Le miserables

[Doobydoobydooyeh]

Anyone watching? Not quite the same without the songs!

Yes the sound is great, unlike Jamaica Inn where the mumbling, especially Joss, is driving me mad.

@creamcheeseandlox I think that's the best cast recording - Wilkinson, Quast and Salonga are unparalleled. The 25th anniversary recording is good too but suffers from Nick Jonas as Marius. Ramin Karimloo is possibly the best Enjolras I've seen though, and has played Valjean since.

Queen I agree. Colm Wilkinson, quast, Lea Salonga, Micheal ball etc. Amazing cast. What were they thinking with nick Jonas, he isn't vocally strong enough or charismatic to play Marius? Although I agree with you about ramin karimalloo.

Oh yes, how could I forget about Michael Ball? I wonder why he's never played Valjean? Maybe it's a different range to his voice. Lots of Enjolrases have gone on to play Valjean or Javert and Cosettes/Eponines to play Fantine.

I loved how the original cast came on at the end of the 25th anniversary concert and sang One Day More.

Ramin Karimloo is the best Valjean I've ever seen. Honestly he was breathtaking. Love love love the original cast recording but don't like the way Colm pronounces some words unfortunately.

While we're waiting for the next episode, here's . He puts his own spin on it by ripping off his shirt towards the end. Come for the voice, stay for the six-pack...

Impressed

Ooh, just found this thread. I watched the film a few months ago and have been reading on my kindle. I'm about 60% of the way through, so I was really pleased to see this was televised. Lol at Hugo using lots of words! I'm enjoying it but he is a bit of a windbag, huge, long passages about the battle of Waterloo, the July Revolution. It's good to have some background but really.

You can help some of us newbies fill in the blanks then @quirkychick!

I may have skim read some of the passages .

No-one needs to know how the Paris sewer system is laid out in intricate detail unless they're building it. Fine to skim.

Omg, I haven't even got to that point! The intricate details of the lives of the nuns in the Convent was another . Monsieur Hugo needs some editing.

How many episodes are there? I'm trying to challenge myself to keep ahead of the show.

Oh I dunno, if it’s part of the catacomb system I am very interested.

Quirky Some translations have those bits, like the detailed description of the sewer, cut down or cut out and added as appendixes. I think the Denny translation is like that.

Assuming you're not tackling it in French!

No , not in the original French! My A level French was a very long time ago, I will have to check which version, I know the intro said that some bits had been cut down. Kindle says it's approx. 1,200 pages, so I think some must be cut down.

Hugo's digressions are very long-winded and he could have done with a good editor. However, in some bizarre way, I quite enjoyed them and to some extent could see why they are necessary. The long section about the priest at the beginning shows what a good man he is, with several examples of his goodness, before he gave Valjean the candlesticks.

I also liked the bit with the nuns. In fact I am rather disappointed that this TV adaptation did not follow what happened in the book as it is one of my favourite bits...

In a nutshell, when Valjean and Cosette climb the wall into the convent they come face-to-face with the man Valjean rescued from under the cart in episode one. This man had gone to Paris and become a gardener at the convent. He was very worried about Valjean being there as no man other than him was allowed to be in the convent grounds. But, as Valjean saved his life he feels obliged to help Valjean.

First, they need to find a way of getting Valjean out of the convent in order for him to re-enter legitimately. Fortunately for them, one of the elderly nuns dies and her body is swapped for Valjean. The nun is buried in a crypt in accordance with her wishes, but against city regulations (which is part of the long-winded digressions).

So, Valjean is carried out of the convent in a coffin accompanied by the gardener. The usual gravedigger is a drunk, so the plan is for the gardener to pay the gravedigger to go to an inn, whilst he continues to "bury" the coffin containing what the gravedigger thinks is the nun's body. But, it is not the usual gravedigger, but a teetotaler and jobsworth who is insistent on getting the job done himself.

Eventually, the gardener manages to persuade the teetotal gravedigger to leave the graveyard, but by this time Valjean has almost run out of oxygen and was wondering what on earth was taking so long!

I can't remember where Cosette was whilst all this was going on, but ultimately Valjean and Cosette arrive at the convent via the front door, with the gardener introducing them as his brother and niece. The nuns allow them to stay, Valjean as another gardener and Cosette joins the convent school.

Azelma I've just read this bit in the book and agree it's a very tense, exciting bit of plotting. Spoiler if you intend to read the book
The original drunkard gravedigger has inconveniently died and the new jobsworth one is eventually persuaded to leave the graveyard because the 'gardener/rescued from under cart man' pick pockets his pass and tells him he will have to pay a 15 franc fine if he can't show his pass when exiting the graveyard after the gates are closed, Jobsworth immediately rushes home to retrieve the pass he believes he's left there (which of course he can't find but turns the place up side down and beats his children and wife for good measure) leaving the gardener to rescue the half dead Val Jean and fill in the grave, the gardener then pretends to 'find' the missing pass on the ground. (Hence winning the eternal gratitude of the jobsworth!)
All this time Cosette, who was carried out of the convent in a basket on the Gardener's back, is lodged with a fruit seller and under strict instructions to be quiet and good because Madame Thénardier is going to recapture her otherwise. This is the second time Val Jean uses this threat to silence Cosette during his efforts to evade Javert and a very cruel method imo given Cosette's absolute terror of being back in the awful Thenardier's clutches.

The hiding in the coffin is very exciting, just some of the very long-winded history of the Convent and different types of Benedictine? nuns could have been edited down.

A quick check and I'm reading the Norman Denny translation on my kindle. Spoiler I'm at the bit where Valjean is hoping Cossette has forgotten Marius, in the house with the gated garden. Valjean seems to have a talent for finding secret addresses in Paris .

Loved him winching Cosette using the lamp rope.

The long winded diverversions and tangents aren't always relevant to the plot but should absolutely be kept in the book as Hugo put it all there for a reason and work went into them. They're good for showing his style of writing and as an insight to how he thought. But I do prefer some of them as appendixes so I know what must be read and what can be skimmed if I want to. It is an absolute brick of a book! Makes my wrists hurt. Kindle was a wise choice quirky

*diversions

EnidButton I read quite a lot of big books, they're definitely easier on Kindle! If I fall asleep reading in bed, the Kindle hurts less than 1,000 odd pages.

Elaine Paige played one day more at beginning of her radio 2 programme today. Such an amazing song.

I can't stand Elaine page though.