• Quintus@lemmy.ml
    25·
    9 months ago

    Les Misérables is easily the best book I’ve ever read in my entire life. A few years ago I read a shorthened version of it and even then I was fascinated by it. I finished reading the full text two months ago and oh my fucking god this book is the best thing ever written.

    I’m Turkish so I read the Turkish translation (will read the full text in English and French when I learn it) and on the back of it, it says something along these lines:

    “… Les Misérables is the third and the most majestic collumn of the author’s novel trilogy that tells of the society…”

    And I completely agree with that. This book is simply timeless. The characters, situations, unjustice, inequalities, all the suffering in it could be applied to any society. This book is real.

    The messages that it sends are solutions to topics that seemingly anybody with a functioning brain should be capable of thinking and realizing. And yet, these solutions are ignored and refused because of greed, revenge, bloodlust and most important of all, ignorance.

    The main character of the book, Jean Valjean is the embodiment of redemption. His entire arc teaches us how to treat criminals. Some countries today are taking these lessons and applying them. The lessons being; treat them as human, rehabilitate them. The result? They actually do heal and return to society as normal human beings.

    And yet you see people against this practice. Those kinds of people are blinded by bloodlust and revenge. They are the same kind of people that were racist, sexist and much more back in the day. The arguments that these people bring don’t hold up either. The most common one I see (at least from my perspective) is this:

    “You wouldn’t react this way if they hurt one of your loved ones!”

    The fact that these people don’t know anything about me aside, this argument is pointless as it implies that I would be blind to fact and logic when I’m in pain. And while that is true, me being angry over an apple falling onto my head won’t make gravity any less real. In other words, so what?

    The biggest victims of this mentality are pedofiles. Not the ones that do engage in action. But rather the ones that don’t harm anybody are aware of their issue. For instance, if a non-engaging pedo went to a therapist and told them of their issue, what would the therapist do? Call the police of course. And what would that do? Their life would be pretty screwed from that point forward. Assuming they are the non-engaging type, of course. I don’t believe this to be the correct attitude towards these kind of cases.

    I would also like to dive into other topics that the book covers (and perhaps extend on this one) but it would be way too long for a comment. Thank you anyone reading this far. I would like to hear your opinions on the matter and discuss even!

    • PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works
      2·
      9 months ago

      I read it in high school (by choice because of the musical), but I think I was not mature enough to truly grasp many of the themes.

      This makes me want to re-read it. I can read French at an okay level, and I’m wondering if I should try…or if I should stick with English again first to get the major points and then branch out.

    • somenonewho@feddit.de
      2·
      9 months ago

      I’ve seen the musical a bunch of times and when I finally managed to read it last year it was a revelation. While I still love the musical the book is so much more intriguing and interesting and just manages to much more perfectly capture the main theme.

      Night need to re-read this one soon ;)

  • montar@lemmy.ml
    20·
    9 months ago

    Asimov’s Foundation series (two times polish translation and once original) and The Hitchikerms Guide to Galaxy by Adams Douglas (once in polish, twice original)

    • mortrek@lemmy.mlEnglish
      1·
      9 months ago

      It’s even more fun if you read the entire Asimov book catalog that’s set in the same universe as Foundation using the in-universe chronological order… unless you meant that’s what you did. That’s broadly “I, Robot”, the Robots series, the Empire Series, and the Foundation series. I’m sure some people don’t like his later books that tie it all together, but most of them are probably elderly and read the original series before the newer ones were published or something.

      • niktemadur@lemmy.world
        1·
        9 months ago

        I read the original Foundation trilogy, then all the ones in the Robot, Empire and Foundation series in order of publication, followed by the Benford/Bryn/Bear trilogy.
        Then I went back and re-read the original Foundation trilogy, and it still stands out as my favorite thing Asimov ever did.

    • vacuumfountain@startrek.websiteEnglish
      1·
      9 months ago

      Just reread hitchhikers myself, and I’m rereading the Robots series. I love the mix of sci-fi and noir that the Robots books have

  • Trent@lemmy.mlEnglish
    18·
    9 months ago

    The Discworld series, the Culture series by Iain Banks, Tolkien, Illuminatus!, GEB: The Eternal Golden Braid, The Book of Swords…

    • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      9 months ago

      Illuminatus! was my answer. Never got into serious fantasy, but otherwise this is a solid list. This further encourages me to read the Culture series.

  • ChaosInstructor@lemmy.world
    17·
    9 months ago

    there is a lot of books i have read more than once. but one stands out over all others, yet there is no storyline to speak of. The C Programming Language by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie.

  • 𝚝𝚛𝚔@aussie.zoneEnglish
    16·
    9 months ago

    The Wheel Of Time, by Robert Jordan

    The entire series, start to finish, repeatedly. I’ve read it at least a dozen times since the late 90s when I first discovered it. I’d read the entire series over again whenever a new book in the series was released so the first few books I’ve read far more frequently.

    Then the TV show came out and now I can’t bring myself to look at it ever again.

    • seaQueue@lemmy.world
      7·
      9 months ago

      Then the TV show came out and now I can’t bring myself to look at it ever again.

      I tell people the TV show is what you’d get if you handed the books to the CW’s teen soap/drama writers. Yes, it’s that bad.

      • sunbeam60@lemmy.one
        2·
        9 months ago

        My Darwin, the teeth in that show. All of them have PERFECT Hollywood teeth, shining brightly like magical lanterns.

        • seaQueue@lemmy.world
          2·
          9 months ago

          Yeah, it’s pretty ridiculous. I watch a lot of German and Scandinavian TV because they use actors that look like real people rather than Hollywood Barbie dolls.

          • sunbeam60@lemmy.one
            1·
            9 months ago

            It’s often an indicator of poor films/shows for me. Look at Killers of the Flower Moon - it’s not like the actors don’t all have amazing looking teeth, but the film has gone through the trouble of making them all look normal via prosthetics.

            Yet so much cheap tv/film doesn’t bother and it just immediately cancels my suspension of disbelief.

    • Schlemmy@lemmy.ml
      2·
      9 months ago

      I struggle with the abundance of characters from time to time. I’ve reread some of the books just because I forgot who, what, when…

      The tv shows always are a compromise. They just don’t have the time to build the characters and have to force some stuff because of that.

      I have this guilty pleasure. I’ve reread ‘Interview with the vampire’ after seeing the movie and even liked the book pore afterwards.

  • Bell@lemmy.world
    14·
    9 months ago

    I have re-read The Lord of the Rings and all of Larry Niven’s books (many in the Ringworld universe).

  • pH3ra@lemmy.ml
    11·
    9 months ago

    " When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton. "

    • Schlemmy@lemmy.ml
      2·
      9 months ago

      The best part of rereading those books is the hidden puns and jokes that you only get when you get older. And yes, commander Vîmes and Moist are excellent characters.

  • TheMinions@lemmy.world
    10·
    9 months ago

    I just read the 4 Stormlight Archives books this past year (in addition to the novellas) but I’m already itching to reread them.

    • LPodyssey07@lemm.ee
      5·
      9 months ago

      I got into the Cosmere about three years back. I started with The Way Of Kings just because I had heard Sanderson was good and had an audible credit. Then I learned about the whole Cosmere and flew through the rest of it. I’m up to Words Of Radiance on my first re read before #5 comes out.

      • TheMinions@lemmy.world
        6·
        9 months ago

        I started reading more when the Reddit API stuff happened. Meant to pick up Mistborn AGES ago at a friend’s behest and then went to Way of Kings after Mistborn Era 1 was over.

        Haven’t looked back, and have barely read anything not written by Brando Sando since then.

    • Nath@aussie.zone
      2·
      9 months ago

      I think I’ve read all of Sanderson except for Stormlight (I’ll read it as soon as he finishes it). Is Stormlight the series that makes the cosmere make sense?

      Like, I know the cosmere is a thing. And I’m aware that all these disparate worlds are somehow interconnected. Other than a cameo of characters near the end of Wax & Wayne, there is never a reference to the cosmere in anything I’ve read.

      I enjoy his books, but I don’t get the significance of The Cosmere at all.

      • TheMinions@lemmy.world
        1·
        9 months ago

        You will recognize a character that makes waves in Stormlight named Hoid. He makes cameos in pretty much every work of Sanderson’s.

  • redhorsejacket@lemmy.world
    111·
    9 months ago

    I’ve definitely gone through the Harry Potter series a couple of times at different phases of my life. Definitely had a different experience with every reading. Not always positive, but at this point it’s part of the tapestry of my childhood.

    • lady_maria@lemmy.worldEnglish
      52·
      9 months ago

      at this point it’s part of the tapestry of my childhood.

      Mine too. I haven’t read them in a long time because of obvious reasons, but a part of me still wants to. I was truly obsessed with them for several years as a kid.

      • redhorsejacket@lemmy.world
        8·
        9 months ago

        Don’t let her shitty politics get in the way of doing something you enjoy. Death of the author and all that. If you’re worried about fiscally supporting her, I’m certain you can find the whole series at reasonable prices in any secondhand bookstore.

  • case_when@feddit.ukEnglish
    8·
    9 months ago

    Excession, by Iain M Banks.

    Genar-Hofoen felt the Diplomatic Force officer’s kiss through the few millimetres’ thickness of the gelfield suit as a moderately sharp impact on his jaw followed by a powerful sucking that might have led someone less experienced in the diverse and robust manifestations of Affronter friendliness to conclude that the being was either trying to suck his teeth out through his cheek or had determined to test whether a Culture Gelfield Contact/Protection Suit, Mk 12, could be ripped off its wearer by a localised partial vacuum.  What the crushingly powerful four-limbed hug would have done to a human unprotected by a suit designed to withstand pressures comparable to those found at the bottom of an ocean probably did not bear thinking about, but then a human exposed without protection to the conditions required to support Affronter life would be dying in at least three excitingly different and painful ways anyway without having to worry about being crushed by a cage of leg-thick tentacles.

    Gorgeous.

    • seaQueue@lemmy.world
      2·
      9 months ago

      Our friend with a need for speed is probably my favorite plot thread weave of any of his books. Excession did a great job of lulling you into thinking certain things were happening then absolutely slapped the universe with a different sequence of events, it’s such a fun read.

      Look to Windward is absolutely excellent as well.

      • case_when@feddit.ukEnglish
        1·
        9 months ago

        Look to Windward is my favourite. The Ways of Dying monologue is hauntingly beautiful.