 It took Hugo nearly 00 years to write Les Misérables, and it shows. The novel is as comprehensive a work as is imaginable. Digressions, essays and asides make up a large percentage of the word count, and nothing seems omitted for the sake of narrative pacing. The first fifty or so pages are devoted almost entirely to the detailed personal history of a priest. Later, there are sections of comparable length containing a detailed account of the battle of Waterloo, a series of essays on the clergy, It took Hugo nearly 00 years to write Les Misérables, and it shows. The novel is as comprehensive a work as is imaginable. Digressions, essays and asides make up a large percentage of the word count, and nothing seems omitted for the sake of narrative pacing. The first fifty or so pages are devoted almost entirely to the detailed personal history of a priest. Later, there are sections of comparable length containing a detailed account of the battle of Waterloo, a series of essays on the clergy, 