June 30, 2009 3:56 PM
Les Miserables - pages 359-477
Anyone still with me? I know a lot of you have bought books and I hope you're not giving up. I know it's tough being a mom and finding time to read, but we set our goal at 120 pages or so a week. It's okay to read at a more leisurely pace (how's that for a euphemism when nothing about your life is leisurely?), but to avoid spoilers, you probably want to avoid my commentaries until you've read to the pages we're discussing - them feel free to add your comments even if it's a few weeks later. All are welcome and we'll go back and read them.
You can find everything about this book study - including pronunciation keys and other helps by clicking on the Les Miz cover in the top left sidebar and scrolling down to start at the bottom. Don't forget, I gave some suggestions to make reading this massive tome a little easier.
We left at page 358, the end of a digression on the Battle of Waterloo and the meeting of Thenardier (the innkeeper in whose keeping Fantine will later leave Cosette) and Pontmercy (who we will meet again later in the book).
Now back to the story line (1823): Though Valjean did escape following Fantine's death, he has been retaken. In the three or four days of freedom, he managed to withdraw his money had hide it somewhere - probably in the woods we hear about later.
Did you find it amazing how quickly all the citizens of Montreuil-sur-mer turned on M. Madeleine after he brought years of benevolence and prosperity to the town? And what did you think about the effects of his withdrawal on the town:
There was no longer any center; competition and venom on all sides. M. Madeleine had ruled and directed everything. With him fallen, it was every man for himself; the spirit of strife succeeded to the spirit of organization, bitterness to cordiality, hatred of each against each instead of the good will of the founder toward all; the threads woven together by M. Madeleine were entangled and were broken; the workmanship was debased, the products were degraded, confidence was killed; customers diminished, there were fewer orders, wages decreased, the shops became idle, bankruptcy followed. And nothing was left for the poor. Everything disappeared.
Such is the effect of losing a good leader.
Now we find Valjean serving his captivity on a prison ship, where he rescues an imperiled sailor, then appears to fall into the sea..
Hugo fleshes out the Thenardiers in pages 374-382. As I mentioned previously, there is no comic relief as in the musical, but just absolute cruelty:
This man and this woman were cunning and rage married - a hideous and terrible pair. . . Cosette was between them. . . like a creature at the same time buried by a millstone and lacerated with pincers. The man and the woman each had a different way. Cosette was beaten unmercifully; that came from the woman. She went barefoot in winter; that came from the man. . .Finding themselves in such a world at the dawn of their existence, so young, so defenseless, what must go on in these souls fresh from God?
The writer who comes to mind who deals with the degradation of children is Dickens. I don't know about you, but I find these tales of children wronged heart-wrenching. And as Hugo sets the scene, I can feel Cosette's fear as though I were eight again myself. Children at that age - with no reasoning ability - just accept the cruelty and fear and blame themselves.
From the musical (keep in mind that this is a concert, so while they are in costume, it is not as wonderful as seeing the stage production - which I hope many of you will see):
Cosette's rescue by Valjean - beginning with his taking the heavy bucket from her in the dark: yet more mercy and redemption flowing forward from the Bishop's redemption - through Christ - of Valjean.
Wasn't her rescue - in spite of the crassness of the Thenardiers - so reassuring?
And weren't pages 436-439 beautiful as Hugo describes Valjean's condition:
Something new was entering his soul.Jean Valjean had never loved anything. For twenty-five years he had been alone in the world. He had never been a father, lover, huband, or friend. In prison he was cross, sullen, chaste, ignorant, and intractable. The heart of the former convict was like a virgin's . . .
The bishop had caused the dawn of virtue on his horizon; Cosette invoked the dawn of love.
And as for Cosette:
The coming of this man and his participation in this child's destiny had been the coming of God.
Interestingly, I'm reading Theology of Body Teens
with Maddy each day (as I promised, more on this later) and the themes of these two books are so similar - about love as self-sacrifice and the sacramentality of the body - or the purpose of our bodies being to make the love of God visible.
But we only get to bask in this reflection and security briefly, as human small-mindedness and Javert's return force Valjean and Cosette to set flight. A dramatic chase through the streets of Paris ends in a dead end and a superhuman scramble over a wall, where Valjean finds Divine Providence has prepared a moment of safety for him and for Cosette.
And Javert is left thwarted and empty handed and seething with the lack of justice he seeks.
Many of these smaller twists of the plot have understandably been edited from the musical. In fact, I find it amazing how the writers convey the essential plot, the themes, the characters and conflicts through the songs. Javert is a villain, but to anyone who has struggled with legalism or loves a legalist, he is multidimensional. He sees himself as someone who has risen above his sordid past; he seeks nobility and honoring God through righteousness and the law:
~~~~~~~~
Next week: pages 478-596 Signet edition (up to the end of Book Two). Happy reading!
Remember, if you like the music from the 10th Anniversary concert - commonly referred to as the Dream Cast, you can find it at Amazon in CD or DVD format:
Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert
Les Miserables: The 10th Anniversary Dream Cast in Concert at London's Royal Albert Hall
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Comments
I'm still reading! I haven't made much headway in the last week, but we're going to the cabin this weekend and I'm bringing it with me. I read this when I was a young teen, but am enjoying it so much more this time around. Thank you for providing the impetus to read it! I hope to catch up enough to actually contribute to the conversation. :) Usually reading 120 pages in a week is no problem for me, but the print is very small and the reading level requires a bit more concentration than the skimming-style I've adopted for most modern novels. :)
Posted by: Lucy | June 30, 2009 5:34 PM
I'm with you, but lagging rather behind. I'm just at page 158. I am really enjoying reading the commentary and comments as I complete each section, even though I am late. Thanks for the button at the top of your blog. It really helps. I'll try to leave comments as I finish sections.
Posted by: Karen | June 30, 2009 6:51 PM
I have not made much progress over the past couple of weeks. I am reading the commentary, but with the family issues that have arisen the book is just not getting much attention!
I am going to keep reading what you write, in fact I would like to print it all and use it as a study when I get back to the book.
Thanks so much for your insights!
Posted by: Jennifer | July 1, 2009 11:45 AM
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for your comments. They are certainly helping me keep up with the themes and the main points. I am already into book two, around page 620. I did skip the whole Waterloo dissertation as I do find it sometimes hard to keep up with some of the wandering topics. I have truly enjoyed the book, I have never read it or seen the movie/play. I will most certainly read it again after this first time to see what I might have missed and to solidify the entire saga in my mind. It is very good and I am so happy I took up the challenge of reading it this summer. Thanks for the inspiration!
Hugs,
Jennifer
Posted by: Jennifer | July 1, 2009 2:25 PM
My heart was racing at the moment Javert and Valjean caught each others' eye on the street. I was so relieved that Valjean and Cosette had a way of escape. It felt like they would never find rest, but when they did it was such a relief. It was like I could breathe again. At this point for Cosette to lose Valjean, I think, would be devastating for her.
Posted by: Joani | July 2, 2009 11:16 AM
I'm here, and actually caught up!!! Really, really loving it!!!!
Kristy in Germany
Posted by: kristy in Germany | July 3, 2009 5:40 AM
I too felt rather breathless during that whole chase scene! It's amazing how Hugo has such an eye for the minutest details and can see how such small things like Javert's uncertainty at first and later pre-mature exhultation saved Valjean from capture!
Currently finished slogging through the chapters on the convents and Hugo's somewhat merciless scathing of the monastic system of his time. I think the one in place today (at least in America) is much different from the life previously led there in France by the consecrated cloistered.
Posted by: Sarah | July 6, 2009 11:27 AM
One thing that the book has made me think about so far is adoption. While I cannot imagine Fantine giving up Cosette, I do see that she truly loved her and thought that she was doing the best for her by trusting her to a woman who appeared to be a loving mother. Obviously we have seen the error of her decision. At the same time, I think of all the children today who have been given up by their families in hopes of their having a better life and those whose parents are no longer around. I saw a documentary the other day where the host visited a modern-day overseas orphanage who primarily cared for children whose parents had given them up because they could not afford to feed them. Like Fantine's story, that breaks my heart. And just as with Cosette, my heart cried out, trust her to me! I would love her! The thought of adoption scares me and at this point I am not certain if God is calling us to adopt. I do know that it seems to keep coming up in both hubby's and my minds. I feel like this book so far really shows that a home where a child is loved and cared for is so much better than a home where a child is un-loved, even if that family is not always ideal.
Posted by: Karen | July 21, 2009 9:35 PM
How quickly the town turns on Valjean and forgets gratitude toward what he did for them! Their small-mindedness and selfishness is their destruction. It is sad that this part of Valjean's inner turmoil over his decision must come true.
In our current society I see the same ripping to shreds of lives in the spotlight, but I feel like I also see more mercy and second chances...that might be naive. It just seems we give a little more grace to those who show a change in their ways.
It seems as if Javert is the rule not the exception to the justice system at this time...everything in black and white. I remember Valjean contemplating revealing his identity and that Petit Gervais would surely be found to testify, yet in all his years as Mayor he was unable to find the boy and right the wrong. It seems such a minute detail with no witnesses, how could the law actually find this obscure person?
I appreciated your thoughts on the Thenardiers. I had jotted down some of the same passages you mention. The injustice to children can be so hard to read. Poor Cosette and a Thenardier son not loved...I did not know about him. I can just feel Cosette's fear in the scenario going for water.
Such relief at Valjean's arrival since I know that somehow he frees Cosette and takes charge of her. Although I am always nervous at Valjean's moves. He makes me nervous later in Paris, too, sometimes making himself more conspicuous than he ought. I've gotten used to contemporary protagonists who always seem to make just the right move, whereas Valjean is more realistic and sometimes makes mistakes.
I have a hard time visualizing author's descriptions sometimes, but that did not take away the excitement of Javert's pursuit of Valjean and Cosette. I think my heart was pounding. On pg. 458, Hugo says, "All extreme situations have their flashes that sometimes blind us, sometimes illuminate us." Isn't that true, and often that is a difference in personality, but perhaps also divine intervention.
Posted by: Crystal | July 23, 2009 3:30 AM
