I Bet No One Who Knew Victor Hugo Asked Him For Directions

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well Les Miserables has been finished with no tune to bother me. Makes me wonder whether I've been the only person in Britain who has rather read the book than watch the musical once it became popular.

Of course that makes me out as a snob, which trust me I'm not. Just a reader me. Perhaps to prove that let's begin by saying that whilst by no means the worst book I've read so far this year I doubt I'm going to read one as annoying.

For what happens seems to be this. You as the reader are hooked as the plot unfolds. You are turning (in my case swiping) every page. Suddenly though it appears out of your view that Victor has gone to his characters and said something along the lines of "Yes I know it's tough mes amis. Liberte, equalitie, fraternitie and all that so I tell you  what. Why don't you just a have a coffee and a croissant and I'll take over for a while?"

(A quick aside. If you're insulted that I haven't put any accents on the French words the explanation is simple. I don't know how on the laptop)

And this happens constantly throughout the book. All of a sudden, with a link to the plot that is tenuous at best,unclear at worst and constantly mind numbingly boring we suddenly get Victor's views on everything ranging from Waterloo to religion to slang (yes really!) with all manner of subjects in between.

You may remember that I said after reading Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes that I'd reckoned the author had pummelled all the stories he left in a bottom drawer into the novel. Well I reckon the same happened here except that we're talking opinion pieces. It just read as if Victor stuffed  the book with everything he could.

Just imagine you're lost and happen to come across Victor and ask him for directions. He will get you to where you want to go but in the longest most unnecessary route possible where there could have been a quicker route to your destination. For the reader of Les Miserables the destination is the return to the actual storyline....because when you reach it it's worth it.

When it goes into proper novel mode this book is gripping. Believable people coping in extraordinary situations. For although the goodies/baddies are clear, even the goodies have shades of grey within them. When in novel mode you can see why this book is a classic.

So Les Miserables then. A great book sprinkled with literary mogadon...which is why it's also annoying.

The next book amongst the great ebook unread is Winter In Madrid by C J Sansom.A relatively modern novel (2006) which is good as I haven't read one for a while. We'll see how it goes.

Until the next time.