterpiece. Ninety-Three for his late historical novel.