Les Misérables Audiobook By Victor Hugo cover art

Les Misérables

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free + $20 Audible credit

$8.99/mo. after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Get this deal
Offer ends on July 5, 2026 at 11:59 PT.
More purchase options

Les Misérables

By: Victor Hugo
Narrated by: Walter Covell
Get this deal

$8.99/mo. after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends July 5, 2026 at 11:59pm PT.

Buy for $24.81

Buy for $24.81

Les Miserables is set in the Parisian underworld. The protagonist, Jean Valjean, is sentenced to prison for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. After his release, Valjean plans to rob monseigneur Myriel, a saint-like bishop, but cancels his plan. However, he forfeits his parole by committing a minor crime, and for this crime Valjean is haunted by the police inspector Javert. Valjean eventually reforms and becomes, under the name of M. Madeleine, a successful businessman, benefactor, and mayor of a northern town. To save an innocent man, Valjean gives himself up and is imprisoned in Toulon. He escapes and adopts Cosette, an illegitimate child of a poor woman, Fantine. Cosette grows up and falls in love with Marius, who is wounded during a revolutionary fight. Valjean rescues Marius by means of a flight through the sewers of Paris. All seems headed for a happy ending until Javert shows up again and this leads to an incredible climax.

About the abridgement
The one major issue of this book is Hugo's long "asides" in which he departs from the action to write about anything he finds of interest. In the printed version, one can simply flip by those pages to get back to the story. That is not so easy in an audio version so these tangents have been removed. The whole story, all 33 plus hours of it, remains.

©1989 Jimcin Recordings (P)1989 Jimcin Recordings Classics Education Genre Fiction Literary Fiction
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
Beautiful Masterpiece • Classic Literature • Rich Characters • Inspiring Story • Enchanting Performance • Selfless Hero

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
I have read the unabridged version and I listened to this abridged version and I was very happy that I made that choice. I didn't feel that I missed anything with the abridged version and I definitely avoided wanting to reach back through time and strangle Victor Hugo's publisher for not insisting on edits. This book is a classic of Western literature and it is heartrendingly beautiful (even though Marius is an idiot) . THe the reader was enjoyable and did a good job even though almost all of his women sounded the same, usually there was only one woman in the scene so it worked out. There was a chapter that repeated itself and a couple of chapters where the audio quality went way down but otherwise I was very happy.

Abridged copy is just as good if not better

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved the Broadway musical. I greatly enjoyed the movie too. What I liked best about the movie is it added some details from the book that were impossible to include on the stage. However, as often happens, the book reigns triumphant over any other version of Victor Hugo's masterpiece.

However, Hugo was ridiculously wordy with literally hundreds of pages that he himself admits are irrelevant to the story. As such, I highly recommend this abridged version for any normal human beings who, unlike me, do not feel obsessively compulsed to read unabridged versions. I also recommend this version to those who have already waded through the unabridged version, and (like me) loved it enough to enjoy the story again.

Abridged? Never! Except this time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love Les Miserables, so I won't rate this any less than 3 stars. However, I was disappointed to find that some of the actual story was left out of the abridgement, in addition to just the author's "lengthy asides." For example, Fantine's history was missing, as well as all mention of the youngest Thenardier children, both of which strike me as important to the story.

I found the narration a bit dry as well. I definitely recommend listening to the sample before you purchase this audiobook.

Disappointing abridgement

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have seen the movie and the play, but loved the performamce of the book and all the details it filled in.

Life Changining! inspiring! Wonderful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I went into this title expecting it to be a challenge, and it was that. But oh what a wonderful challenge!! Anyone who has ever said "you are what your read" would be telling the truth having read Les Miserables, because having finished it I truly believe it has become a part of who I am. One thing is for certain, when Victor Hugo sets out to make a point he definitely makes one, whether you want to wait for it to finally be over with or not! And just when you think you cannot bear for him to continue, he stops and returns back to the story, weaves it together perfectly, and you feel a sublime sense of awareness at having listened and understood exactly what he is trying to convey. While spinning on a point until it is driven into the ground, describing multiple complex details of dozens and dozens of characters that you are certain you will never be able to retain, like the composer of the most intricate symphony, the result is magnificent, and the characters are alive in your heart and mind. Initially I thought the narration had a somewhat "high school documentary" tone to it, but as it progressed it became enchanting, and although I do not speak French so I do not know if his pronunciations were correct, I thought it was beautifully done. Some of the recording/play quality was a little off, and there was a point where a whole "chapter" was repeated (when Cosette goes to the well at night), and another where a "chapter" heading was repeated, but other than that it was very clear and well done. Definitely time well spent! Some day I will try to tackle the double-length unabridged version to get more of the "thoughts of the day" from Hugo.

astounding

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews