I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this novel after having read Great Expectations—but I did. I found it really touching. The goodness of the characters was beautiful and refreshing to read. I love good characters. I don’t mean to say that I love perfect characters, I just love good characters; Characters that, in spite of their flaws and failures, never cease to try to better themselves. As Les Misérables takes over (in film form), I can’t help but think that this is a wonderful story to make you think about the different sides of this French Revolution. Dickens makes you think about the Republics – who win your heart in the Les Mis musical—and the “rest” of the French population. In the musical it is clear who is evil and who is not, and Dickens does a wonderful job of making that less clear, making you really think. (This is not to say Victor Hugo’s Les Mis is not brilliant or too simplistic as I have not read it yet and look forward to doing so in the near future).
