Les Miserables
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Re: Les Miserables
Victor Hugo, who can first see things from Jean Valjean's point of view, i.e, why he steals and thinks his actions are justified; and then Victor Hugo can rise above all crimes, to create a character like The Bishop who, by his actions of generosity alone and no blah-blah of moral lessons, shows Jean Valjean a fresh light of what's right, an action so powerful that it ultimately forces Jean Valjean to give up his crime and care for the humanity.
This is inspiring to me when an author manage to rise above the bad to make some good. He was right when he said 'what a writer writes truly reflects his or her soul'.
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Then I realized the book has not changed over these 21 years, but it’s me who has changed!
At the school, I was obliged to read this book as a part of our curriculum, and it came across as something heavy. But, now that I have been blazed a few times in my life, I could relate to this book a lot better, and, at times, even felt healed by it.
The aspect that struck me the most is how Victor Hugo has constructed his characters: they’re neither entirely good, nor entirely bad; they’re humane, yet extraordinary.
The police inspector Javert values his duty of keeping law and order above human beings, until he is humbled by Jean Valjean, when he saves the life of Javert, his worst enemy, during the barricade. Then Javert enters his irreconcilable internal conflict between ethics and law, that is between his moral duty to preserve a good man like Jean Valjean and his legal duty of turning him in as a fugitive, and Javert ends his life to save Jean Valjean.
This comes across as a surprise, because Victor Hugo had set up all along Javert as a man of unbending principles, yet not incredible, because we’ve also seen Javert to be a man of good heart and conscience.
Victor Hugo didn’t set up Jean Valjean as a paragon of virtue either. We can see his humane side, even after his conversion into a good man, when he enters his severe inner conflict vis-a-vis the man about to be condemned in his place, for having stolen the forty sous from Petit Gervais. You can see his temptations to evade law and save his own life; you can also see traces from his life of ex-convict when he gets angry with people, and the use of his force when his personal ethics conflict with the law. And, even for a powerful man like him, you can see his fears, his anxieties, and his insecurities about Cosette.
Even for the rogue Thenardier, Victor Hugo has made him humane, by letting him save the father of Marius in the battle of waterloo!! Hugo also gave Thenardier a realistic end, in the sense that, in spite of all his dirty tricks, he ‘succeeds’ in life, from Thenardier’s perspective of course.
Gavroche, the son of Thenardier, earns his bread by stealing, but he also steals your heart when he saves the two kids, and gives up his life at the barricade. His sister, Eponine, is another thief and manipulator, but she sacrifices her life at the barricade too, trying to save Marius, her secret love. Marius, the closest in resemblance to Victor Hugo (whose middle name is ‘Marie’ by the way), is a political idealist, yet insensitive to many in life, including Jean Valjean; you’re in love with him, and angry at him at the same time.
It’s this powerful use of contrast, in the characters and in the events of the novel, that I find absolutely fascinating in Victor Hugo’s work, particularly in Les Miserables. And, I think this is what makes his works so lifelike, because, just like in life, you can’t really put a definite label on any of his characters or story events; that’s why you can never predict anything, and you remain hooked in suspense till the end.
Of course, there are his big philosophical discourses about life and love, but, if you focus on the core drama of this novel, it’s just absolutely gripping. The way he details the inner landscape of the characters, and the values of the society he touches upon, are as universal today, as they were during his time. It’s because those details are so unique and specific that they no longer remain individual; they become us, the universal.
This evening I’m going to see the grave of Juliette Drouet, who was the muse of Victor Hugo, for fifty years!! As a woman, I wonder what was there in her spirit that could inspire a writer like Victor Hugo, for so long.
Have you read this book ? What do you think ?
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In my mind, there is no other way to read this book than to read it wholly. The thing is, of course, massive, but if you pick it apart for the juicy scraps you will be doing yourself an injustice. When Jean Valjean descends with Marius into the sewers, no one wants to devote the next two hours to reading about a history of the Parisian sewer complexes. But read it you must. You will find that the slowed pace builds in your mind a wondrous anticipation. Also, all of the mundanities that Hugo loves to waffle on about will allow your mind time to dwell on and better process the action. Take two months or so and let the book enfold you like a shroud. The length will help you--you will be buried but you will emerge purified.
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For anyone who has seen either of the Les Miserables movies, I recommend reading the book. Victor Hugo did a good job at tying in the historical context as his story unfolds by including chapters that describe the historic events during that time period. It allows the reader to better imagine the conflict and background that the characters are experiencing.
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