Les Miserables read-a-long 2026 | Première Partie (1)

[AgualusasL0ver]

Welcome to the first thread of the Les Miserables Read-a-long.

I'll be using the Christine Donougher translation for posting in the main, but it doesn't matter which translation you have, they seem to follow the same breakdown. I have not seen the film, the musical, and have very little knowledge about the book, but suspect I will be doing all of these Christmas 2026.

The only rules
The plan is to read ONE chapter a day and contribute/follow the thread as you see fit. There are c. 365 chapters, so we plan to take the year to read slowly and really get under the skin. Sometimes we have clustered chapters in past read-a-longs, and people do sometimes read ahead. All fine - but No spoilers until the relevant day.

Notes from previous read-a-longs

• How you manage one a day is entirely up to you, some people prefer to store them and read all the chapters for the week at once, some read each day.
• Sometimes these books can go off on a tangent all their own (looking at Mr Tolstoy), stick with it :-)
• All formats and translations welcome. Sometimes the translation discussions are some of the most interesting conversations.
• You WILL get behind at some point, but don't worry, just catch up when you can.
• Tangents, things you discovered down a rabbit hole, articles, pod casts, clips of epic scenes when we get to them all very welcome on the thread.

Spoiler free summary , courtesy of Chat GPT below. Schmoop has book summaries so I will post those at the relevant points.

**

Les Misérables is a classic novel by Victor Hugo that explores justice, compassion, and the struggle for dignity in 19th-century France.
At its core, the book follows the lives of several interconnected characters from different social classes as they navigate poverty, law, love, and moral choice. Rather than focusing on a single hero or plotline, the novel paints a wide picture of society—showing how personal decisions are shaped by systems like the legal system, economic inequality, and social expectations.
Key themes include:

• Justice vs. mercy — how laws affect people differently, and whether strict punishment leads to fairness
• Redemption and moral growth — the possibility of change, even after hardship
• Poverty and inequality — the daily realities of people living on the margins
• Love and sacrifice — care for others as a powerful force for good
• Social responsibility — how individual actions impact the wider community

The novel is known for:

• Deep character development
• Emotional intensity
• Philosophical reflections on society and humanity
• Detailed descriptions of history and everyday life

Overall, Les Misérables is less about a single storyline and more about asking big questions:
What does it mean to be a good person? How should society treat its most vulnerable? And can compassion change lives?

I think it was a skill that helped you create darkness to do all manner of things without drawing attention?! 🤣🤣🤣

Oh today’s chapter… Poor Jean…

The system just casting people aside…

I found the description of Jean’s sister and children disappearing to be particularly poignant.

’The clock tower of what had been their village forgot them. The boundary of what had been their land forgot them.’

So everything that they had been, everything that they had even known was completely wiped out. They ceased to exist - to others, to each other, and even to the land itself.

It really is food for thought.

It was interesting as well when Hugo commented:

‘Town’s produce vicious men because they produce corrupted men.’

In a town, crime impacts directly on humanity, whereas poaching impacts one landowner if he even notices a couple of rabbits or some produce are missing.

I think there is some truth in this idea that taking from the land produces a different kind of criminal to taking things by force in a town environment (In the context of eighteenth century rural France)

Today chapter reminds me a lot of the Count of Monte Cristo, but with much more philosophising, and much more nuance. I take back what I said yesterday about Valjean not being a baddie - Hugo makes clear that he absolutely does have it in him to be dangerous, after the decades of imprisonment and ill-treatment he’s undergone. I thought it was a really thoughtful analysis of how someone can be changed by such an experience. Amazing image of Valjean being down at the bottom of the pyramid of society which is crowned by the sun-like Emperor, whose light only emphasises the darkness at the bottom of the structure.

Yes @DuPainDuVinDuFromage I thought about Edmond Dantes a lot too. Who nurtured a burning desire for revenge and who of course had a teeny tiny advantage over Valjean when he finally got out. Valjean suffered more - self reproach for a start, and all the punishment in the Bagne, for longer, and destitute when free. You can see how it would absolutely beat any good out of a person.
I also thought of Magwitch, who had more of a chance because he got to Australia (and I was thinking we had a similar system but not so much forced labour as far as I’m aware).

Poor Jean Valjean... I get that the system made him a baddie but my heart really hurts for him - especially the bit where he gestures to seven heads, all of differing sizes when he's talking about his nieces and nephews 😢 I wonder what did happen to the other six.. tragic!

I sort of understand why he kept escaping as it's beautifully explained (a caged wolf!) but surely, described as he is as being intelligent despite the hardships of his life, cause and effect would have had more of an impact?

He does sounds big and burly though - not how I pictured him to be honest but will now imagine him as a slightly grubby Henry Cavill or Chris Hemsworth...

...and Voila Jean 😁 Amazing!

@SanFranBear Maybe if you never really had any control over the circumstances of your own life, the despair and bitterness robs you of any ability to think of the bigger picture? I don’t know? It does seem strange. Hugo seemed to think the escapes were impulsive events. I wonder if there is a bit of image reinforcement from 24601? “If the world thinks badly of me and I judge myself deserving of punishment…. I will not co-operate with anything in this system at all!”

Sort of cutting off your nose to spite your face because it makes sense to you?

I am expressing it very clumsily! Perhaps someone can be more articulate than me here!??

I think in a system which reduces you to your basest level- work, sleep, survive- you probably lose a bit of your humanity and act on instinct hence the impulsive escape attempts. I feel terribly sorry for Jean Valjean- all for a loaf of bread. (I’m also going to totally bring down the tone by saying that SanFranBear’s description of him as dirty Henry Cavill or Chris Hemsworth is quite appealing )

@ÚlldemoShúl

Yes! That’s what I mean 🙏

<<Furious head nodding>> re @SanFranBear ’s description 🤣

I found the parts @Neitherherenortherequoted very moving too - but especially the part about the heads:

Puis, tout en sanglotant, il élevait sa main droite et l’abaissait graduellement sept fois comme s’il touchait successivement sept têtes inégales, et par ce geste on devinait que la chose quelconque qu’il avait fait, il l’avait fait pour vêtir et nourrir sept petits enfants.

Then, sobbing,he lifted his right hand and lowered it gradually 7 times as if he was touching 7 heads in turn, and with this gesture one devined that the thing that he had done to clothe and feed 7 small children.

I’ve also been glancing through film adaptations to find the one film I have seen of Les Mis is the 1995 one with Jean-Paul Belmondo, which isn’t a straight dramatisation, but a reworking set in the 2nd World War with lots of discussion of the text- I remember enjoying it so I would like to rewatch it after reading the book. Apparently Valjean has also been played earlier by Jean Gabin. Both have a very different look to Hugh Jackman.

My random fact about the musical version is that the Bishop is played by the actor who was Valjean in the original stage production, which feels very fitting.

Interesting on film versions. Have agreed with my friend that we will go see the musical in December once I ‘ve read the book!
I could watch Belmondo though I’m very interested in a dirty Chris Hemsworth..

Yeah I was thinking of doing something similar, youngest DD is 13 and obsessed with musical theatre, so it might be a nice opportunity for her to see something I'm sure she'd describe as "ancient" lol

Although, on the basis of the first 22 chapters, it's hard to imagine too many feel-good numbers ;)

I am also hoping to see the musical this year. I watched the film on a plane - was in floods of tears which disconcerted the lovely stewards and the poor bloke sitting next to me.

The musical on stage is a different beast to the film version. The stage version carries you more, the intense songs in the film aren’t as intense on stage because they can’t reproduce the intimacy but the big full cast numbers are amazing on stage. It’s not really a happy musical but it manages to balance light and dark well. It’s a stripped out plot driven story, but still very much about redemption.

Goodness - today's really short chapter is soooo bleak! And so vividly described, you can't help but fully understand the sentiment he is trying to convey.. so haunting and incredibly powerful!

@Benvenuto Ooh yes, I forgot that! Colm Wilkinson played Jean Valjean in the original stage version and the Bishop in the film of the musical. He makes a lovely Bishop. I saw him in 1987 as JV and I thought he was great then too 😊 Thanks for reminding me. ☺️

Agree with @Pashazade the stage version carries you so much that by the end you are ready to jump to your feet and storm a building 🤣

Today’s chapter
The Deep and The Dark

Is Hugo saying that both God and the Angels in heaven cannot help…. it is only our fellow man who can resuscitate ‘the soul cut adrift’? We ourselves must solve this ‘social darkness’?

I was behind with my reading but have now caught up - I just want to say how much I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s contributions to the thread! Valjean’s story is so brutal and I am very interested to see what happens next.

Short but great chapter today, and still valid given a lot of people's experiences of penal systems I think.

Forlasi malliberejon ne signifas eniri liberecon. Oni povas eliri el bagno, sed ne el damnado.

[Leaving prison does not mean entering freedom. You can get out of jail, but not out of damnation]

Did anyone else watch the TV series from 2018 with Dominic West as JV? I remember enjoying it at the time.

I vaguely remember the BBC miniseries from 1967 with Michelle Dotrice as Fantine (I was 12 at the time). As bits come back to me, I think I'll stop reading the book, it's just too heart-rending.

I'm so far behind, but I'm determined to keep chipping away and get back on track. I love the summaries!

I can’t believe many here will get to the end of today’s chapter and not read on to tomorrow’s, it’s a proper cliffhanger! Kudos to anyone who has the self-restraint to wait though!

@Waawo i read all the way to the end of Book II. I’m now waiting until everyone else catches up!

I read the whole of this week. So many up and down emotions around Jean. Agree with others the chapter about his family was harrowing.

I will post next week’s chapter tomorrow. I am very interested in what people have to say once they’ve finished this week.

I theatre will be packed with us all going to see it in December.