Page 240 of 1463

That's where I am in this undertaking to read Les Miserables. Page 240 indicates I'm liking it enough to have made it past the first few pages. But still painfully early on (like mile two of thirteen in a half marathon.)

This edition, borrowed from my dad, is a Signet Classic and those 1463 pages are packed into a seven-by-four-by-two-inch paperback that is going to give me carpal tunnel just holding it. Worth it? I hope so. Hugo does go on and on and on and on, but I chose to read the unabridged so I have no one to blame but myself. Does this end well? Fifty bazillion people who have kept the musical a hit all this time can't all be total idiots, right?

I will say that with each passing page, I am relying on the little information I retained from my French Culture class in college. But my memory is sorely lacking and I have to force myself not to run to Wikipedia about every third sentence to look up another bit of French history.

I really do need a book group. Today I would have called my fellow member(s) to cry over Fantine's tooth extraction. WHY am I reading this in the midst of mounting PMS symptoms when there are PLENTY of happy-go-lucky little novellas out there with rosy-cheeked heroines and easy plots? I can't answer this question.