I am so relieved there's been no French bashing on this thread. Don't know why I was afraid that might be happening....
The French have done me some good. Ya'ever read Les Miserables? Haven't seen the play; the movie with Liam Neeson was weak -- you'd need an 8 part Masterpiece Theater Special, about an hour and a half each, to really do justice to the story.
If you do want to read it (who knows?) I'd recommend an abridged version first, I like the one that Somerset Maugham did, and if you're really psyched, take on the unabridged (1200+ pages). There are many chapters in the unabridged that are virtually useless -- minutae of the French Revolution and various Napoleanic battles -- but there are several that really flesh out the story.
All in all, a mind blowing, almost impossibly heroic story. But I want to believe it is possible. Got have something to hang onto.
