GajimaruClassics.
Les MisérablesVictor Hugo

On the coverLiberty Leading the People, Eugène Delacroix, 1830

Les Misérables

Victor Hugo
1862 · France · Epic · ~1,400 pages

Ex-convict Jean Valjean spends his life fleeing a relentless policeman and seeking redemption, against the sweep of post-Napoleonic France and a doomed Paris uprising. A vast novel of justice, mercy, and the poor.

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Why read it

A vast, big-hearted novel about mercy, justice, and the dignity of the poor, it sweeps you up and makes you feel the stakes of an entire society. Worth every one of its pages.

Themes
Guilt & redemptionClass & moneyFaith & doubt
SettingFrance, 1815–32

The decades after Napoleon, when France lurched between monarchy and revolution, the poor were policed like criminals, and idealistic students dreamed of a republic at the barricades.

About the author

Victor Hugo (1802–1885), France’s towering Romantic, wrote much of it in exile and regarded it as his testament.

On screen & beyond

  • The global stage musical (1985)
  • Tom Hooper’s film of the musical (2012)
  • BBC series (2018)