Sweet Christ i don't think i can take any more backstory! If i make it to the afterlife me and Victor Hugo are gonna have a chat, a very very very long chat.........there may be punching involved too.
You know I've heard a lot of people
say that the musical Les Mis is a very faithful adaptation of this book
but i haven't seen anything that resembles the musical in ages. There's too much backstory! Stop it Victor Hugo, you're hurting me!!!
We're dealing with the backstory of Marius Pontmercy at the moment and to be fair, it's not entirely awful. I'm not an expert of French history and some of the stuff that came up in these pages went straight over my head but i think i can dumb it down enough to explain whats going on.
Basically Marius's grandfather supported one side during the french revolution, and Marius's father (the guy Mr Thenardier rescued when he was robbing dead bodies earlier in the book) supported the other side, this makes the grandfather hate the father. When Marius's mother died the grandfather told the father he would disinherit Marius if he didn't hand hand over the boy to the grandfather and never contact them again. Marius grows up under his grandfathers rule and when his father dies only then does he discover what kind of person his father was and it makes Marius sympathetic to the ideals that his father fought for, this doesn't please the grandfather very much and he kicks Marius out of his house.
At first glance this seemed like kind of a dull detour but actually as i read more i really felt a lot of sympathy for Marius and his father, (DAMMIT VICTOR HUGO WHY DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE ME CARE, I WAS HAPPY BEING DEAD INSIDE!!). The first time i read this part of the book i was bored by the backstory but as i read more of it I actually really cared about how the father was treated by the rest of Marius's family and i was actually happy when Marius changed sides after he died. I kind of regret now thinking like that at first without giving it a proper chance.
I can actually relate to Marius a little bit, i hate it when parents shove their views on their children and never let them make up their own minds, my own upbringing was a bit like that, but then i grew up and developed my own opinion about things and my mother didn't like it!
I'm not sure exactly how i feel about Marius yet though, i don't have an overwhelming opinion either way about him, he seems likeable but I've only seen the musical version of him so far and in that i thought he was kind of......meh! Just, Meh! Hopefully I'll grow to like him in the book, he has potential to be liked, show me what you've got boy!
By the way at this point in the blog I'm officially caught up to where i stopped in the book so from now on it's all new territory for me. I've mostly liked it all up until now so I'm hoping the rest will be equally as good. When will Cosette and Valjean be back? What happened to the Thenardiers? Whats to become of Marius? Whens the revolution going to start? What of Javert??? What of him!! I have so many questions!!!
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Pages 495-511
I'm not gonna say much about these few pages because to be honest there's really not that much to say.
It's just a brief interlude to describe the state of street urchins in Paris, one in a particular, a boy named Gavroche and if you're at all familiar with the musical you'll know that Gavroche is a fairly important character.
These pages aren't bad but they do have a certain 'Oliver Twist' feel to them, to be fair though can anyone have street urchins in their book and not have it be compared to 'Oliver Twist'? I think Les Miserables was published before 'Oliver Twist' actually....wasn't it? Huh, CHARLES DICKENS IS A THIEF!
An important bit of info is brought up here to do with Gavroche, he's not loved very much by his family so he spends most of his time on the streets, his family has two daughters and the mum favours them over her son, i think i can tell who this family is gonna turn out to be...... *cough* The Thenardiers! *cough*
Oh and Gavroche is also a friend to a lad named Marius. Hmmm.....could we be about to detour into more backstory Mr Hugo? i think we are!!!
Fuck you Victor Hugo!
It's just a brief interlude to describe the state of street urchins in Paris, one in a particular, a boy named Gavroche and if you're at all familiar with the musical you'll know that Gavroche is a fairly important character.
These pages aren't bad but they do have a certain 'Oliver Twist' feel to them, to be fair though can anyone have street urchins in their book and not have it be compared to 'Oliver Twist'? I think Les Miserables was published before 'Oliver Twist' actually....wasn't it? Huh, CHARLES DICKENS IS A THIEF!
An important bit of info is brought up here to do with Gavroche, he's not loved very much by his family so he spends most of his time on the streets, his family has two daughters and the mum favours them over her son, i think i can tell who this family is gonna turn out to be...... *cough* The Thenardiers! *cough*
Oh and Gavroche is also a friend to a lad named Marius. Hmmm.....could we be about to detour into more backstory Mr Hugo? i think we are!!!
Fuck you Victor Hugo!
Monday 28 May 2012
The problem with Cosette
I'm nearly halfway through Les Miserables right now and Cosette is my favourite character so far, however you might have noticed that i have a problem with her lack of questioning about her situation, and since i know I'm not gonna be seeing Cosette in the book for a while i just wanted to recap the three main problems i have with her at this point in the story.
- Why doesn't she ask about her mother? Although it is pointed out in the book that Cosette knows that her mothers dead, i have to wonder why she doesn't ask Valjean any questions about her. When i was eight i would have wanted to know what had happened to my mother if she had died, so why doesn't Cosette? I suppose it's possible that since she doesn't even remember Fantine that she wouldn't want to ask questions about her since she never knew her, but i just feel that an abused eight year old girl would want to know why her mother abandoned her and how she died.
- Why doesn't she want to know who Jean Valjean is? This is possibly the biggest problem i have with Cosette, at no point in the book so far has she asked who Jean Valjean is, she calls him her father almost immediately but she hasn't even asked if he is actually her dad. Wouldn't a child want to know that? It just doesn't seem very realistic that a child would so willingly go along with a man she doesn't know and is no relation to her. I will admit though that the problems i have with this particular situation are coming from my modern view of the world, for some reason seeing a man run away with an unrelated little girl just doesn't sit right with me. Ignoring that though i still don't understand why Cosette never asks who Valjean is.
- Why doesn't she ask why they're running away? After a few weeks of living in peace with Jean Valjean they suddenly have to leave because Javert has discovered where they are hiding. Throughout all the running away they do Cosette says nothing! WHY??? Why doesn't she ask whats going on, why doesn't she ask who they're running away from, Whats wrong with this girl?????
So that's my three main problems with Cosettes character, you might be asking at this point why i even like Cosette if i have so many problems with her? I have no idea why i like her, i just do OK. And i know I've been bitching about Cosette a lot but i feel like there are some legitimate problems with her character that need to be addressed, also I've always believed that if you are a fan of something that it gives you more of a right to question and sometimes even attack something than someone who isn't a fan.
Pages 451-494
Have you ever heard the phrase 'Jump the shark'? If you haven't it's a phrase used when a television programme has a plot device or gimmick that's so ridiculous it usually results in the decline of the show. I'm sure there's probably a literary equivalent but I'm to lazy to research it.
Les Miserables has jumped the shark for me at this point in the book.
Valjean and Cosette are now in a convent, (which is also a girls boarding school, Les Convenient!) but so as to not arouse suspicion amongst the nuns Valjeans gardener friend tells them that they cant just appear suddenly in the convent, they have to leave then "arrive" at the convent as the gardeners brother and niece so that they will be safe in there. This is not a problem for Cosette as she small enough to be smuggled out easily, but for Jean Valjean they decided to put him in a coffin that was provided for a nun that's just died, take the coffin to a cemetery, half bury him, dig him up, then take him out of the coffin again so he can come back to the convent safely.
Really think about that...........How fucking ridiculous is that? I actually feel a bit let down by these pages, the story was really great up until this point and now it feels like Victor Hugo was drunk when he wrote this. I'm so glad this part of the story was skipped over completely in the musical.
I have a few questions about this whole thing, first of all why is it so necessary for them to leave and then come back to the convent? Wouldn't it be easier for them to just hide out in the gardeners house for a few days and then act like they've just arrived there? Secondly can a coffin that was built for an elderly nun really be the same size for a large man and why doesn't anybody notice the difference in weight? Thirdly can someone really survive spending hours in a coffin and then nearly being buried alive? Actually Valjean does nearly die during all this so i think my question is answered there. and Fourthly..... WHY ISN'T COSETTE QUESTIONING ANY OF THIS??????? She hasn't spoken a single word during all this time, doesn't she think it's a little bit odd that her "father" has to be taken away alive in a coffin and then brought back into the convent later on? I'm starting to think Cosette may be a little bit retarded. Seriously girl, WHY DONT YOU ASK QUESTIONS?
I really didn't like this part of the book, in fact this is how i looked whilst reading it.....
I also don't like it because i know it's the last I'm going to see of Valjean and Cosette for a while. AND I'M SURE THERE'S GONNA BE EVEN MORE BACKSTORY COMING UP ISN'T THERE MR HUGO, ISN'T THERE!!!
Fuck you Victor Hugo!
Sunday 27 May 2012
Pages 425-450
More backstory? Oh Victor Hugo, why? the story was getting really good again and now this!
Le sigh! The history of the convent Valjean and Cosette have found themselves in, that's what these pages are about. And it's even more boring than you could possibly imagine. Sorry but nuns are boring unless they're singing about mountains!
I don't think i can find the words to describe this particular part of the book so I'm going to leave it to Peter Griffin from 'Family Guy' to tell you how i feel about the history of this convent.
Thank you Peter, I couldn't have said it better myself!
Pages 399-424
Sometimes i just have no idea what to write about this book, Dammit Peter why did you have to give me the idea to do a blog, now i feel like i have pressure to write! But then again I couldn't pass up the opportunity to taunt a dead guy on the Internet could I? Surely that's what the Internet was created for!
So Jean Valjean is on the run again with Cosette because Javerts found out where they've been living, after nearly being trapped and caught again Valjean climbs a wall of a convent and runs into a gardener who he knew when he was the mayor (Les Coincidence!), Cosette nearly dies from the cold but the gardener gives them shelter and hides them from Javert who gets pissed off that he didn't arrest Valjean when he had the chance.
These pages are really quite interesting because the first half of them is from Valjeans point of view, then it gives you the flipside and tells it from Javerts point of view. It felt really good to have the two sides of the story and knowing that whenever Valjean thought he was safe Javert still had his eyes on him, it added a lot of tension. I wish Victor Hugo would stick to telling us a good story more often, all the good bits of this book are only ever 20 pages or so.
Sometimes this book feels more like it should be called Les Coincidence, i question the reality of Jean Valjean just happening to find his way to a man he knew at least two years ago, especially when he had no idea where he was going when he jumped the wall to the convent, he didn't even know it was a convent, it could have been anyplace he was jumping into! I also sometimes question how strong Valjean is, sometimes he seems to have almost superhuman strength, he can survive falling into a freezing sea, and he can climb a convent wall and pull an eight year old child up it too, is he superman? No really, is Jean Valjean a french superman.......that would actually be awesome.
It's not that i mind these character traits, or the coincidences actually, it just seems sometimes that all these things keep happening too easily.
I still think Javert is a huge idiot for not arresting Valjean when he first recognised him, although these pages do explain why he didn't even though the reasons area bit crap. He didn't arrest him because he wasn't absolutely certain that it was Jean Valjean, Umm, what the hell??? He knows that Valjean is presumed dead, and he also knows that Cosette was the daughter of Fantine and that a man took her from the Thenardiers after Valjean disappeared, it's not that hard to figure out! I suppose that part can be forgiven for being a bit tenuous, but i cant get over how dumb Javert was for not arresting Valjean when he first recognised him. Javert, you are a shit policeman!
In case you're wondering what Cosette's thinking during all this running away, well so am i! This girl is the most trusting child in the world! she doesn't say anything to Valjean in the entire time they're running from the police, how can she not be questioning all this? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU COSETTE!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIRL LEARN TO ASK QUESTIONS!
Actually to be fair she does ask Valjean at one point who's chasing them, and the way he gets her to stay quiet is to tell her that Madame Thenardier is coming after her...... OH MY GOD, DUDE THAT'S SO CRUEL! You don't tell an abused child that their abuser is coming after them, that's horrible! Shame on you Valjean, SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!!!
I suppose it did work though, she did keep quiet..........good job Valjean!
So Jean Valjean is on the run again with Cosette because Javerts found out where they've been living, after nearly being trapped and caught again Valjean climbs a wall of a convent and runs into a gardener who he knew when he was the mayor (Les Coincidence!), Cosette nearly dies from the cold but the gardener gives them shelter and hides them from Javert who gets pissed off that he didn't arrest Valjean when he had the chance.
These pages are really quite interesting because the first half of them is from Valjeans point of view, then it gives you the flipside and tells it from Javerts point of view. It felt really good to have the two sides of the story and knowing that whenever Valjean thought he was safe Javert still had his eyes on him, it added a lot of tension. I wish Victor Hugo would stick to telling us a good story more often, all the good bits of this book are only ever 20 pages or so.
Sometimes this book feels more like it should be called Les Coincidence, i question the reality of Jean Valjean just happening to find his way to a man he knew at least two years ago, especially when he had no idea where he was going when he jumped the wall to the convent, he didn't even know it was a convent, it could have been anyplace he was jumping into! I also sometimes question how strong Valjean is, sometimes he seems to have almost superhuman strength, he can survive falling into a freezing sea, and he can climb a convent wall and pull an eight year old child up it too, is he superman? No really, is Jean Valjean a french superman.......that would actually be awesome.
It's not that i mind these character traits, or the coincidences actually, it just seems sometimes that all these things keep happening too easily.
I still think Javert is a huge idiot for not arresting Valjean when he first recognised him, although these pages do explain why he didn't even though the reasons area bit crap. He didn't arrest him because he wasn't absolutely certain that it was Jean Valjean, Umm, what the hell??? He knows that Valjean is presumed dead, and he also knows that Cosette was the daughter of Fantine and that a man took her from the Thenardiers after Valjean disappeared, it's not that hard to figure out! I suppose that part can be forgiven for being a bit tenuous, but i cant get over how dumb Javert was for not arresting Valjean when he first recognised him. Javert, you are a shit policeman!
In case you're wondering what Cosette's thinking during all this running away, well so am i! This girl is the most trusting child in the world! she doesn't say anything to Valjean in the entire time they're running from the police, how can she not be questioning all this? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU COSETTE!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIRL LEARN TO ASK QUESTIONS!
Actually to be fair she does ask Valjean at one point who's chasing them, and the way he gets her to stay quiet is to tell her that Madame Thenardier is coming after her...... OH MY GOD, DUDE THAT'S SO CRUEL! You don't tell an abused child that their abuser is coming after them, that's horrible! Shame on you Valjean, SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!!!
I suppose it did work though, she did keep quiet..........good job Valjean!
Saturday 26 May 2012
Pages 385-398
I would have been very happy if this entire book had just been about Jean Valjean and Cosette. Since i fear there are a lot more history lessons coming up i suppose i will have to subside on these fifteen pages for now. Fuck you Victor Hugo!
The story doesn't move a lot during these pages, it's mostly just an interlude to describe the few weeks Valjean and Cosette spend living together after he rescued her from the Thenardiers, however i still found them very enjoyable. Actually there were some pages quite like this not long ago, pages 325-337, but instead of being irrelevant like i thought those were i don't think the book as a whole suffers from having these particular pages in them.
Basically Valjean becomes a new man now that he has Cosette, he becomes a loving father and no longer bears a grudge against the world, it's all very sugary and sweet really, don't forget Mr Hugo that the book is called Les Miserables, not Les Happy! Lets get back on track shall we!
Even though i joke these pages are some of my favourites so far, i love the relationship between Valjean and Cosette, although i really wish he would STOP WATCHING HER WHILE SHE SLEEPS! SHE'S NOT A BABY, SHE'S EIGHT! IT'S A LITTLE BIT CREEPY, and stop kissing her hands while she's asleep too, whats all that about??? Actually just stop doing things to her in general while she sleeps OK! (To be fair i may have made all that sound more sinister than it actually is........Shut up i have issues!!)
Also during these pages Javert appears again, It's been ages since we've seen Javert, i thought he was never coming back! Somehow he's managed to track down Valjean again even though he's pretty much been presumed dead by everyone since he fell off the prison ship ages ago. How does Javert know where to find him??? how does he know know these things????? EXPLAIN BOOK, EXPLAIN!
Sometimes Javert comes across as being incredibly smart, then at other times he's so stupid it makes you want to punch him. For instance he spots Valjean while walking in the streets, he talks to him, he even touches him i think but he doesn't arrest him right there and then...... ummmmm why not??? This is supposedly a guy who remembers Valjean from 20 years ago but physically seeing him in the street up close he's not certain enough that it's right guy. And again after that Javert searches the house where Valjeans living but he doesn't even check the room that he's staying in, you're not too bright are you Javert? You're a policeman, isn't searching places kind of your job?
Seriously whats the problem here? Javerts been dead set on arresting this guy for ages but now he has him in his sights he doesn't do anything.........What the hell Victor Hugo?....What the hell??????
The story doesn't move a lot during these pages, it's mostly just an interlude to describe the few weeks Valjean and Cosette spend living together after he rescued her from the Thenardiers, however i still found them very enjoyable. Actually there were some pages quite like this not long ago, pages 325-337, but instead of being irrelevant like i thought those were i don't think the book as a whole suffers from having these particular pages in them.
Basically Valjean becomes a new man now that he has Cosette, he becomes a loving father and no longer bears a grudge against the world, it's all very sugary and sweet really, don't forget Mr Hugo that the book is called Les Miserables, not Les Happy! Lets get back on track shall we!
Even though i joke these pages are some of my favourites so far, i love the relationship between Valjean and Cosette, although i really wish he would STOP WATCHING HER WHILE SHE SLEEPS! SHE'S NOT A BABY, SHE'S EIGHT! IT'S A LITTLE BIT CREEPY, and stop kissing her hands while she's asleep too, whats all that about??? Actually just stop doing things to her in general while she sleeps OK! (To be fair i may have made all that sound more sinister than it actually is........Shut up i have issues!!)
Also during these pages Javert appears again, It's been ages since we've seen Javert, i thought he was never coming back! Somehow he's managed to track down Valjean again even though he's pretty much been presumed dead by everyone since he fell off the prison ship ages ago. How does Javert know where to find him??? how does he know know these things????? EXPLAIN BOOK, EXPLAIN!
Sometimes Javert comes across as being incredibly smart, then at other times he's so stupid it makes you want to punch him. For instance he spots Valjean while walking in the streets, he talks to him, he even touches him i think but he doesn't arrest him right there and then...... ummmmm why not??? This is supposedly a guy who remembers Valjean from 20 years ago but physically seeing him in the street up close he's not certain enough that it's right guy. And again after that Javert searches the house where Valjeans living but he doesn't even check the room that he's staying in, you're not too bright are you Javert? You're a policeman, isn't searching places kind of your job?
Seriously whats the problem here? Javerts been dead set on arresting this guy for ages but now he has him in his sights he doesn't do anything.........What the hell Victor Hugo?....What the hell??????
Friday 25 May 2012
Pages 338-384
Whats this.....could it be......actual plot??? OH THANK GOD! I THOUGHT IT WAS NEVER COMING BACK!
So the Thenardiers have continued their abuse of Cosette, making her a kind of slave in their inn, on one journey to fetch water from a well in a wood she meets Jean Valjean who accompanies her back to the inn with the intention to rescue her from the Thenardiers because he promised Fantine he would look after her. He buys Cosette a new doll and clothes which make the Thenardiers suspicious of him but that subsides once Valjean pays fifteen hundred francs to take Cosette away from them. They agree to this sum but not before trying to squeeze even more money out of him and even threatening to keep Cosette if he doesn't pay them even more money, they eventually back off when Valjean gives them a note signed by Fantine that allows Valjean to take Cosette.
This is my favourite part of the book so far, (I don't like the Thenardiers but I'll get to that in a minute) Valjean and Cosette are my favourite characters although i actually have no idea why, maybe it's the father/daughter thing they've got going on that i like, maybe it's because i have my own daddy issues, WHY DIDN'T YOU LOVE ME DADDY, WHY, WHY!!!!! oops, sorry................. please ignore that.
I cant explain why i like these two characters in particular i just like the way they interact with each other, I especially liked it when Valjean buys her a doll after witnessing her being denied toys by the Thenardiers children, and when he helps her carry the heavy bucket of water from the woods, it's all quite sweet really, although i could do without him watching her while she sleeps, does anyone else think that's a bit creepy..............no? just me then?.........See i have issues!
Anyway, about the Thenardiers...
From what I've read about the musical version of Les Miserables the overall opinion of the Thenardiers seems to be that they are two of the most popular characters in the play, this isn't undeserved because their songs are a lot of fun and they do bring a bit of laughter to an overall depressing plotline. However i think that most people only know them from the musical and i think if they read the book they wouldn't be so fond of the Thenardiers since the book portrays them as greedy, abusive, manipulative, thieving scum!
It's actually quite an interesting contrast of the characters when you compare the book to the musical, in fact i think it's a remarkable achievement that the writers managed to take two manipulative child abusers and turn them into comedy.
I have to wonder about what Cosette is thinking at this point in the book, she just seems to go with Jean Valjean without so much as asking his name, she's either the most trusting child in the world or she's very very stupid. She doesn't even know who this guy is, he could be a child molester for all she knows! STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER!!!!
Perhaps this is just paranoia coming from my warped 2012 view of the world though, i guess people just didn't think about things like that back then, this is just a world where you can leave children with complete strangers and then have another complete stranger pay to take them away again. THE GOOD OLD DAYS!!
So the Thenardiers have continued their abuse of Cosette, making her a kind of slave in their inn, on one journey to fetch water from a well in a wood she meets Jean Valjean who accompanies her back to the inn with the intention to rescue her from the Thenardiers because he promised Fantine he would look after her. He buys Cosette a new doll and clothes which make the Thenardiers suspicious of him but that subsides once Valjean pays fifteen hundred francs to take Cosette away from them. They agree to this sum but not before trying to squeeze even more money out of him and even threatening to keep Cosette if he doesn't pay them even more money, they eventually back off when Valjean gives them a note signed by Fantine that allows Valjean to take Cosette.
This is my favourite part of the book so far, (I don't like the Thenardiers but I'll get to that in a minute) Valjean and Cosette are my favourite characters although i actually have no idea why, maybe it's the father/daughter thing they've got going on that i like, maybe it's because i have my own daddy issues, WHY DIDN'T YOU LOVE ME DADDY, WHY, WHY!!!!! oops, sorry................. please ignore that.
I cant explain why i like these two characters in particular i just like the way they interact with each other, I especially liked it when Valjean buys her a doll after witnessing her being denied toys by the Thenardiers children, and when he helps her carry the heavy bucket of water from the woods, it's all quite sweet really, although i could do without him watching her while she sleeps, does anyone else think that's a bit creepy..............no? just me then?.........See i have issues!
Anyway, about the Thenardiers...
From what I've read about the musical version of Les Miserables the overall opinion of the Thenardiers seems to be that they are two of the most popular characters in the play, this isn't undeserved because their songs are a lot of fun and they do bring a bit of laughter to an overall depressing plotline. However i think that most people only know them from the musical and i think if they read the book they wouldn't be so fond of the Thenardiers since the book portrays them as greedy, abusive, manipulative, thieving scum!
It's actually quite an interesting contrast of the characters when you compare the book to the musical, in fact i think it's a remarkable achievement that the writers managed to take two manipulative child abusers and turn them into comedy.
I have to wonder about what Cosette is thinking at this point in the book, she just seems to go with Jean Valjean without so much as asking his name, she's either the most trusting child in the world or she's very very stupid. She doesn't even know who this guy is, he could be a child molester for all she knows! STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER!!!!
Perhaps this is just paranoia coming from my warped 2012 view of the world though, i guess people just didn't think about things like that back then, this is just a world where you can leave children with complete strangers and then have another complete stranger pay to take them away again. THE GOOD OLD DAYS!!
Pages 325-337
Oh my god will this book ever get back to the actual plotline?
These pages feel like the most unnecessary part of the entire book so far, even more pointless than the bloody history lessons Victor Hugo insists on hitting us with because even though those bits are boring at least i learn a little something from them. These 12 pages are so pointless even the musical completely leaves them out of the entire plot.
Basically Jean Valjean has been recaptured and he's currently on a prison ship where an accident occurs and nearly kills a man, Jean Valjean breaks free from his chains and rescues the man but falls into the sea whilst doing it and is presumed dead by everyone.
This book would be neither worse nor better if these pages were taken out altogether, i would have been perfectly happy if Valjean had just escaped fully when he did last time and the story had continued from there, but no we have to keep delaying the plot even more!
Fuck you Victor Hugo!
These pages feel like the most unnecessary part of the entire book so far, even more pointless than the bloody history lessons Victor Hugo insists on hitting us with because even though those bits are boring at least i learn a little something from them. These 12 pages are so pointless even the musical completely leaves them out of the entire plot.
Basically Jean Valjean has been recaptured and he's currently on a prison ship where an accident occurs and nearly kills a man, Jean Valjean breaks free from his chains and rescues the man but falls into the sea whilst doing it and is presumed dead by everyone.
This book would be neither worse nor better if these pages were taken out altogether, i would have been perfectly happy if Valjean had just escaped fully when he did last time and the story had continued from there, but no we have to keep delaying the plot even more!
Fuck you Victor Hugo!
Thursday 24 May 2012
Pages 276-324
OH FOR FUCKS SAKE! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
THE STORY WAS GETTING GOOD AGAIN AND YOU SLAP ME IN THE FACE WITH A MASSIVE HISTORY LESSON. WHY VICTOR HUGO, WHY???????????
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
So yeah basically the past 50 pages are a history lesson on Napoleon and the battle of Waterloo which I'm not even gonna try and describe because i couldn't make sense of them. It's not that I'm not interested in French history it's just that............Ummmmmmmm............you know what I'm not gonna lie, I'M NOT INTERESTED IN FRENCH HISTORY!
I hate these pages, i hate them so much! they're the worst part of the book so far, I HATE THEM!!!!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!!!!
I'm sorry I'm going to need to look at a picture of a unicorn to calm myself down
I know it has nothing to do with the book, so what? WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT MR HUGO!!
Actually to be fair i should mention that on the LAST PAGE of this history lesson there's this guy who's robbing dead bodies after a battle and he finds and rescues this guy who's still alive, it turns out the guy who's robbing people is Mr Thenardier and the guy he rescued is a Mr Pontmercy. I know that's going to be relevant some time later in the book but I'm still pissed off it took so long to get around to the point!
I hate you sometimes Mr Hugo, i really do. >:(
THE STORY WAS GETTING GOOD AGAIN AND YOU SLAP ME IN THE FACE WITH A MASSIVE HISTORY LESSON. WHY VICTOR HUGO, WHY???????????
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
So yeah basically the past 50 pages are a history lesson on Napoleon and the battle of Waterloo which I'm not even gonna try and describe because i couldn't make sense of them. It's not that I'm not interested in French history it's just that............Ummmmmmmm............you know what I'm not gonna lie, I'M NOT INTERESTED IN FRENCH HISTORY!
I hate these pages, i hate them so much! they're the worst part of the book so far, I HATE THEM!!!!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!!!!
I'm sorry I'm going to need to look at a picture of a unicorn to calm myself down
Much better!
Actually to be fair i should mention that on the LAST PAGE of this history lesson there's this guy who's robbing dead bodies after a battle and he finds and rescues this guy who's still alive, it turns out the guy who's robbing people is Mr Thenardier and the guy he rescued is a Mr Pontmercy. I know that's going to be relevant some time later in the book but I'm still pissed off it took so long to get around to the point!
I hate you sometimes Mr Hugo, i really do. >:(
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Pages 191-275
Right, where the hell was I......?
Javert has been suspicious about Valjean for a while and he finally recognises him as a convict from years ago and he blabs what he knows to the police, HOWEVER!!! Another guy who looks just like Valjean gets arrested for stealing and Javert thinks he's the real Valjean and so he's going to get put back in prison for life, when the actual Valjean hears about all this he's sent into a turmoil about whether he should turn himself in or not. Eventually he does and Javert rearrests him but he escapes once again.
Sadly during all this Fantine dies of what i assume is probably consumption or tuberculosis, the book doesn't actually say what she dies from. Why do you leave important bits of info like that out Mr Hugo? Why.... WHY!!! They were quite vague about that in the musical too actually, in fact the whole character of Fantine in the musical is quite vague, she just shows up, sings a pretty song and then dies. I'm quite glad the character was explained further in the book, it's one of the few backstories that I'm actually interested in.
Just to give you an idea about how much of an asshole Javert is too he totally lets Fantine die without any hope left at all, basically she's on her last legs and Valjean is trying to comfort her by telling her he's gotten Cosette back but he wants to wait until she's better to bring the kid to her and then Javert just totally ruins everything by exposing Valjean for who he really is and telling Fantine everything he's saying is a lie. That's just evil, he couldn't even let this poor woman die with a bit of hope left could he, he had to completely crush her didn't he, this guy is an asshole! Honestly i think that's what killed her, not the illness.
Wait...... are consumption and tuberculosis the same thing? Hang on I'll check..... TO WIKIPEDIA!!!!!.................................... Yep I've just checked and they are the same thing. OK then she probably died from that, everybody seemed to be dying from that back in those days didn't they.
Sorry i went on a bit of a detour there didn't i? Fuck you Victor Hugo you made me do that!
Anyway....I have a couple of issues with these chapters, first of all Javert says he recognises Jean Valjean from his time working in a prison 20 YEARS AGO, can anyone seriously recognise a person they met 20 years ago? I know I couldn't but I'm only 26 though so i think i can be excused for that, but seriously Javerts supposed to be in his 50's isn't he? unless he has a photographic memory i find it very hard to believe that he could remember someone from that long ago.
Secondly, I don't think Jean Valjean should have turned himself in. He spent nearly ten years building up the industry in this small town, helping the poor, setting up schools and hospitals and if he turns himself in all that's going to disappear. It's not just himself that's going to end up suffering there's the entire town that's gonna end up in the shit too, also he promises Fantine that he'll get Cosette back from the Thenardiers, he didn't even think about what would happen to her if he gives himself up, even though it's most likely that she'll starve to death or just live a life full of abuse. Couldn't he have just sent a letter proving that he was the guy they were really looking for instead, by the time they would have received it he could have legged it with Cosette and been 100 miles away by that time.
If it was me in Valjeans situation i wouldn't have said anything, i would have let the other person rot and i probably wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over it either. Yeah i know I'm a horrible person aren't it? Is it really that bad though, do you let one person suffer or do you let an entire town of people suffer? If you've been living a good life for the past ten years helping everyone else and always putting them first why go and ruin it now?
Honestly this part of the book is a little bit slow, i like the stuff with Valjean and Fantine but there's this massive boring bit in between involving the court case of the man everyone thinks is Valjean and It goes on for a bit longer than i would have liked. Anyway it's all OK because i know Cosette's gonna be appearing soon and I like Cosette.
Javert has been suspicious about Valjean for a while and he finally recognises him as a convict from years ago and he blabs what he knows to the police, HOWEVER!!! Another guy who looks just like Valjean gets arrested for stealing and Javert thinks he's the real Valjean and so he's going to get put back in prison for life, when the actual Valjean hears about all this he's sent into a turmoil about whether he should turn himself in or not. Eventually he does and Javert rearrests him but he escapes once again.
Sadly during all this Fantine dies of what i assume is probably consumption or tuberculosis, the book doesn't actually say what she dies from. Why do you leave important bits of info like that out Mr Hugo? Why.... WHY!!! They were quite vague about that in the musical too actually, in fact the whole character of Fantine in the musical is quite vague, she just shows up, sings a pretty song and then dies. I'm quite glad the character was explained further in the book, it's one of the few backstories that I'm actually interested in.
Just to give you an idea about how much of an asshole Javert is too he totally lets Fantine die without any hope left at all, basically she's on her last legs and Valjean is trying to comfort her by telling her he's gotten Cosette back but he wants to wait until she's better to bring the kid to her and then Javert just totally ruins everything by exposing Valjean for who he really is and telling Fantine everything he's saying is a lie. That's just evil, he couldn't even let this poor woman die with a bit of hope left could he, he had to completely crush her didn't he, this guy is an asshole! Honestly i think that's what killed her, not the illness.
Wait...... are consumption and tuberculosis the same thing? Hang on I'll check..... TO WIKIPEDIA!!!!!.................................... Yep I've just checked and they are the same thing. OK then she probably died from that, everybody seemed to be dying from that back in those days didn't they.
Sorry i went on a bit of a detour there didn't i? Fuck you Victor Hugo you made me do that!
Anyway....I have a couple of issues with these chapters, first of all Javert says he recognises Jean Valjean from his time working in a prison 20 YEARS AGO, can anyone seriously recognise a person they met 20 years ago? I know I couldn't but I'm only 26 though so i think i can be excused for that, but seriously Javerts supposed to be in his 50's isn't he? unless he has a photographic memory i find it very hard to believe that he could remember someone from that long ago.
Secondly, I don't think Jean Valjean should have turned himself in. He spent nearly ten years building up the industry in this small town, helping the poor, setting up schools and hospitals and if he turns himself in all that's going to disappear. It's not just himself that's going to end up suffering there's the entire town that's gonna end up in the shit too, also he promises Fantine that he'll get Cosette back from the Thenardiers, he didn't even think about what would happen to her if he gives himself up, even though it's most likely that she'll starve to death or just live a life full of abuse. Couldn't he have just sent a letter proving that he was the guy they were really looking for instead, by the time they would have received it he could have legged it with Cosette and been 100 miles away by that time.
If it was me in Valjeans situation i wouldn't have said anything, i would have let the other person rot and i probably wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over it either. Yeah i know I'm a horrible person aren't it? Is it really that bad though, do you let one person suffer or do you let an entire town of people suffer? If you've been living a good life for the past ten years helping everyone else and always putting them first why go and ruin it now?
Honestly this part of the book is a little bit slow, i like the stuff with Valjean and Fantine but there's this massive boring bit in between involving the court case of the man everyone thinks is Valjean and It goes on for a bit longer than i would have liked. Anyway it's all OK because i know Cosette's gonna be appearing soon and I like Cosette.
Monday 21 May 2012
Pages 171-190
So things are just going from bad to worse for poor Fantine.
She got a job at Jean Valjeans factory to pay for Cosettes upkeep, but then some snobby bitch went and told everyone that she had a child out of wedlock and she got fired, not by Valjean though he's fucking clueless at this point. Since she cant keep up with the payments the Thenadiers keep demanding she sells her furniture, then her hair, then her teeth (Ouch!!), then eventually she has nothing else left so she she becomes a prostitute. Then some guy attacks her in the street and Javert arrests her, yeah he arrests her! because he's an asshole and he hates women! Honestly i think this Javert guy just needs to get laid, he's far too uptight for his own good.
So Javert wants to send Fantine to prison but then Jean Valjean appears like the Christ like being that he is and rescues her from prison! Good job Valjean, it's too bad you couldn't have stepped in a bit sooner before things got so bad for Fantine.
I've said before that i feel so bad for Fantine, and i really do, i can empathise with her a lot. We've all had those moments haven't we when everything seems to go wrong for us? The world can be a horrible and cruel place sometimes.
Actually Fantine reminds me of someone else i have a lot of sympathy for, the serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Both women seem to be just constantly treated like crap by everyone, both forced to give up their child, both forced to give up their bodies for money, and it's not like neither of them didn't try to live a good life, Fantine tried to earn money in an honest way and so did Aileen, but it was society that cast them both aside when they didn't like what they saw.
And yes i know that it's a weird comparison, but I've read a lot about serial killers and there's a lot i see in Fantine that i see in Aileen. Yeah obviously Fantine didn't become a murderer, but we all have our breaking point and who knows what could have happened to her if she hadn't been saved.
I wonder if Victor Hugo would ever have thought that one of his characters would be compared to a serial killer?
She got a job at Jean Valjeans factory to pay for Cosettes upkeep, but then some snobby bitch went and told everyone that she had a child out of wedlock and she got fired, not by Valjean though he's fucking clueless at this point. Since she cant keep up with the payments the Thenadiers keep demanding she sells her furniture, then her hair, then her teeth (Ouch!!), then eventually she has nothing else left so she she becomes a prostitute. Then some guy attacks her in the street and Javert arrests her, yeah he arrests her! because he's an asshole and he hates women! Honestly i think this Javert guy just needs to get laid, he's far too uptight for his own good.
So Javert wants to send Fantine to prison but then Jean Valjean appears like the Christ like being that he is and rescues her from prison! Good job Valjean, it's too bad you couldn't have stepped in a bit sooner before things got so bad for Fantine.
I've said before that i feel so bad for Fantine, and i really do, i can empathise with her a lot. We've all had those moments haven't we when everything seems to go wrong for us? The world can be a horrible and cruel place sometimes.
Actually Fantine reminds me of someone else i have a lot of sympathy for, the serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Both women seem to be just constantly treated like crap by everyone, both forced to give up their child, both forced to give up their bodies for money, and it's not like neither of them didn't try to live a good life, Fantine tried to earn money in an honest way and so did Aileen, but it was society that cast them both aside when they didn't like what they saw.
And yes i know that it's a weird comparison, but I've read a lot about serial killers and there's a lot i see in Fantine that i see in Aileen. Yeah obviously Fantine didn't become a murderer, but we all have our breaking point and who knows what could have happened to her if she hadn't been saved.
I wonder if Victor Hugo would ever have thought that one of his characters would be compared to a serial killer?
Pages 155-170
So in the last few chapters we've met Fantine and heard about her plight so far, but she's not important right now because in these next few pages we get to hear about the mayor of the town she came from, a Mayor named Monsieur Madeleine
You see apparently this guy is like the messiah in this small town she comes from, he single handedly made the town prosperous through several industrial changes (I'm not really sure what he did exactly, i wasn't paying attention, the point is he did a lot of good stuff! ) eventually he gets elected mayor of the town even though he doesn't want to be mayor because he wants to keep his head down and avoid attention, and do you know why this is? can you guess? it's because he's really JEAN VALJEAN!!!!
What a twist, i didn't see that coming at all! (Thats sarcasm by the way)
Yeah Jean Valjeans back, yay! Fuck i cant even remember the last time he was mentioned in the book..... that's really bad actually, either i have a terrible attention span or this book really does diverge from the plot too much! I'm thinking the latter actually. Anyway since he was given the silver by the bishop he's become a new man and he's nice to everyone and everyone in the town loves him.
Except this one guy, this one policeman who thinks he recognises Valjean from a prison he once worked in, a policeman named Javert..........Wait wait wait, this cant be right, 164 pages in and we're only now meeting Javert???? I'm sure he was mentioned before....wasn't he? did i miss important info again or did it really take 164 pages to get to the major antagonist of the story? Fuck you Victor Hugo!!!!
To be fair though the story is still good at this point, there's lots going on and the characters are really interesting and I'm really enjoying the book as a whole despite the detours it takes sometimes.
Oh by the way, remember that Bishop from the start of the book, you know the one, the one who took up the first 71 PAGES OF THE BOOK!!!, Well he kicked the bucket at some point between Valjean arriving in the town and becoming mayor. Hooray! Rejoice!!!!! hopefully that's the last we're going to hear about him! (Yeah i know, that was kind of mean.....Ah who cares it's only a book!) :P
You see apparently this guy is like the messiah in this small town she comes from, he single handedly made the town prosperous through several industrial changes (I'm not really sure what he did exactly, i wasn't paying attention, the point is he did a lot of good stuff! ) eventually he gets elected mayor of the town even though he doesn't want to be mayor because he wants to keep his head down and avoid attention, and do you know why this is? can you guess? it's because he's really JEAN VALJEAN!!!!
What a twist, i didn't see that coming at all! (Thats sarcasm by the way)
Yeah Jean Valjeans back, yay! Fuck i cant even remember the last time he was mentioned in the book..... that's really bad actually, either i have a terrible attention span or this book really does diverge from the plot too much! I'm thinking the latter actually. Anyway since he was given the silver by the bishop he's become a new man and he's nice to everyone and everyone in the town loves him.
Except this one guy, this one policeman who thinks he recognises Valjean from a prison he once worked in, a policeman named Javert..........Wait wait wait, this cant be right, 164 pages in and we're only now meeting Javert???? I'm sure he was mentioned before....wasn't he? did i miss important info again or did it really take 164 pages to get to the major antagonist of the story? Fuck you Victor Hugo!!!!
To be fair though the story is still good at this point, there's lots going on and the characters are really interesting and I'm really enjoying the book as a whole despite the detours it takes sometimes.
Oh by the way, remember that Bishop from the start of the book, you know the one, the one who took up the first 71 PAGES OF THE BOOK!!!, Well he kicked the bucket at some point between Valjean arriving in the town and becoming mayor. Hooray! Rejoice!!!!! hopefully that's the last we're going to hear about him! (Yeah i know, that was kind of mean.....Ah who cares it's only a book!) :P
Sunday 20 May 2012
Pages 144-154
OK so I'm only going to talk about the last ten pages right now because I've had a crappy headache all day and staring at a computer screen isn't helping.
So basically Fantine has been knocked up and has had Cosette, she cant find work because of the stigma of being a single mother so she meets the Thenardiers who agree to look after the kid while she works and pays for her upkeep. This would be fine except that the Thenardiers are horrible people who end up fleecing Fantine for more and more money and they mistreat Cosette pretty much from the beginning.
It's at this point in the book where i think it actually starts getting good, Victor Hugo's really good at writing characters, it's such a shame he wastes so much time on endless back story.
I really start to feel sorry for Fantine during these chapters, and I'm dead inside i never feel anything for anyone so good work Mr Hugo for making me care! Everyones so mean to her, she's like this horrible tragic person who everyone treats like crap for no good reason.(Except for the obvious 'having a child out of wedlock' thing but that's an outdated principle so i choose to ignore it!)
It's nice to see more of Fantine though, in the musical she only appears for a short time before she dies so i actually appreciated the info on her in the book, i did wonder what the story was with her having the kid and then leaving it with strangers, I'm glad that was explained.
I am wondering about the timeline of these events though, by the time Fantine meets the Thenardiers she says that Cosette is nearly three, but then the book says that she was only abandoned by the kids father ten months ago. So was she already pregnant when she was abandoned? Did she have the kid a long time before she was abandoned? Why wasn't this mentioned at all? Did i miss something in the book because I'm really dense about these things sometimes? Did I fuck up or did Victor Hugo fuck up? Explain these things to me book, EXPLAIN!!!
Actually you know whats really sad about this whole thing, if Fantine had Cosette a long time before she was abandoned then Cosette's father really was an absolute twat because that means he would have actually seen his own child and then just walked away from her without even caring. That's really low, seriously that's such a horrible thing to do to a child, what a complete arsehole that guy must have been! Can you even imagine what poor Fantine must have been going through as well when that happened? it's so fucking heartbreaking!
I don't have a lot of bitching to say about the past ten pages because it's been mostly good stuff, I don't actually hate this book despite the title i chose for this blog, I'm actually quite enjoying it, it's just the endless history lessons the author chooses to inflict on the reader that i have a problem with, i wish he would stick to his characters more often, they're actually good
So basically Fantine has been knocked up and has had Cosette, she cant find work because of the stigma of being a single mother so she meets the Thenardiers who agree to look after the kid while she works and pays for her upkeep. This would be fine except that the Thenardiers are horrible people who end up fleecing Fantine for more and more money and they mistreat Cosette pretty much from the beginning.
It's at this point in the book where i think it actually starts getting good, Victor Hugo's really good at writing characters, it's such a shame he wastes so much time on endless back story.
I really start to feel sorry for Fantine during these chapters, and I'm dead inside i never feel anything for anyone so good work Mr Hugo for making me care! Everyones so mean to her, she's like this horrible tragic person who everyone treats like crap for no good reason.(Except for the obvious 'having a child out of wedlock' thing but that's an outdated principle so i choose to ignore it!)
It's nice to see more of Fantine though, in the musical she only appears for a short time before she dies so i actually appreciated the info on her in the book, i did wonder what the story was with her having the kid and then leaving it with strangers, I'm glad that was explained.
I am wondering about the timeline of these events though, by the time Fantine meets the Thenardiers she says that Cosette is nearly three, but then the book says that she was only abandoned by the kids father ten months ago. So was she already pregnant when she was abandoned? Did she have the kid a long time before she was abandoned? Why wasn't this mentioned at all? Did i miss something in the book because I'm really dense about these things sometimes? Did I fuck up or did Victor Hugo fuck up? Explain these things to me book, EXPLAIN!!!
Actually you know whats really sad about this whole thing, if Fantine had Cosette a long time before she was abandoned then Cosette's father really was an absolute twat because that means he would have actually seen his own child and then just walked away from her without even caring. That's really low, seriously that's such a horrible thing to do to a child, what a complete arsehole that guy must have been! Can you even imagine what poor Fantine must have been going through as well when that happened? it's so fucking heartbreaking!
I don't have a lot of bitching to say about the past ten pages because it's been mostly good stuff, I don't actually hate this book despite the title i chose for this blog, I'm actually quite enjoying it, it's just the endless history lessons the author chooses to inflict on the reader that i have a problem with, i wish he would stick to his characters more often, they're actually good
Saturday 19 May 2012
Pages 119-143
OK so in these past 20 pages the character of Fantine has appeared, I was really curious about Fantine's character in the musical because it seemed like she had some interesting past that wasn't being said and this part of the book pretty much answered every question i had about her so it was a good read.
Basically she has a group of friends and they're all paired up with this group of lads one of whom is called Felix (That's such a stupid name by the way, it's a cats name!) Anyway Felix is Fantines boyfriend and they spend their days drinking and dancing and doing all those things you do when you're young and in love before life punches you in the face! As it seems though the lads are growing bored with the women and they keep telling them that soon they will get a surprise and one day after a day out the lads leave and send the girls a letter telling them they've all been dumped. SURPRISE!!!
And it's then that we find out that Fantine had Felix's baby, Cosette. (Actually her real name is Euphrasie but she's been nicknamed Cosette for some reason......I don't know why)
I like Fantine, she's a good character, I cant help but feel sorry for her though for what she must have been feeling after she'd been dumped. It's bad enough to be dumped via letter but to be dumped after having a guys baby is just so awful.
Men are bastards! Seriously that "surprise" the lads gave the girls is one of the meanest things I've ever heard, if someone had ever done that to me when i was young (or even now for that matter) i would FUCKING KILL THEM!!
That's all I'm going to say about these pages because I've been feeling sick today and funnily enough when you feel sick and miserable reading a book entitled Les Miserables doesn't help much! Fuck you Victor Hugo for making me feel more miserable!
A comparison
You know what Les Miserables reminds me of, the tv series How i met your mother.
OK hear me out...
HIMYM has been going for 7 series and it's not even close to reaching it's point yet, every episode lately seems to be a massive detour that takes us further away from the actual plot and relevant information is hidden behind episode after episode of completely pointless padding, not unlike Les Miserables when i read multiple pages of history just to get to one line that's relevant to the story and the characters.
Don't get me wrong it's not all bad, but watching HIMYM and reading Les Miserables are sometimes like being trapped on an extremely long car ride where you're constantly being told that it's the journey that counts not the destination, and you cant get out of the car and you really need to pee and you want to enjoy the journey but you've been stuck inside the car for hours and hours and you just want your suffering to end!
I get the feeling that this TV show would be like pornography to Victor Hugo.
OK hear me out...
HIMYM has been going for 7 series and it's not even close to reaching it's point yet, every episode lately seems to be a massive detour that takes us further away from the actual plot and relevant information is hidden behind episode after episode of completely pointless padding, not unlike Les Miserables when i read multiple pages of history just to get to one line that's relevant to the story and the characters.
Don't get me wrong it's not all bad, but watching HIMYM and reading Les Miserables are sometimes like being trapped on an extremely long car ride where you're constantly being told that it's the journey that counts not the destination, and you cant get out of the car and you really need to pee and you want to enjoy the journey but you've been stuck inside the car for hours and hours and you just want your suffering to end!
I get the feeling that this TV show would be like pornography to Victor Hugo.
Friday 18 May 2012
Pages 71-118
Jean Valjean appears! Hooray! it only took 71 PAGES >:(
So Jean Valjean has just been released from prison after 19 years and he's making his way through the town where Mr 71 pages of back story Bishop lives,
(Yes I'm mad about that number of pages! by the way does anyone else think it worked out really great for the musical that Jean Valjeans prison number 24601 rhymes with his name? good work Mr Hugo!)
He cant find a place to stay anywhere since he's an ex con and nobody trusts him because apparently in this book everyones an arsehole! eventually the Bishop lets him stay at his house for the night and during the night he steals the bishops silverware (not cool man, not cool...) and runs off but gets caught and brought back to the bishop who lets him keep the silverware and tells him to use it to become a good man.
And oh yes we get more back story! but this time i didn't mind it so much because it was relevant to the plot, i liked finding out where Jean Valjean came from and why he got put in prison, he stole some bread to feed his sisters family and got five years for it, then he tried to escape and got even longer, then he tried to escape again and eventually ended up with 19 years!
Why did he keep trying to escape? I get that prison is a horrible place but the first time he tried it was during his fourth year inside, he had one year to go and he would have been out, that seemed like a really stupid thing to do. But then again if he had only got 5 years nothing in this book would have ever happened, and everything would have been great because i wouldn't have had to read 71 FUCKING PAGES ABOUT A BISHOP!
Anyway, i like Jean Valjean, he's one of my favourite characters, he's interesting and his backstory doesn't take 71 PAGES so that's a plus! The book is getting good now :D
So Jean Valjean has just been released from prison after 19 years and he's making his way through the town where Mr 71 pages of back story Bishop lives,
(Yes I'm mad about that number of pages! by the way does anyone else think it worked out really great for the musical that Jean Valjeans prison number 24601 rhymes with his name? good work Mr Hugo!)
He cant find a place to stay anywhere since he's an ex con and nobody trusts him because apparently in this book everyones an arsehole! eventually the Bishop lets him stay at his house for the night and during the night he steals the bishops silverware (not cool man, not cool...) and runs off but gets caught and brought back to the bishop who lets him keep the silverware and tells him to use it to become a good man.
And oh yes we get more back story! but this time i didn't mind it so much because it was relevant to the plot, i liked finding out where Jean Valjean came from and why he got put in prison, he stole some bread to feed his sisters family and got five years for it, then he tried to escape and got even longer, then he tried to escape again and eventually ended up with 19 years!
Why did he keep trying to escape? I get that prison is a horrible place but the first time he tried it was during his fourth year inside, he had one year to go and he would have been out, that seemed like a really stupid thing to do. But then again if he had only got 5 years nothing in this book would have ever happened, and everything would have been great because i wouldn't have had to read 71 FUCKING PAGES ABOUT A BISHOP!
Anyway, i like Jean Valjean, he's one of my favourite characters, he's interesting and his backstory doesn't take 71 PAGES so that's a plus! The book is getting good now :D
Les beginning, pages 1-71
OK so I've started reading the book, starting a book is always the toughest part for me but here i go!
And here's the first hurdle... I was told that this book would drift in some parts and there would be a lot of back story but OH MY GOD pages 1-71 are literally the back story of a bishop! 71 pages and we haven't even gotten to the main protagonist of the story, 71 fucking pages!!!!!!
Yes there will be swearing in this blog, get over it! Hey you saw the title you know the deal!
See in the musical it begins with Jean Valjean getting released from prison and then the bishop sings one song where we get all the info we need and we never see him again, but the book....... holy crap we find out everything we possibly need to know, and the thing is i don't think we even need to know half this stuff! Half of page 23 is the list of the bishops budget, his budget! I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH HE SPENDS, GET TO THE REVOLUTION ALREADY, OR AT LEAST INTRODUCE THE MAIN CHARACTER!
Also we have to hear about his meals, his clothes, his daily walks, how many rooms his house has and how many silver spoons he owns......so far into the book I'm not happy >:(
I'm not saying the bishop is a bad character, when the book is titled Les Miserables it's nice to know that not everyone is horrible, but Mr Hugo seemed to really want to drum it into our heads what a nice person this bishop was and you know what i could have figured that out anyway, he's a bishop. something tells me he might be a nice guy!
So that's the basics of pages 1-71, yeah you see what i did there Mr Hugo, i just boiled down 71 pages to the bare minimum, what are you gonna do about it huh, HUH!!!!
Wait, am i taunting a dead guy on a blog?....Hmmm I may be a horrible person, Oh well who cares!
And here's the first hurdle... I was told that this book would drift in some parts and there would be a lot of back story but OH MY GOD pages 1-71 are literally the back story of a bishop! 71 pages and we haven't even gotten to the main protagonist of the story, 71 fucking pages!!!!!!
Yes there will be swearing in this blog, get over it! Hey you saw the title you know the deal!
See in the musical it begins with Jean Valjean getting released from prison and then the bishop sings one song where we get all the info we need and we never see him again, but the book....... holy crap we find out everything we possibly need to know, and the thing is i don't think we even need to know half this stuff! Half of page 23 is the list of the bishops budget, his budget! I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH HE SPENDS, GET TO THE REVOLUTION ALREADY, OR AT LEAST INTRODUCE THE MAIN CHARACTER!
Also we have to hear about his meals, his clothes, his daily walks, how many rooms his house has and how many silver spoons he owns......so far into the book I'm not happy >:(
I'm not saying the bishop is a bad character, when the book is titled Les Miserables it's nice to know that not everyone is horrible, but Mr Hugo seemed to really want to drum it into our heads what a nice person this bishop was and you know what i could have figured that out anyway, he's a bishop. something tells me he might be a nice guy!
So that's the basics of pages 1-71, yeah you see what i did there Mr Hugo, i just boiled down 71 pages to the bare minimum, what are you gonna do about it huh, HUH!!!!
Wait, am i taunting a dead guy on a blog?....Hmmm I may be a horrible person, Oh well who cares!
Why Les Mis?
My interest was peaked a few months ago, i was watching a humorous review of the Les Miserables musical online via The Nostalgia Chick (If you've never seen the nostalgia chick or any videos on that site i recommend you do because they're all awesome.)
As i was watching this review it struck me that I've never actually seen Les Miserables, I've never seen a lot of the epic musicals actually, I've never seen Cats or The Phantom Of The Opera. Again these are things that just never seemed important to me, I've seen plenty of other musicals so it didn't bother me, but this review got me curious.
I decided to watch the 25th anniversary edition of Les Miserables, (it was the most recent edition available), and i really liked it! But i felt that it was a little vague about the characters, so i went to wikipedia to read more about the story, that only helped a little bit though so i figured the next logical step would be to read the novel, and hey if you're going to read anything why not read one of the greatest novels ever written?
So lets begin!!!!
Les Miserables
(How big is that sweeping brush that kid is holding??? I know she's only tiny but even on an adult that thing would be massive!)
So this blog is all about my attempt to read one of the longest novels ever written, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I'm already about halfway through but a friend (PETER!) told me last night that i should do a blog about the book as i go along, so i'm gonna pause reading until the blog is caught up.
Anyone who knows me knows that i am not a big reader, i don't really like to read novels, i don't have the imagination for it, i like to read true crime books and the occasional graphic novel. This is a picture of the last book i read in comparison to Les Miserables.
I'm not ashamed of the fact that i don't read, it's not something that's important to me, i have tried to read novels but my attention drifts a lot and i find that i never even remember what I've just read most of the time.
So why out of all the books ever written would i choose Les Miserables? Keep reading to find out.
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