This is my favorite book from all time. I don’t think there’s any other book that managed to provoke so many emotions in me and that moved me as much as this one. At sixteen, it just blew my mind. A teacher lent it to me and I carried it around for a week, despite how huge the book is. I already knew the story more or less (my mother is a big fun of the musical and I grew up listening to it. I can probably sing every character in there now), but actually reading it was a life changer.

I read somewhere that Les Miserables is all about love. All of the characters in it show some sort of love, except the Thénardiers. But throughout the novel, we get to see some of the most amazing demonstrations of love. Love for an ideal, for justice, for someone else. It’s just everywhere.

Jean Valjean, the escaped convict that serves as the conducting thread of this whole story, is the clearest example of it. When the story starts, he’s rightfully angry after spending over nineteen years in prison. He knows that the society he lives in is the worst, basically. And he’s pretty much right. With his papers, he cannot get a job, or anything. So he steals from the only person that has ever shown any kindness towards him, the Bishop of Digne. Unluckily, he gets caught. But the Bishop ends up forgiving him and giving him the stuff he stole, so that Valjean can start anew.

So, Valjean sees that hate is not the best way of living, so he decides to change her name and become some sort of businessman. The next thing we know of him is that he’s the owner of a factory and the mayor of a town. And then we meet Fantine, a poor seamstress girl who is also a single mother. Her lover, a rich student, has left her and she has to strive on her own, working at Valjean’s factory. That doesn’t end well, of course. We all know that she gets kicked out of the factory and becomes a prostitute, and she’s arrested by the same nasty officer that was at Valjean’s jail. Oh, and after she dies, Valjean blows her cover and has to go and hide. But as he’s decided to be good, he promises Fantine (he feels guilty about what happened to her) that he will take care of her child.

So, he goes and looks for a neglected child in the house of the Thénardiers, and flees with her to Paris.

The final part of the story is set in 1848 (despite whatever on of my friends said after watching the musical: it's not the French Revolution), and Fantine’s daughter falls in love with a boy that is associated to the ABC café, a group of revolutionary young men (not the leader, though, however he’s portrayed in films). And there’s a barricade, shots, and lots of emotions.

That’s the basic plot of Les Mis, but that short summary is not enough to show how incredible the book is. I’m leaving out a lot of characters, like the Thénardiers siblings: Eponine, Anzelma and Gavroche (the second one never appears on any adaptation). Eponine and Gavroche are brave and passionate. Eponine’s love for Marius, while pretty much obsessive at first, ended when she sacrificed her own life for her beloved’s sake. She got beyond her jealousy and selfishness in order to let him go away. And Gavroche’s adopting two little orphaned children is one of my favorite parts of the novel, and his death broke my heart. The same happens with all the students, who were passionate and brave. I just love people who fight for their ideals, and those guys were amazing. I suffered quite a bit with the end of the novel.

Another character that has always fascinated me is Javer, the policeman. He’s just so obtuse and close-minded, that he can’t see that the world is not just black and white. While Valjean’s acceptance of love allows him to move forward, Javert’s obsession with his own versions of good and evil doesn’t allow him to do the same. He’s an ass, but he’s doing what he believes is right. It’s interesting that such a static character manages to be so incredibly complex.
When people ask me what my favorite book is, this is the first one that pops into my mind. The variety of characters, the plot and the message that runs through it, make Les Mis one of the most complete novels I’ve ever read, in the sense that it manages to show the complexities of human life and its intricacies. No one is born evil or good, they just learn to be so. And the passion these hundreds of characters show for their beliefs is just amazing.

I’ll recommend this book to anyone, and advise them not to worry about its length or complexity (it’s a very descriptive novel, and some people get turned off because of it). Just embrace the awesomness and enjoy a novel that can change your life and the way you see others. It’s just one of those books everyone should read.