Les Misérables

Hugo, Victor. Les misérables. London : Penguin, 2012. 

 

Source: http://www.penguin.com.au

A peasant is imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread and he is releases after 19 years. As an ex-convict, Jean Valjean will struggle against many odds until he becomes a rich man and is made mayor. All this time he will have to deal with  police inspector Javert, who dedicates his life to recapture him. Beyond the particular story of Jean Valjean, Victor Hugo depicts the France of the first half of the 19th Century and its Revolution. This is a lyrical and long novel with a atmospheric and thought-provoking tone.

An acclaimed musical version of this story, starring Australian Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and directed by Tom Hooper, was released in 2012. Highlights of the movie are the impressive sets, the performances and the songs. More information about the movie can be found on IMDB.

  + Award winning musical, including three Oscars and several other awards.
         + Les Misérables in our library catalogue GO!



Sources: Penguin, IMDB, GoodReads, NoveList (through EBSCOhost), The Guardian Books 

Jane Eyre

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York : Barnes &​ Noble, 2011.

Source: http://www.barnesandnoble.com

An English orphan takes up the post of governess in Mr. Rochester home. She soon falls in love with him and will find out the terrible secret that prevents them from getting married. Full of mystery and passion, this love story is told by Jane Eyre, the heroine that will endure the heart-breaking reality surrounding her. A descriptive writing style and focus on characters make this novel easy to read.

A movie based on this story, starring Mia Wasikowska and directed by Cary Fukunaga, was released in 2011 and won several awards. "Exquisitely shot in a style reminiscent of 17th-century Dutch painting [...] Jane Eyre is an exciting, uplifting story about a young woman making her way in an unkind world." (Tom Ryan, The Sydney Morning Herald).

+  The movie in IMDB
  + Jane Eyre in our library catalogue GO!

Sources: NoveList (through EBSCOhost), Trove, IMDB, FictionConnection, GoodReads, SMH

Atonement

McEwan, Ian. Atonement. New York: Doubleday/Talese, 2002.

 

Source: NoveList

The innocent mistake of a 13-year-old English girl changes the life of her whole family, when she accuses her sister's lover of a crime he did not commit. A leisurely paced novel with a reflective tone and a haunting plot, which also depicts very well the times that headed to the World War II. "Every lustrously rendered, commanding scene is charged with both despair and diabolical wit, and McEwan’s Jamesian prose covers the emotional spectrum from searing eroticism to toxic guilt" (Booklist review in NoveList).

An adaptation of this story to the big screen was directed by Joe Wright and released in 2007. Starring Keira Knigthley and James McAvoy, this movie was entirely filmed in the UK and won an Oscar for Original Music Score.

+ The movie in IMDB
  +  Watch an interview with Ian McEwan just after the publication of his first novel The Cement Garden in 1979.
      + Atonement in our library catalogue GO!

Sources: NoveList, PublishersWeekly, IMDB, BBC Archive, The Guardian (Australia)