Les Misérables

I started the year with "Right thing, right now", and I'm ending it with "wisdom takes work" (R.Holiday), but I'm happy to say that I'm now a bit "tired" of re-reading the same rehashing of other people's book, and I want to read the original ones. Which, actually, is the pont. I wanted to read classics, and devoured "The portrait of Dorian Gray" (O.Wilde), where maybe 50% of all the "as O.Wilde said..." quotes seem to come from (uttered by a single, incredibly obnoxious character.) I challenged myself to read "Les Miserables" (V.Hugo), and actually managed to get two tomes out of five down. Eminently quotable, heavily skippable - why on earth spend half a time on describing the ins and out of Waterloo, except to show off ? - and, surprisingly, at times, _funny_. The bio of Pierre Mendès France (J.Lacouture) was very much topical, given the mess in Franch politics. We had more PMs in one year than in a few chapters of the book. It's very weird to read that, at some point, some politicians were "liked" by the people - but lost power anyway.…

I read The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables by Victor Hugo and I loved both of them, can recommend. Seveneves is an amazing book, just make sure you skip the last part. If you are into history I can recommend The last days of the Incas by Kim MaqQuarrie, it's just an insanely interesting description on how the Incas was conquered, it feels like you're there man. If you like evolutionary biology/phsycology then check out The Red Queen - Sex and the evolution of human Nature by Matt Ridley.

Monte Cristo is one of those novels you think will be slow because of its age and lengthy, but, like Les Miserables, it is highly readable and an intense page turner!

i recently re-read the wisdom of crowds, ~15 years now since i first read it. still good, still relevant. there's even a section on how quickly SARS was identified in international collaboration despite no central, coordinating entity. it's covertly a book about statistical reasoning, but with no dry statistical language, subversive in a way. we need more statistical reasoning in the world, particularly around risk assessment, to subdue fear and panic. edit: as for fiction, james clavell's asian saga[0] series is entertaining historical fiction, which i've read twice. pat conroy's southern portraits, particularly the lords of discipline and the prince of tides, both wrenching, haunting, and beautiful. also in the historical/cultural fiction realm: anna karenina, crime and punishment, a tale of two cities, les miserables. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Asian_Saga

Some links from Project Gutenberg: Essays, by Michel de Montaigne In English (Vol. 1), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3581 In French (Vol. 1), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48529 Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius English translation by George W. Chrystal, 1902 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55317 English translation by George Long, 1957 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15877 Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo In English (Full), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/135 In French (Vol. 1), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17489 20000 leagues under the sea, by Jules Vernes In English (slightly abridged), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/164 In French (with illustration), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54873

"Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo. That book embodies so much: love, redemption, justice, perceived justice, human growth, rebellion, religion...it can be a hard slog of a read at times but Hugo really gives his characters space to develop and for you to care about. The Bishop, who is given a passing glance in both the musical and movies, is so much more in the book. Highly recommend to everyone. [edit: "revolution" -> "rebellion"]

Getting More - Stuart Diamond. I still think this is the best book on the art of negotiation. Getting Things Done - David Allen. If you have adult ADHD like me, and you haven't read this, it's the first system that's really worked for productivity for me. Man's Search for Meaning - Victor Frankl. Living Buddha, Living Christ - Thich Nhat Hanh. Cosmos - Carl Sagan. The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. LeGuin. The One who Walks Away from Omelas - U.K. LeGuin. Wild Seed - Octavia Butler. The Heike Monogatari - (tr. Helen Craig McCullough) “The sound of the Gion Shoja temple bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sala flowers reveals the truth that to flourish is to fall. The proud do not endure, like a passing dream on a night in spring; the mighty fall at last, to be no more than dust before the wind.” If you need a comparison. this is the Japanese historical equivalent of Game of Thrones combined with a bit of MacBeth. The rise and fall of two shogunate families, and an analysis of the tragic flaws of character that brought their fall about. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo. Small Gods - Terry Pratchett. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad.…

Crime and Punishment, Les Miserables, War and Peace

Victor Hugo ~ Les Misérables

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo -- the book, not the musical. Well worth it.

Brave New World, 1984, The Metamorphosis, The Stranger, and...possibly Les Miserables if you have A LOT of free time.

"Les Miserables", I hated Thenardier, Javert too until I learned to pity him... The book rambles a bit, but it's wonderful. In parts uplifting and crushing. I don't communicate well enough to express how much I think of it. "Where the Red Fern Grows", I believe it was the first book of quality writing and compelling characters I read. A perfect book for a seven or eight year old boy.