Les Miserables- Book 3- Marius

I just finished Book Three of Les Miserables, Marius. We are introduced to a new character in this book, a young man named Marius who has been brought up by his grandfather. His own father was forced to give him up and not allowed to contact him ever. Marius believes that his father never cared for him and by the time he learns differently it is too late and his father is deceased. Angry at his grandfather for keeping them away from each other, Marius decides to take off on his own and becomes an attorney.

While off making his own way Marius sees a young girl walking with her father. Just a hint, we've seen this little family before. At the time he just thinks of her as a homely young girl, though in a few months time that all changes. She's now all grown up and beautiful and Marius falls deeply in love with her despite not knowing her name or ever talking to her. In this book we also stumble across another family that we've seen before. A family that is considerably worse off than before, though I felt no pity for them.

I liked this book, but not as much as the last two. The first half is spent in building Marius's story and it takes awhile before you see how he'll fit into the rest of the story. The beginning is also filled with a lot of surplus information that goes on for a bit before coming back to the main story. I'll admit that I do sort of "speed-read" through those sections, gathering what info I need and hurrying through on my way back to the main story. Hugo loves his tangents and veers off the main path on occasion. However, I still think that it's well worth sifting through to get to the main story but I would recommend the abridged version for those who don't want a lesson in French history. The second half of this book reads much faster. We get quite a bit of drama and treachery near the end and the build up is exciting. I managed to read the last half of this book in the last 24 hours, despite having to spend several hours at a never-ending job interview today. Once the action started, I just had to keep going, had to know what was going to happen next.