Simna’s Reviews > Les Miserables > Status Update

I can’t begin to describe what Book 4 was. It was overwhelming, but oh, so worth it.

Hugo moves between the individual and the enormous social forces surrounding them.

He does not ask you to observe suffering from a distance. He almost demands that you look at it , that you understand how it happened. 🥺

I’m astonished that I just read 3 pages about a garden running wild. 😶

One thing I’ve cemented is that Hugo is fascinated by things that have been abandoned or forgotten. A ruined building, an old street, a neglected garden.

I get it , it’s history leaving traces behind, and it’s human order versus natural chaos. But omg, 3 pages about weeds growing in a garden. 😶‍🌫️

Les Misérables is a French history book that occasionally remembers it has characters.

Hugo can take a simple character introduction and transform it into a meditation on Paris, childhood, poverty, social neglect, the spirit of the people, and the future of society.

I thought, “I only wanted to know who this child was.” But Hugo’s answer feels like: “Before you meet the child, you must understand the city, its history, and all the forces that came together to create him.”

It's soooo interesting. I'm completely invested. The literary prose is top notch. 😍

I love how Hugo explains the history and context behind everything!!!. Even something as simple as a house isn't just a house, he tells you how it got its name and why it matters. That richness of detail is so beautiful. 🫠

I could honestly write a whole paper on this section alone. Hugo’s line, “The amazing ingenuity of chance,” perfectly captures the irony of Waterloo.

“The swordsmen have finished, it is the turn of the thinkers” perfectly captures the philosophy of this section.

Hugo completely changed my view of the battle.

Napoleon lost, but his ideas survived; kings won, yet accepted constitutional liberal reforms.

A full on history lesson about the Battle of Waterloo, honestly, it offered a different perspective and take on it. But I was thrown into the story with no warning and quite abruptly. 🥲

Reading Fantine's story is difficult. What hurts most isn't just her suffering, but how many moments could have turned out differently if people had chosen compassion over indifference.