Commentary on Les Misérables, the Book

I first read _Les Misérables_ in high school, back in 1992 or 1993, after discovering the musical. The 2012 movie rekindled my interest, and I re-read it (the Norman Denny translation) with an entirely new perspective, writing commentary as I went.

In 2018, I came back to it again, reading the Christine Donougher translation. It was interesting to compare the translations, and to see how my perspective changed again after just five years.

Translations

Part One: Fantine

The Bishop!

Part 2…4601

Sunday in the Park with Fantine

Righteousness vs “Righteousness”

Who IS This Guy, Anyway?

Get Me To The Courthouse On Time

Part Two: Cosette

Waterloo

Off the Deep End

Escape from Montfermeil

Valjean sure knows how to pick a hiding place

Getting Un-Convent-ional

Buried Alive!

Part Three: Marius

Paris Has the Best Street Urchins

Meeting Marius

Get to Know Your ABCs

Poor, Poor Marius

Stealth Courtship

The Scumbag Report

Ambush in the Slums

Part Four: The Idyll in the Rue Plumet and the Epic of the Rue Saint-Denis

You Say You Want A Revolution

Just a Lark

Meanwhile, Back at the Rue Plumet...

Epic Fail at Mugging

Creeping Around the Garden

Gavroche and the Adventure of the Incognito Family

Argot, F-- Yourself

Over the Edge

A Revolting Development

(From) Drinking to Revolution

Hey, Barricade, Who's in Charge Here?

Part Five: Jean Valjean

Barricades of Future Past (Plus Cannon Geekery)

Passing Peak Ammunition

Last Stand

What a Wonderful Smell You've Discovered

Jumper

Don't Worry, Be Happy

This is the End

Followup Commentary

Second Chances

What’s “Good” for Valjean and Javert

Recurring Background Characters

I Am The Night

The Wretched of the Earth

Heroic Javert

The Lark

Agency: Cosette vs. Éponine vs. Florence

Tholomyes the...Dad?

It's Not Just Javert. It's the System

Authority

It's 1817 All Over Again

Over the next few years I watched and reviewed various movie adaptations (and parodies).

Five Years Later: Re-Reading Again

I came back to the book again, this time reading the Christine Donougher translation (2013).

Part One: Fantine

First Impressions of the Donougher Translation

Valjean and the Bishop

Fantine Before the Fall

Fantine: Alternate Possibilities

Parallels

The Crimes of Jean Valjean

The Mysterious M. Madeleine

No Such Thing as Coincidence

Convictions

Javert vs. the One Who Got Away

When Javert Loses His Cool

Part Two: Cosette

Return to Waterloo

Back on the Chain Gang

How Les Misérables is Like Titanic

Rescuing Cosette

Conventionality

Part Three: Marius

Let’s meet Marius! Haha just kidding, here’s a street urchin first

Let’s introduce ALL of Marius’ grandfather’s friends (and then ignore them for the rest of the book)

Marius' Connections

Getting Schooled

Marius' Timeline and the Missing Revolution

Two Old Men

The Underminers

Undermined

Wretched in Every Sense of the Word

Now I Remember...

Javert and the Citizen

The Ambush

Javert in his Element

Part Four: The Rue Plumet Idyll and the Rue St-Denis Epic

Dominoes

Aftermath of an Ambush

Now Arriving at Rue Plumet

Mugging Fail

Marius: Stalker

Gavroche and his family

Slang, Theme and Digressions: Getting the Point Across

The Bubble Bursts

Two Old Men in Decline

Paris has the Best Riots?

Let's Go Build a Barricade!

Commandeering the Tavern

Hitting the Fan

Jealousy

Valjean's Hidden Decisions and the End of Resilience

Part Five: Jean Valjean

On the Barricade

Into the Dreaded Sewers

Derailing Javert's One-Track Mind

Cosette is Separated from Another Parent

Valjean's Depression Pretends to be his Conscience

Marius Joins the Persecution

Third Time Through

Re-Reading Les Misérables

Thoughts and commentary on Victor Hugo’s masterpiece.