[I]Les Miserables[I] by Victor Hugo. It's about a thousand pages long and Hugo's the worst rambler ever (an entire section of the book is devoted to the Battle of Waterloo, which took place a few months before the story starts), but it's a dazzling and very moving tale that I'd recommend for anyone who has the patience. Jean Valjean makes a hell of an anti-hero with a hell of a name.