Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

[greenhill]

Is anyone else listening to this? It's so dramatic, I have to keep pausing it to keep up with the storyline!

It stars the always excellent Roger Allam and Josh Ackland.

I have been listening to it and it has been driving me crazy. All the twists and turns. The heroine should have been totally screwed up considering her background. But 'No ' she is all sweetness and light. Unbelievable
I think it is a laughable plot really. There are no other women of note in it.

hole in my heart Did you also think it unbelievable that Gavroche and Eponine, children of the grasping and cruel Thenardiers turned out to be kind and generous? Weren't you moved by Fantine, sacrificing herself for her daughter? She sold herself, her hair, a gold locket, and then had her teeth pulled out to have enough money to keep Cosette alive.

Eponine, disguised herself as a soldier, and was willing to take a bullet for Marius because of unrequited love; and in her dying moments was generous enough to reveal where Cosette was living, so that Marius could find her.

Patsy Palmer (Bianca for Eastenders) was an inspired piece of casting. This type of melodramatic plot is endlessly recycled on the TV soaps, so I'm not sure it's any more laughable than lots of other TV drama.

I think I like it a lot more than you do

Oh, I did like it but it made me anxious.
Eponine I thought was ridiculous sacrificing herself for a bloke. I suppose because I just couldn't see myself sacrificing myself for anyone, except my children. She was too good to be true.
I thought the villain Thenardiers was so driven to get his own back that it was unbelievable. Why would he want to hold onto Cosette. No no. Ridiculous plot.
I liked the historical setting.
I know nothing about Soaps as I don't watch any of them.
I have watched the costume drama about Magic on a Sunday on BBC. 1
I don't watch much TV but I listen to the radio every night. I love Radio 4 extra.

Oh, I know what you mean, I was fretting on Jean Valjean's behalf: he was trying to set up a perfect life for Cosette, after being harshly imprisoned for an act of mercy, then no matter how much he atoned for his previous criminality, justice, in the guise of Javert, pursued him.

Yes, Eponine could be a one dimensional character out of a Dickensian novel, giving her all for love, but I liked the way she had stood up to her father. It's unusual for the time, I think. I've not listened to the last omnibus episode yet, so will have to see how the Thenardiers play out, later today.

I've got Les Miserables for free on my kindle (32 hours reading time!) so am going to see how it reads in comparison to being edited down for radio. I rarely watch TV now, but listen to radio 4 extra most days too. Thanks for the tip about Magic, I'll have a look on iPlayer later.

Did you like 'Miss Morisons Ghost ' which was on today? I really enjoyed that. It had extremely strong, if misguided , women in it.
It was written by Ian Curtais who was formerly married to Joanna Trollope.

Thanks so much for recommending that heart I listened this morning and really enjoyed it. The cast were excellent: Juliet Stephenson, Patricia Hodge, Robert Hardy and Gemma Jones. R4 and R4Extra always seem to have the best actors on things I like.

Will you listen to The Falklands Play next week? PH will play Margaret Thatcher.