Like with volume 1, there is a lot that is to the modern reader extraneous to the story. Everyone talks about the long explanation of the Parisian sewers - it is fleeting in comparison to the what felt like aeons picking apart a single battle earlier.
I don’t recommend abridged versions of stories as a rule. This is my exception. There is +/- one volume’s worth of STORY in these two volumes, and in 1 volume you could still keep enough context without veering off into parts that aren’t relevant to the modern audience but I am sure were hot button topics when it was written.
For all that the general plot of Les Mis is part of the cultural zeitgeist there is much more to it than is general shown. There are wrenching emotional stories hidden there and that are lost in eg the musical. So I do recommend it, and if you want to then by all means read an unabridged version but if the idea of that is daunting I would recommend an abridged version that will hopefully ensure you get all the parts of the story that are not the absolute core plot but without all the commentary.

Lo sentí algo pesado, pero aun así lo disfrute mucho pero el final me enojo un poco pero bueno Juan best personaje y mejor papá, de verdad merece todo lo bueno siempre vivirás en mi corazón

E cheguei ao fim deste grande livro que foi a minha companhia durante o mês de Maio.

Foram várias as coisas que me fascinaram na escrita de Victor Hugo sendo de destacar naturalmente a sua paciência na descrição de tudo ao pormenor, os encontros, desencontros, todas as coincidências infelizes nesta história e principalmente a sua capacidade de retroceder e contar a história de outro ponto de vista que mais tarde acaba por se interligar com outro.

No entanto, não posso deixar de dizer que este volume me custou muito mais do que o primeiro, pode ter sido por já estar a ler o livro há muito tempo, mas acho também que acabei por me encantar mais com a primeira parte da história.

Mas, vale a pena ganhar fôlego e lê-lo, para além da bonita história de vida do Jean Valjean, e tal como já disse quando li o primeiro volume, é uma autêntica Bíblia na caracterização de toda uma sociedade.

Tentando pegar nas palavras de Victor Hugo este livro acaba por ser o caminho do mal para o bem, do injusto para o justo, do falso para o verdadeiro, do inferno para o céu. ❤️

Genialna historia! Choć Nędznicy to prawdziwa cegiełka i ciężko czytać coś tak nieporęcznego poza domem, to ja, nie mogąc się oderwać woziłam ją ze sobą wszędzie i czytałam w każdej wolnej chwili zaniedbując domowe obowiązki. Losy głównych bohaterów budzą wszystkie możliwe emocje i pokazują społeczeństwo ze strony, z której nie chcemy go zwykle oglądać. Gdyby nie kilka wolniejszych momentów książka byłaby idealna, jednak rozumiem zamysł autora i doceniam, bo pozwoliło to lepiej zrozumieć realia odmalowane w powieści.
Prawdziwy majstersztyk!

I watched the musical when I was in lockdown and it was magical. I immediately felt the connection with the characters, the story and the music. So, I decided to read the book and, I can say, that I wasn't disappointed. It took me a while to finished the whole book, I was kinda overwhelmed at first because of the length and the style of writing but it was worth it.

About the book itself, I really loved it. I already knew the story because of the film but I was so amazed by the differences. There were parts of the movie that didn't make any sense for me, but in the book explains a lot better or happens in a complete different way.

The only thing that I though it was harder to follow up with the story was, when narrator decided to pause the story and tell us about the social and economic conditions of the action. It was interesting at first but they were really long descriptions and I though that some of them were really uncalled for. It didn't added up anything to the actual story, so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the readers skip ahead this specifics parts.

I gave it 5 stars because, even though I already knew the plot I still cried like a baby. This is very unusual for me because I never cried watching a movie or reading a book. I connected so much with this story that a whole month had past since I finished it and I still think about it. I even had planned to only rate 4 stars because of what I mention on the previous paragraph but I also can't forget how this book affected me. In the end I had to give the maximum because of the emotion connection, the love for the story and the realization that I wanted to re read the whole thing the instant I finished.