The more we know about a person, the better we understand why they say what they say, and the meaning behind the body language that accompanied the words, in addition to the intent behind the tone.
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| Arch de Triomphe Photo by Mary Vee |
Whoa, that was almost philosophical. Pontification done. But this is the reason for my choice of book to talk about today.
I woke this morning and asked myself, which of the many books I've read should we talk about. The choice had to be one that would benefit you as well as me. The winner unarguably was Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.
Since Les Miserables takes place in Paris, I chose Paris pictures to show you. But not the 1840's you would have seen had you lived during the time the story took place ;)
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| Me in The Louvre Hubby took this photo |
While the musical is epic, the movie heart-rendering, (Love Liam Neeson's performance)--the book is overwhelmingly magical. Think: the difference between a local small carnival and Disneyland.
Here is why: Every character in this story is brought to life so much so the reader can hear their breath, detect their footsteps, feel their rage, observe their deception forming, the goo on the skin sticking after walking through the sewer, the melting heart when heroes die... the list could easily fill even this page!
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| Champs de Mars Park at the foot of the Eiffel Man masterfully playing the pan flute Photo by Mary Vee |
An avid reader said to me, Hugo's world building through the character development easily outranked Tolkien's. Shocker? Possibly, because the reader highly favors Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
There is a fine line between endless details describing anything in a story and poetically painting a scene: the blue uniform jacket had a loose thread near the shoulder, and the third button down hung in utter disrepair, but none of these mattered since the coat barely came to the waist. Pity the washerwoman who failed to remove the raspberry tart stain, it covered nearly three inches across his abdomen, and mores the pity to his servant who failed to advise the necessity of the proper belt.
In some cases, this description would be entertaining.
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| You know what this is Photo by Mary Vee |
But in an action scene, the same paragraph would read like quicksand, sucking the reader away from the vibrant story.
I give Les Miserables a 5 out of 5 for character, theme, plot, writing, humor, information, world building, .... try it. Yah just gotta read this book.
This post has been brought to you by a living character.
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