Tasha’s Comments (group member since Jan 18, 2013)

Tasha’s comments from the Book Talk group.

I'm going to start reading this book sometime in the next week.
Perhaps a discussion will ensue.

Jean Valjean – Book 7 – The Last Draught From the Cup

Very cruel to have Cosette spell out such a lovely scene of domestic happiness, with Valjean settled in the house and everyone so content and cuddly…and then destroy it shortly thereafter. Mean. Not surprising, but still mean.

I have mixed feeling about Valjean’s “confession” to Marius. It seems unfair to slop his self loathing secret onto Marius, and force him to share that secret – and to lie to his wife! Almost like he is using Marius as a way to assuage some of his feelings of guilt. I do understand that he feels like a big ugly guilty liar, and wants to be honest now…but still.

Plus, I still question the idea that everyone was so freaked out over petty theft. I am under the impression that many people were punished overly harshly during this time period, so wouldn’t folks be more used to convicts, and not view them with such fear and disgust? Because it was common. I don’t know. It seems weird. And I guess the issue isn't whether it is "realistic" or not...but just whether I believe it in the context of the story. And I just don't. Same thing with Javert. Just can't buy it.

And what is Marius so freaked out about? It feels like a gross over-reaction. I am wondering if we are supposed to think that Marius is a bit of a dick…because I do.


Jean Valjean – Book 8 – Fading Away of the Twilight

Marius’ dickishness continues. How distasteful and petty and cruel to slowly disassemble the crappy meeting room for Cosette and Valjean. Tacky.


Jean Valjean – Book 9 – Supreme Dawn

Once again I am very surprised by the turn of events. I never would have thought that Valjean would slowly waste away due to a broken heart. I would have expected M. Thenardier to blackmail him and force him in to some violent and self-sacrificing action. This is much much worse.

Figures that Thenardier goes to America and becomes a slave dealer. And is probably rolling in money and cruelty and happily ruining hundreds and hundreds of lives.

Oh Holy Crap. I was absolutely destroyed when Valjean started to tell Cosette about Fantine. Poor poor Fantine. I was so excited to meet her, and she just barely had any page time in this big dense behemoth of a book. But her presence really did color every page. I didn’t realize how much I kind of missed her and felt bad for her until this resurrection. I just sobbed, and had to stop reading for awhile.

I’m glad I’m done.

Jean Valjean – Book 5 – Grandson and Grandfather

I enjoyed the excursion back to the woods near Montfermeil, with Boulatruelle’s final disappointment. I knew the end was nigh, as we were tying up all the little frayed ends.

I’m getting a little tired of what a princess baby Marius is becoming. Good grief, he just barely survived a pitched battle, and saw all his friends die. And all he can do is moan that he must have Cosette or die – he is actually planning on killing himself if his Gramps won’t consent to the marriage. When is he going to mature a little? The book is almost over! Have a little imagination, man, not a hissy fit!

Boy, there are a lot of classic sitcom bits in this particular book. I really enjoyed that – Gramps leaving the room to vent off all the stuff he couldn’t say to Marius; the Tranchelevent bit…I guess it was mostly around Gramps and his hepped up behavior. Anyway, I liked it.

Oh – and the title of Chapter 5 – Deposit Your Money in a Forest Rather Than With a Notary. Nice.
“…one of the interested parties had his eyes blindfolded by love, the others by the six hundred thousand francs.”

Okay, I guess I can cut Marius some slack, as Hugo does a pretty bang up job of describing Marius’ PTSD.



Jean Valjean – Book 6 – The Sleepless Night

When they started making their way through the Carnival, I was thinking Montparnasse might show up. He scares the bejesus out of me.

“A frightful exchange of metaphors took place between the maskers and the crowd.” Funny.

Yikes. I thought stuff was going to hit the fan when Thenardier and Azelma showed up. I was sort of surprised to see Azelma. It seemed like Thenardier was kind of done with her. I wonder how they managed to reassemble into a team.

I absolutely did not care for the scene with Valjean setting out Cosette’s childhood clothes from the magical valise. It was just so sad and lonely.

Very nice description of how Valjean viewed his triumph of uniting the young lovers:
“…he was able to enjoy the sort of satisfaction which an armorer would experience on recognizing his factory mark on a knife, on withdrawing it, all smoking, from his own breast.”

Jean Valjean – Book 2 – The Intestine of The Leviathan

Underground Paris is always interesting. I wanted to skim a lot…but I just couldn’t because it would get so interesting. I really loved the story of Bruneseau and the updating and expanding he did to the sewers. I might have to see if he wrote anything about it.
....I couldn't find anything written by him, but apparently he was a friend of Hugo's in real life.


Jean Valjean – Book 3 – Mud But the Soul

The journey through the sewers was riveting for me. I totally get the whole scenario of having to guess which direction to take at each turn, knowing that a bad guess could mean calamity. I was tense throughout. I always love it when Valjean’s brain is in top form. He is such a fantastic hero when that happens. Which makes such a nice and distressing contrast to when he acts like a doink.

Ah gods, when the cops show up down in the sewers…I just raised my fist and mouthed “Jaaaveerrrrtttt!”

For some reason, when Valjean made it through the neck high sludge…and found the firm ground under his feet -- I started to really think that Cosette and Marius might survive Volume 5. It seems like such a standard romantic ending for the young lovers to survive while everyone else perishes – just doesn’t seem like Victor Hugo. But I’m starting to think it is going to happen. Weird. I am not even sure if I want it to happen at this point.

Thenardier in the sewers. My only note is “huh.” I don’t hate it, don’t love it. Indifference best describes it. I’m sure it will be significant later…but still just a “huh.”

I am convinced that Javert is a witch. It is the only explanation that makes sense.

At the beginning of this particular string of events, I would never ever have guessed that Marius would end up back at his grandfather’s house…almost fully dead, covered in shit and blood, carried by Valjean, escorted by Javert. Hugo is a master of the “I’m taking you to point B, but you’ll never guess how we’ll get there.”


Jean Valjean – Book 4 – Javert Derailed That sounds promising

About Javert: “One of his anxieties consisted in being constrained to think. The very violence of all these conflicting emotions forced him to it. Thought was something to which he was unused, and which was peculiarly painful.”
“His supreme anguish was the loss of certainty.” Interesting...but I still don't really believe in him.
“If facts did their duty, they would confine themselves to being proofs of the law.” Those rebellious facts. They are such trouble makers.

I know it’s not very sensitive, but my main thought when Javert jumped off the bridge was – I guess you need at least one suicide in this circus of death. I didn’t really care much, though.

Saint-Denis – Book 11 – The Atom Fraternizes….

Right after the narrator is talking about how Gavroche saved his brothers in the evening, and his father the next morning, I just had this terrible feeling that we were being set up for his demise. And while it did not happen in Book 11, I am worried. I just can’t believe that VH is going to kill Gavroche, or otherwise ruin him…and yet I think that is exactly what he is going to do. I think everyone is going to die. I just don’t believe it.

And the little ones disappeared. Simply disappeared. Gavroche never sees them again. Even if we do see them again, he never does. Never learns they were his brothers. If VH can do that…well, Gavroche is clearly not safe. Gads. It’s just so dismal. And by the way, I don’t think we are ever going to see the little ones again, either.

”All four of them seemed to be standing at the four corners of old age, which are decrepitude, decay, ruin, and sadness.” My notes say: Jesus Christ, man, lighten up.
I don’t think I need to add anything.

I loved it when Gavroche developed an immediate crush on Bahorel because he tore down the poster about eating eggs. I loved that whole bit.


Saint-Denis – Book 12 – Corinthe

I am really enjoying Grantaire. He is funny. I don’t want him to die.”Bouh! I’ve just swallowed a bad oyster. Now hypochondria is taking possession of me again. The oysters are spoiled, the servants are ugly. I hate the human race.”
This is a great monologue. Funny and also filled with lots of torturous foreshadowing.

Gavroche is just the funniest character ever. I cracked up when he was arguing with Enjolras about getting a gun, and told him ”If you are killed before me, I shall take yours.” Did anyone else think that was funny?

And then he catches Javert!! Yay!! I just don’t see how there is another volume after this. Maybe it will be all about the wonderful turn of events when Gavroche receives an invitation to wizarding school. Fingers crossed.


Saint-Denis – Book 13 – Marius Enters the Shadow .... that doesn’t sound good.

This did a good job of letting us in to Marius’ head. He is so young and short sited, he just hasn’t lived long enough to realize there can be a long term goal.

Saint-Denis – Book 14 – The Grandeurs of Despair

So VH is teasing the shit out of us about Gavroche. The chapter titles are mean. Perhaps he will let lil G live, since he is constantly threatening to kill him. He is perverse that way.

This book was relentless. Jean Prouvaire. The first ABC dude is fallen. And then…then Eponine. I can’t even talk about it. The chapter title says it all: The Agony of Death After the Agony of Life. Yuck.

I do love Marius for feeling it is his duty to save Gavroche. And I realize that VH is probably just teasing us some more about the fate of lil G. But I will fall for it every time, because I am invested in his survival.


Saint-Denis – Book 15 – The Rue de L’Homme Arme

”…it is cowardly to come and make eyes at young girls who have beside them a father who loves them.” Nice mix of humor and anger and oddness to describe how Valjean is feeling about Marius. VH does a good job selling the idea that Valjean’s feelings are both understandable and weird. Poor guy. And also, eww.

In my book there was a really nice illustration of Valjean seething outside his door - very atmospheric and evocative...but I can't find it anywhere. But while looking I found this:



Gavroche is funny with Valjean. Little fellow yourself. Ha.

Saint-Denis – Book 9 – Whither are They Going?

AAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whither are you going Hugo? What is wrong with you????? I cannot express in words how upset I was with the outcome of Valjean’s purse. FUCK. It’s like a double punishment for all my favorites. Gavroche risks his life to steal the purse away from that psychopathic motherfucker and give it to M. Mabeuf….and then M. Mabeuf, bless his crazy old heart, never considers keeping it, but turns it in to the corrupt police, who keep it themselves. God. Dam. It. Which leads to probably the most upsetting passage of the book so far….
”M. Mabeuf opened his bookcase, took a long look at all his books, one after another, as a father obliged to decimate his children would gaze upon them before making a choice, then seized one hastily, put it in under his arm and went out.” I cried so hard when I read that. I had to put the book down and cover my face with my hands. Luckily I wasn’t on the bus. M. Mabeuf has so little, and now he must give that up, too. And I just love him so much. Yuck yuck yuck.
And also, I wonder if the dude who wrote Sophie’s Choice was inspired by this. More yuck.


Saint-Denis – Book 10 – The 5th of June, 1832

I’m really starting to get scared of Volume 5.

”However, we reject these figures, which appear to be reasons and which are only words.” I hope that makes it into a line of one of the songs in the musical. Which I probably won’t watch. Because I am mad at Victor Hugo for being so mean.

Crap. The ABC dudes are going to the general’s funeral. They won’t come back alive, will they? Will there be any characters left to torture us in Volume 5? My god, what will it be about?

Saint-Denis – Book 7 – Slang

This was pretty interesting. Some of it seems a bit obsolete, given the “smallness” and accessibility of the world nowadays. But it got me thinking about how different we all are in terms of how we use slang, what we consider slang, and which bits are offensive etc. But then it got kinda repetitive, and it was hard for me to relate to all the horrors around slang degrading the fantastic French culture and all that. Meh.

For some reason, at this point I made a list of the characters in order of how much I cared about them, starting with my favorite:
Gavroche
Eponine
Mabeuf
Cosette/Marius/Valjean – all on a par
The Dudes – you know, all the ABC guys who Hugo told us are all marked for a grisly death.
And there are others I care about, but I’m not really sure they will be much in the story any more. Like the little ones, and the grandfather, and Toussaint, and Mabeuf’s housekeeper.


Saint-Denis – Book 8 – Enchantments and Desolations

”…divers complications were approaching.” You don’t really need to say it anymore. We know.

Eponine just breaks my heart. She couldn’t have had worse parents. And yet she tries to be a regular person. She won’t get rewarded for that…but how badly will she be punished? Yuck, I’m just worried for her.

Finally!!! Marius is going to see his Grandfather. I just feel so bad for Gramps…he doesn’t have the smarts or …what? empathy? to make good decisions about Marius. I hope they can at least have a conversation. Is it possible they could work through their issues of pride and resentment? Even as I write it I realize how stupid I sound….

”It was not death that was insupportable to him; it was the idea that perhaps he should never see Marius again.” Lord a mighty.
”M. Gillenormand, without however acknowledging it to himself, for it would have rendered him furious and ashamed, had never loved a mistress as he loved Marius.” I actually started to kinda sob on the bus, and had to put the book away. I had not tissues, and was basically ruined for a bit. That is just so heartbreaking and pointless…and so real.

The end result of this visit…just…just fuck you, Hugo. I am actually getting mad at him now. How does he keep getting me to hope for the completely implausible in this miserable world of his? And then the obvious and only outcome is so much worse as the hope is not only dashed, but trampled and obliterated and spat upon. Aagghhhhh.

book so late, no time to think

Part Two

At the end of Chapter 13 is a fine example of the gross sexism in the book: "I know now what he was trying to do, but Atticus was only a man. It takes a woman to do that kind of work." Puke.

p.157
Jem is patronizing, and Scout finally loses it:
"You damn morphodite, I'll kill you!" And she launches herself at him. Nice.

Chapter 15 houses the whole scene in front of the jail when the mob comes to get Tom. It's all disturbing and weirdly handled. I don't know what to make of it.

p.195
nice description of the Ewell's yard (playhouse of an insane child etc).

p.197
courtroom behaviour

p208
Mayella thinks she's being made fun of being called 'Miss' and having friends

p.222
probably long term rape/incest

p.225
Tom helps cuz Mayella does all work
he feels sorry for her
Uncle Tom - racist

p.226
Dill starts crying - he gets Tom's position
p.227 "I don't care one speck, it aint right...

p.250
saving Mayella one extra beating

p.258
take up sewing? hell no

p.266
her voice soared..soft bovine sounds

p.276
sin to kill a cripple...like slaughter songbird

p.304
is Jem dead?

p.311
hey Boo

p.320
escorting down the street

Chapter 10

p.102
"Our father didn't do anything. He worked in an office, not in a drugstore. Atticus did not drive a dump-truck for the county, he was not the sheriff, he didn't farm, work in a garage, or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone."
He was a lawyer. Scout is awesome. Sometimes kids seem to have a more reasonable sense of priorities.

p.103
Atticus tells the children: "I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
Well, that could start a two month discussion. I'll update if anything particularly interesting comes out of our discussion.

p.104
I just love that Atticus' ability to play a Jew's Harp makes Scout even more ashamed of him. Cracks me up.

Chapter 11

p.115
Is Jem possibly the best brother in all of fiction?
"The day after Jem's twelfth birthday his money was burning up his pockets, so we headed for town in the early afternoon. Jem thought he had enough to buy a miniature steam engine for himself and a twirling baton for me."

p.120
Atticus' discussion with Scout about why he has to work Tom Robinson's case. So many things in there, all worth talking about. Love this: "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."

p.122
there is a description of Mrs. Dubose that is simply fan-fricking-tastic. Imagery includes a dirty pillowcase, a glacier, knobbiness and pinpoint pupils. Outstanding.

p.124
"'You aren't really a nigger-lover, then, are you?'
'I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody...'"
I guess it's about now that we'll have to start talking about some of the subtle and overt racism in the undertones of the book, as well as the subject matter and characterizations. My over-all view is...I'm not sure if Harper Lee is just being honest with the basic underlying racism of American culture...or trying to tell the story truly from the "ignorant" point of view of a child. Either way, there is an honesty to it, but there is also a lot of straight up racism. And sexism, too, while I'm at it. And frankly, I could see the entire story taking place in real life America next week. It's all so complex and disturbing...I'm hoping my nephew will have some encouraging young people attitudes that will cheer me up.

On a brighter note, I think this is lovely from p.128:
Atticus is speaking to his children -
"'I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.'"

Chapter 8

I flagged the word "nigger." It's an important part of the racism discussion, as well as a major part of the banned books discussion.

p.77 Atticus gets the kids out of bed at 1am. That's such a terrifying thing. It was interesting how the kids knew right away that someone's house was on fire. I guess back in the days of real fires to warm your house everyone was extremely aware of the risk.

p.81
"I looked down and found myself clutching a brown woolen blanket I was wearing around my shoulders, squaw-fashion."
I initially flagged it because it is the first direct contact with Boo, and Scout doesn't realize it until Atticus tells her. Seemed like a fun thing to talk about. But then I also was noticing the "squaw-fashion" comment. I had never heard that expression before. Didn't know if it was a common expression, or Scout just describing something. The only reference to it I found in a quick search was TKAM...so maybe it is just a Scoutism.

p.83
I liked Miss Maudie's cake recipe that had "among other things, the recipe called for one large cup of sugar."

Chapter 9

p.89
Very sweet that Uncle jack carried around pictures of his cat, Rose Aylmer. http://www.etymonline.com/poems/roseaylmer.htm

p.90
"...at supper that evening when I asked him to pass the damn ham, please...."
self explanatory.

p.94
the whole incident with that awful Francis calling Atticus a 'nigger-lover.' What a hot mess of conflicting emotions. Great fodder for important conversation, I think. And tells us a lot about Scout's naivete.

Chapter 5

Scuppernong:



The scuppernong is a large variety of muscadine, a species of grape native to the southeastern United States.

p.47 about the neighbor Miss Maudie:
"Her speech was crisp for a Maycomb County inhabitant. She called us by all our names, and when she grinned she revealed two minute gold prongs clipped to her eye-teeth. When I admired them and hoped I would have some eventually, she said, "Look here." With a click of her tongue she thrust out her bridgework, a gesture of cordiality that cemented our friendship."
Tells us so much about Scout and Miss Maudie and both of them seem so charming. Plus, I was obsessed with retainers as a child, that beautiful silver bar across the front teeth...I couldn't wait to get one. Alas, my teeth were straight and I was not allowed to have one.

I flagged the first use of the term "colored folks" to see what my nephew made of it. I am pretty sure we will have many discussions of racism and race relations throughout the course of our book club. I thought we might start with language.

Chapter 6

p.57
The boys have a pissing contest. Flagged, to get the male perspective.

p.62
Jem asks Scout "Sleep, Little Three-eyes?"
So...wtf?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Eye,_Two-Eyes,_and_Three-Eyes

Chapter 7

p.66
I marked the spot when Jem and Scout discuss what is up with the treasures they are finding in the knot-hole. Wondering if my nephew will know right away what is going on there.

And then I marked the end of the chapter - Jem has figured out what is happening, and he cries when the knot-hole is filled up because mean Mr. Nathan won't let his brother have any friends.

My copy of TKAM has to go back to the library before the book club discussion with my nephew.
Since I have to transcribe my notes somehow, I figured I might as well do a Book Talk post, and maybe someone else will chime in with some interesting points or observations I can use when I finally do the book club!

Chapter 1

I've got lots of notes...so this might be painful. But let me start by saying, what a treat to read such a uniformly well written and interesting book. My notes start right on the first page, the second paragraph:
"When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out."

Good god, what a great paragraph. Not only is the entire book set up beautifully and simply, but we are immediately armed with a ton of knowledge that will aid and color the journey. Love love love.

And then the very next paragraph starts with Scout's trademark smart-assery, which I cannot get enough of:
"I said if he wanted to take a broad view of the thing, it really began with Andrew Jackson."

Lordy, what a great way to start out.

I read the 50th anniversary edition, so the page numbers are from that version....
p.9 ¶ 3:
"In spite of our warnings and explanations it drew him as the moon draws water..."

I really loved how descriptive and emotional that phrase is, and wanted to point it out to my nephew. He has said that he doesn't read much for the language, just the story. So I wanted something really evocative and lovely to point to and talk about how much it adds to my experience of reading the book.

I also made a note for the fact that Scout and Jem call their dad "Atticus." And wanted to see how that struck my nephew. My brother and I called our parents by name from relatively young ages, but not as young as the Finch kids. Anyway, it is an interesting "bit," and I would like to hear how it strikes folks.

Chapter 2

Oh, and I really am smitten with Scout's experimentation with swearing:
"'If I didn't have to stay, I'd leave. Jem, that damn lady says Atticus's been teaching me to read and for him to stop it-'"p.20 ¶ 3

It just makes me happy, I don't even know why.

Chapter 3
Scout goes to school.

Scout beats up boys. God I love her. Is this wrong of me? It certainly must be, and yet it is true.
I cannot wait to hear what (if anything) my nephew thinks of this activity of hers.

p.30 at the bottom:
Little Chuck Little is a scary badass. His "right hand went to his pocket." What has he got in there? And then he tells the Ewell kid "I'd soon's kill you as look at you." Wow. And the Ewell kid takes it and leaves.

And then the teacher reads to them from Wind in the Willows. That is mostly significant to me because I just read the book myself. Was wondering if my nevvy knows of it.

p.32 midpage:
"I told Atticus I didn't feel very well and didn't think I'd go to school any more if it was all right with him."
She is just so charming.

Saint-Denis – Book 5 – The End of Which….

Had a bit of a swoon over Hugo when the narrator said ”We have already noted once for all the fact that Toussaint stuttered. May we be permitted to dispense with it for the future. The musical notation of an infirmity is repugnant to us.”

OMG, when Toussaint scared the shit out of Cosette by describing all the possible horrors that could befall two women alone in a house…I just about bust a gut laughing. It is standard sitcom fare, but so much funnier than the typical attempt.

The love poems. Holy crap that was endless. For the first time in this colossal book I actually had to start skimming. Also, it made me laugh. I wonder if Hugo meant it to be funny, because it was hysterical.

I liked how quickly Cosette was right back in love with Marius, and now shunned Theodule.


Saint-Denis – Book 6 – Wind Awesome title

Wtf?? The Thenardiers had MORE children? That can’t be good.

”Besides, no one has any interest in looking closely after children who have not a sou.” Thenardier says this as he sells his 2 youngest. He is relentlessly awful and disgusting. I am beginning to believe he is not going to die, but will probably get rewarded with some windfall.

I was really relieved to hear that the two littlest Thenardiers were getting treated better at their new house. Gods, I have so much fear for those two. Maybe they will escape all this horror, and have decent lives. I mean, someone has to, right?

And almost immediately, this ”The Thenardier catastrophe involved the catastrophe of Magnon.” Great. So the little ones are gonna be taken down anyway. Just great. I guess you can’t accuse Hugo of straying from his theme.

And again, almost immediately, the little ones are kicked out and wandering the streets of Paris. The youngest is FIVE. FIVE!!!! Goddammit.

”The two children resumed their march in tears.” I guess I have fodder for unending sobbing for the rest of my life. Can someone tell me – is this in the movie? If so I will never ever watch it. I can’t take much more.

Gavroche saves them!! I love him so much!! And he doesn’t even know they are his brothers. I wonder if they will discover this somehow. But that means they would probably have to interact with Thenardier to find out. I’m torn.

Look…G gives the street girl his woolen shawl. This kid is clearly the heart and soul of all that is good in humans. And he got there all on his own. Please, please Mr. Hugo, can he please survive this book and have something good happen to him? I am just going to be crushed beyond belief if he starves to death or winds up in the galleys.

I just loved G’s lessons in proper street jargon. Again, standard sitcom fare, and once again so much funnier than most attempts I’ve seen. Plus (I’m not sure I’ve made this clear), I LOVE Gavroche. He is my favorite character. I wonder if everyone feels that way.

”The Emperor had had the dream of a genius; in that Titanic elephant, armed, prodigious, with trunk uplifted, bearing its tower and scattering on all sides its merry and vivifying water, he wished to incarnate the people. God had done a grander thing with it, he had lodged a child there.” Another fit of crying on the bus. So beautiful.

I hate that during his escape, Thenardier appropriates a bayonet. What is he gonna do with that? And why is Hugo making sure we know he has it? Ugh.

”’One doesn’t desert one’s friends in a scrape,’ grumbled Montparnasse.” What? Is one of these ruffians going to turn out to be an okay guy? I don’t know…Montparnasse gives me the heebie jeebies, so it doesn’t seem likely. But still, I don’t think this comment means nothing.

Saint-Denis – Book 3 – The House in the Rue Plumet

This was a nice book. The house and the description were lovely, Valjean was making some good choices. Overall it was very enjoyable. And I am resolute in my decision to not talk about sexist stuff anymore, so I’ll let that go. And some of the odd stuff around the “triangle”....blah. Whatever, I don’t even feel like questioning Valjean’s weirdness in that area. Honestly, it’s a miracle he can love anyone at all, after the life he has led, so let him be a weirdo.

The chain gang incident causes me unease…what will it lead to? Besides misery, of course. *Worry*


Saint-Denis – Book 4 – Succor from Below….

I love Lil G so much I almost can’t stand it. When he swiped Montparnasse’s stolen purse and tossed it to Mabeuf I just about jumped up cheering. And then had another stupid and idiotic vision - Mabeuf and Gavroche becoming the new Valjean and Cosette. It won’t happen, I know it, but I can’t not hope for it.

Saint-Denis – Book 2 – Eponine!!!!!!!!! Yay.

This book did not start out matching my excitement at the title. In fact….
”…even more terrible than the wicked rich man, the wicked poor man.” Booooo!!!!!! Classist. Is that a word? What word do I really mean?

Wait…what? What???? Are you telling me that Javert…JAVERT??? Who knew Marius’ name and occupation, could not find Marius? Ja-vert? Who managed to track down a dead man with almost nothing to go on? I don’t believe it. Once again, the character of Javert makes me scoff and shake my head, and think Hugo is really sloppy…and then I quake with fear – what is Hugo up to? What horrors await us at this flimsy character’s hands?

And then we just run into a road block of heart ache….

~ Marius' heart gives up trying to find Cosette again ”…he still aspired to this, but he no longer expected it.” We have all been there, the end of expectation, and it is sad.

~ “Happy, even in the midst of anguish, is he to whom God has given a soul worthy of love and of unhappiness!” Heart goes ouch. I tear up every time I read that. I originally read it on the bus, and started crying. Like the kind of crying that requires tissues. Again, weirdly, no one seemed to notice.

~ I just hate that Mabeuf is having such a hard time. Sweet baby Jesus, can’t anyone get a break in this book?

~ I both love and hate that Mabeuf, at age 80, is planning how to make his fortune so that he can buy himself a fancy book with lots of pretty maps. More heart ouches.

I had a brief and wonderful sensation that Mabeuf and Eponine might be the new Valjean and Cosette, and find a way to heal each other. And then she left, and all was dark again.

Marius – Book 8 – The Wicked Poor Man

I was appalled by the description of the oldest Thenardier girl. Holy crap, how different is she from the last time we saw her? I really feel sorry for her, and yet I’m scared of her, and what part she will play the eventual downfall of every single character in this novel.
My heart sank when she read about Waterloo, and then started talking about her father. Dread dread dread.

I can’t believe Hugo got me to feel sorry for the Thenardiers. But his description of their circumstances was pretty brutal. And when he started talking about how hardship had only left the shadow of affection between them --“She called him: My dear, my little friend, my good man, etc., with her mouth while her heart was silent.” I kind of gave up. I do feel sorry for them, although I still hate them.

Oh lordy, and right in the midst of Thenardier’s awfulness – while he is planning to fleece the rich “gentleman,” we see Thenardier instructing his daughters to make the place look more pitiful and vile…and it is already so bleak, and he doesn’t fully realize how bad his situation is. Crapola, it is just like what happens today – when polled all the working poor people classify themselves as middles class (as do all the wealthy people, by the way), and they don’t really get how they are The Working Poor. I would probably do the same thing, if I hadn’t read about and been forced to think on it. Made me feel even sorrier for M. T…but I still dislike him.

OMG I am pretty sure I know where all this is going…but I NEVER would have guessed this is how we would get there!!! Thenardier finds Cosette for Marius!! Holy cow. And Marius learns who M. T is in the same scene. Jesus, Mary and Joseph! I was totally surprised by this turn of events. Love love love that!! I was so sure Thenardier was going to befriend and fleece Marius and then Marius would unknowingly lead him to Valjean and Cosette.
The only thing about this that bothered me was - I am having a hard time believing that Cosette, at least, would not recognize Mme. Thenardier – not even her voice? Ah well, I will accept this, as the rest of it is so great.

The thing I can’t fully forgive is Javert. I don’t believe in him at all, and I’m very disappointed (albeit not surprised) to see him back. He just seems like such a dumb character. Pointless and annoying (he gave a citizen off the street his guns????) Everything he is involved in comes across as stupid and false. I can only assume Hugo has something terrible and profound coming down the pike, it is the only explanation I can think of, so I am nervous about his reappearance.

Side note – in France 1830ish, it was desirable to have the ground floor apartment – it indicated wealth and status. I am wondering when that changed? Now the penthouse serves that purpose. I will try to find a good architecture history source.

How horrifying was that macabre street gang as they threatened Valjean in the garret? They were really scary, and kind of freaked me out. It was another instance of me repeating many times – but Volume 5 is called Jean Valjean, he can’t die right now.

“The judicial examination to which the ambush in the Gorbeau house eventually gave rise…” love that! It brings a pedestrian sense to the narration – always enjoyable for me. And the ensuing content lets us know Valjean is going to get away…which we suspect anyway, because of Vol. 5, but still, I appreciate the lessening of the gruesome tension.

Okay. Up to this point I have liked Valjean fine, with some bumps and twists early on when he was acting like a moron, and Hugo was mercilessly teasing us by withholding information. But ever since he got Cosette away from the Thenardiers, I’ve liked him. I have cared about what happens to him, and have been impressed with a lot of his cleverness – the escape with Cosette through the streets and roofs of Paris, the adventure of the false burial. He has been great.
But this is a new level. In this book he KICKS ASS! Like a super hero. He breaks out his super secret code to ensure Cosette’s safety, and gladly risks his life to do it. He burns himself with the white hot chisel to show the crazy crew he is the craziest of the bunch!! And then basically shouts, “Bring it on!” I am now in love with him. I hope he doesn’t have a miserable death in Volume 5, but I know he will, so why do I keep hoping? Anyway, he is cool.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Valjean didn’t die…but what did the bad guys mean: they didn’t have time to cut his throat?? I’m pretty sure it doesn’t take that long, certainly not as long as their stupid discussion about it. I always hate that trope whenever it is employed to get out of a jamb. Or jam?

So what was going on with Javert and the magic tricks? How did he know the gun would misfire? Is he psychic? Telekinetic? I would totally jump on board the Javert train if it turned out he was a wizard.

I cheered when Valjean jumped out the window. Yay.

I loved the title of Chapter 12 – The Little One who was Crying in volume Two - as that is how I think of the Little Gavroche. Nice callback.

And I’m worried about the girls. The younger one doesn’t seem long for the world, but Eponine had spunk. I hope she manages…and that maybe we meet her again. We’ll probably meet them all again so we can watch them die.

I don't know Zoka's coffee, so I looked at their website. It is not user friendly, so that is one strike against them. And of course, the biggest strike -- Barbara doesn't like the coffee!! What is it that you don't like? Bitter, boring, weird, acidy? I tried some Ethiopian drip from Herkimer's the other day. It was good. But honestly, I think it is their espresso roast that is so delicious. You should get an Americano, and see what you think.

Marius - Book 6 – The Conjunction of Two Stars

Uh oh. It is Cosette. The ‘insipid’ girl on the bench. So is Marius going to meet Cosette before he meets Thenardier? This book is surprising. Even though I know where everything is going (to hell), I am constantly surprised by how we get there. He’s going to fall in love with her. This won’t end well.

Hmm. So Marius doesn’t fall in love with her right away. Time passes and he doesn’t see her at all. Then she turns up again – all beautiful. Oh well. I guess it makes sense because Fantine was all beautiful, and she got those genes. But I’m still disappointed she doesn’t stay homely. I liked having a homely heroine. So now he’s going to fall in love with her. Cuz she’s all beautiful.

Oh crap. I am really starting to like Coufeyrac – “I have just met Marius’ new hat and new coat, with Marius inside them. He was going to pass an examination, no doubt. He looked utterly stupid.” I want him to be my friend. Ergo, he is going to die. I just know it. But I have absolutely no idea how…I don’t know where Hugo is going with all this!!

And I got so tangled up in Marius, that it took me a while to remember that Valjean and Cosette have to be careful! Valjean is still a wanted man. Damme! Of course they are going to skip out when they notice this nutty stalker like guy following them all the time. Part of me wants them to go away and never be heard from again. But I also want to see the love story…even though it will be the ruin of them all.


Marius – Book 7 – Patron Minette

Jesus Christ. This is very ominous. Made my skin crawl…especially since I have no idea how Hugo is going to tangle this gang of rascality with our boys. It is just awful.

I pictured them all looking something like this:

That Waterloo chapter was great. Gruesome, yes, but great, too.

I kind of FF'd through a movie version of Les Mis the other night - it was On Demand. It starred Liam Neeson as JV (he was okay, I guess). And Geoffrey Rush as Javert!!! I love G. Rush. The movie was pretty bad, and so I mostly watched it in fast motion. Have you seen that movie? I get the feeling it would be pretty hard to make a good movie of it - same is true for Notre Dame, I think.

Marius – Book 5 – The Excellence of Misfortune

Hugo has a lot of perversity in him. He seems to love writing about things that make me extremely uncomfortable. Like all the thought and effort that Marius puts into finding M. Thenardier, because he wants to devote himself to helping him. (Back to Barbara's theme of gratitude v. ingratitude). Obviously this is going to happen soon, and it will no doubt be horrifying and painful. And probably lead to death and suffering for every person in the book I care about. And for what? Thenardier. The only character so far who Hugo has not put any effort into softening or humanizing. Obviously intentional, and just so perverse. I feel another stomach ache coming on.

I mean even old Gramps gets a big dose of sympathy: “…and he asked himself: ‘If the thing were to do over again, would I do it?’ His pride instantly answered ‘yes,’ but his aged head, which he shook in silence, replied sadly ‘no.’” Fuck balls, that made me sad. And I have absolutley no hope or expectation that Gramps and Grandson will ever make up…or ever see each other again, probably. *sigh*

Mabeuf is awesome. I really liked him and the description of him. All the plant stuff and the pear he produced....I should have realized that marked him for a fall. Damn you Victor Hugo, is anyone going to have any good luck at all?
I also really like the description of his housekeeper. “None of her dreams had ever proceeded as far as man. She had never been able to get further than her cat.” Omg, that was funny, and even though that sentiment has been written about a lot by people, never before has it seemed kind and loving, as well as making fun. That was nice. So when he goes on to say “Like him [Sultan, her cat], she had a mustache.” It is even funnier, and doesn’t seem mean – seems kind of sweet. I’ve never read anything before that was able to mock someone physically and still seem filled with affection. Nice.

Mabeuf talked to Marius about his father…”from the point of view of flowers.” What is not to love?

I finally tumbled: when his housekeeper is reading her romance out loud, and Mabeuf thinks she is reading the ‘Buddha and the Dragon’ and compliments her reading choice as the most beautiful legend ever, my note says-- "omg I love him - he gonna die"

I just don’t want Marius to get involved with the Thenardiers. Hugo is dragging this out and teasing us mercilessly. It is very suspenseful and upsetting. I am actually considering the possibility that maybe he will somehow avoid the realtaionship and things will be okay. Am I mad? Of course things won’t be okay. And of course Thenardier is going to ruin Marius. Hugo is the devil.

Marius – Book 4 – The Friends of the ABC

This cracked me up:
“At the point of this drama which we have now reached, it will not perhaps be superfluous to throw a ray of light upon these youthful heads, before the reader beholds them plunging into the shadow of a tragic adventure.”
--Like, thanks for the warning, Hugo, but that part is superfluous. We pretty much know everyone is heading into the abyss any second, now. And it’s always more painful if we come to know and love them first, so have at it.

Here are some words I liked: rascality (rascal like), pinchbeck (cheap imitation)

And an interesting way of saying too much of a good thing: “Every good quality tends towards a defect”