#COLLABOREADS: A Literary Classic
I love the last Monday of the month. The last Monday of the month means it's #COLLABOREADS time!
If you're new to #COLLABOREADS, welcome! Amber and I have been hosting this fun little online book club since way back when in 2015! We pick a theme every month (so everyone's reading different books) and then all link up and share our thoughts (with a handy-dandy R.E.A.D.S. acronym usually) and link up and become BFFs. You can read more about this whole thing here.
This month was literary classics.
ps-- make sure you read my lovely co-host Amber's review of the book she chose here!
Riveting.
What part of the book could you NOT get enough of? I grew up listening to the Les Mis soundtrack on every family roadtrip and have always loved it. I've seen the production several times from several different groups (seeing it live in London took the cake though) and surprisingly loved the movie as well, but had never given the book a shot. I probably cheated by reading the abridged version, but hey. Gotta start somewhere. I adored it. It was more similar to the musical than I expected but the background and context and character development was richer than I had expected too. Diving deeper into the characters I've related to mostly through song until this point was a rich, wonderful thing.
Elements.
How did you relate to/care for the characters? Oh, these characters. I adore them. My heart goes out to them. A mother who has sacrificed all dignity to care for her daughter, a man whose life has been spent in chains because he, too, was desperate to feed his family, a priest who so beautifully displayed the mercy and grace of God to an undeserving man, the cat and mouse chase between an escaped prisoner and a police officer, a child who never knew her mother but so fiercely loves her father figure... I could go on and on. The parallels of faith and the depths of love and the passion behind it all is stunning.
What's your thought on the plot line and twists and turns? I'm sure if I had read the unabridged version, I would have more thoughts, but I thought the plot line of this abridged version followed the musical quite closely, and being so familiar with that, I found it easy to follow and fast-paced overall. If you were reading without knowing the storyline (nuanced and layered and lovely in all its overlapping character lines) it might be slightly more confusing at parts, but I didn't find it to be so.
Associate.
What other books are like this one? Oh boy. What a question. I don't even know how to answer this one, honestly. Anybody else have thoughts about books similar to Les Mis?!
Design.
What did you think of it? Well, my cover is straight out of the 1960s... so it's one of a kind. Not my go-to style by any means, but hey. When you find it on your parents' shelf and know it's been around for decades and the pages are yellow and the book smells all musty and dusty and perfectly booky... you go with it and don't judge.
Stars.
How many out of five do you give this book? Would you recommend this book to a friend? 5 stars. All the stars. Everyone read (or see or watch or listen to) Les Mis and you will not be disappointed.
LET'S LINK UP.
Leave some love on the posts of old and new friends, too! That's the whole beauty of this baby.
And now, for MARCH:
MEMOIR MARCH
Find a book that fits the category (you can browse here for ideas!), read it throughout the coming month, and join us with your review as we link up again on March 28!