What it's about

Jean Valjean, released after nineteen years in prison for stealing bread, is turned toward a new life by a bishop's mercy, while the policeman Javert hunts him for decades. Around them Hugo sets Fantine, her daughter Cosette, the student Marius and the barricades of the 1832 Paris uprising, with long digressions on Waterloo, convents and the sewers of Paris. Complete, in Hapgood's translation.

Reading plan

Pick a finish date and Genius lays out the days — the plan shows today's target and keeps you honest.

Read together

Start a circle and share the code — everyone sees everyone's honest place in the book. Accountability, not leaderboards.

Who it's for

- Readers ready for a long novel about justice and mercy - Anyone who knows the musical and wants the full story - Readers interested in nineteenth-century France

What’s inside

1
CHAPTER I—M. MYRIEL
5 min
2
CHAPTER II—M. MYRIEL BECOMES M. WELCOME
9 min
3
CHAPTER III—A HARD BISHOPRIC FOR A GOOD BISHOP
3 min
4
CHAPTER IV—WORKS CORRESPONDING TO WORDS
13 min
5
CHAPTER V—MONSEIGNEUR BIENVENU MADE HIS CASSOCKS LAST TOO LONG
5 min
6
CHAPTER VI—WHO GUARDED HIS HOUSE FOR HIM
10 min
7
CHAPTER VII—CRAVATTE
6 min
8
CHAPTER VIII—PHILOSOPHY AFTER DRINKING
7 min
9
CHAPTER IX—THE BROTHER AS DEPICTED BY THE SISTER
7 min
10
CHAPTER X—THE BISHOP IN THE PRESENCE OF AN UNKNOWN LIGHT
21 min
11
CHAPTER XI—A RESTRICTION
8 min
12
CHAPTER XII—THE SOLITUDE OF MONSEIGNEUR WELCOME
5 min
13
CHAPTER XIII—WHAT HE BELIEVED
7 min
14
CHAPTER XIV—WHAT HE THOUGHT
4 min
15
CHAPTER I—THE EVENING OF A DAY OF WALKING
20 min
16
CHAPTER II—PRUDENCE COUNSELLED TO WISDOM.
7 min
17
CHAPTER III—THE HEROISM OF PASSIVE OBEDIENCE.
9 min
18
CHAPTER IV—DETAILS CONCERNING THE CHEESE-DAIRIES OF PONTARLIER.
6 min
19
CHAPTER V—TRANQUILLITY
2 min
20
CHAPTER VI—JEAN VALJEAN
10 min
21
CHAPTER VII—THE INTERIOR OF DESPAIR
13 min
22
CHAPTER VIII—BILLOWS AND SHADOWS
3 min
23
CHAPTER IX—NEW TROUBLES
2 min
24
CHAPTER X—THE MAN AROUSED
5 min

Showing the first 24 of 365 chapters — open the book for the rest.

Les Misérables

What it's about

Reading plan

Read together

Who it's for

What’s inside

What readers say

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Les Misérables

What it's about

Reading plan

Read together

Who it's for

What’s inside

What readers say

Read next