# Les Miserables: And you thought Tolkien was wordy... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-miserables-and-you-thought-tolkien-was-wordy/494187 "2009-04-24T04:35:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pope\_hentai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@pope\_hentai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pope_hentai)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-miserables-and-you-thought-tolkien-was-wordy/494187/41 "2009-04-29T02:19:40Z")
no thread about le mis is complete without a link to this: [http://www.lesmisgame.com/arm\_joe.html](http://www.lesmisgame.com/arm_joe.html) carry on then… ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-miserables-and-you-thought-tolkien-was-wordy/494187/42 "2009-04-29T04:13:49Z")
Heh I read Les Miserables in French, the whole novel cover to cover. The wordiness was fine with me. I had a nice French-English dictionary at hand and by the time I finished the novel I could read French pretty well. This knowledge came in really handy later on. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-miserables-and-you-thought-tolkien-was-wordy/494187/43 "2009-04-29T07:47:39Z")
I read an abridged version. :dubious: And I was 13. So Marius was to me what Edward Sparklepire\* is to 13y/os today. I’d probably see him more cynically today, but I don’t think I was projecting that his first words to Cosette were swoonworthy. \*Cullen. Couldn’t think of his name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/les-miserables-and-you-thought-tolkien-was-wordy/494187.md?page=2)