Posts Tagged “Jean Valjean”

Part 2…4601 My re-read continues, as the Bishop learns a lesson about nobility, and an ex-con named Jean Valjean has a life-changing experience. 118 pages and counting.
Who IS This Guy, Anyway? Javert reports M. Madeleine, Jean Valjean is found, and the mayor of the town must decide whether to let another man go to prison in his place.
Get Me To The Courthouse On Time Getting to not-Valjean's trial is a lot more complicated than a scene change. It's more like Hurley trying to make Flight 815.
Off the Deep End Valjean is recaptured, tried, and sent back to prison. He doesn't stay long, which may be why the musical skips over the Orion entirely.
Escape from Montfermeil It takes 45 pages to get Cosette away from the Thenardiers. It's not complicated, just very, very detailed. Also: They're NOT comic relief, even remotely.
Valjean sure knows how to pick a hiding place Continuing my series on re-reading the novel. Valjean and Cosette arrive in Paris, but are soon driven out, pursued by Javert.
Buried Alive! Valjean must leave the grounds without being seen. Fauchelevent must get an empty coffin out without suspicion. How can they possibly solve these problems?
Stealth Courtship At last, Marius and Cosette meet! Sort of. Long-distance flirting is all they can manage, and they still haven't spoken a word to each other after weeks.
Ambush in the Slums Marius meets his wretched neighbors, the Thenardiers, who try to extort money from Jean Valjean and Cosette. A tense standoff is interrupted by Javert.
Meanwhile, Back at the Rue Plumet… After 250 pages only seeing them from Marius' POV, we meet Valjean, Cosette and their home in the Rue Plumet...and see their side of the stealth courtship.
Epic Fail at Mugging Montparnasse tries to mug Jean Valjean...while Gavroche is watching...outside Mabeuf's garden. It doesn't go well for Montparnasse.
Over the Edge Marius and Cosette's secret meetings start off well. They even escape an attempted robbery. But everything falls apart just as Paris begins to boil over.
Hey Barricade, Who’s in Charge Here? Initial skirmishes on the barricade, the first deaths, Marius' suicide mission, Gavroche pushing things a bit too far, and Valjean reaching another crisis.
Barricades of Future Past (Plus Cannon Geekery) After a look ahead to the 1848 barricades, Enjolras gives a speech, Valjean makes an entrance, and the students talk geek out over the army's new cannon.
Passing Peak Ammunition The barricade holds against several attacks the next morning, but they start running out of bullets...and defenders. Adieu to Gavroche and Javert.
Last Stand at the Barricade Hugo lays out the main theme of the book, 1000 pages in. The barricade falls, the surviving defenders retreat to the tavern, and Grantaire wakes up at last.
What a Wonderful Smell You’ve Discovered The history of the Paris sewers...and then Jean Valjean's flight through those offal tunnels, escaping the battle zone.
Don’t Worry, Be Happy Javert is no longer a threat, Marius is alive and reconciled with his grandfather, and he and Cosette have a chance to be together. What could go wrong?
This is the End Without Javert, Valjean pursues himself to his own shocking decline, stopped only when Thenardier tries and fails to blackmail Marius. Sadly, it's too late.
Revisiting the Movie Musical After Re-Reading the Novel I liked the film of Les Misérables better on second viewing, and also was able to see just how much they brought in from the novel.
Second Chances The offering of a second chance, and acceptance/refusal of said chance, happens repeatedly in Les Misérables.
What’s “Good” for Valjean and Javert Valjean helps people, even at the expense of the social order. Javert preserves the social order, even at the expense of people.
The Wretched of the Earth While the whole novel is built around justice for those downtrodden by society, Victor Hugo focuses on five specific examples of poverty.
Subtle Cosplay
Jacked On Jean Valjean, Wolverine, and Hugh Jackman's training for X-Men.
Valjean and the Bishop The Bishop's kindness doesn't trigger an instant conversion. It sets the stage by convincing Jean Valjean that change is _possible_.
Fantine: Alternate Possibilities Fantine told Mme Thénardier that she was a widow. Could she have done the same in town? Would it have worked, or would it have just exposed Cosette to all the trauma alongside her?
The Crimes of Jean Valjean Javert isn't persecuting an innocent man. He's persecuting a redeemed man who was driven to crime by desperation.
A Few Thoughts on the Mysterious Monsieur Madeleine The crack shot who never kills a small bird (like a lark). No reason to fear new Inspector Javert - at first. And he surprises everyone.
No Such Thing as Coincidence Les Misérables is full of coincidences, some extremely far-fetched. But Victor Hugo treats them as divine design.
Convictions Donougher's translation of this chapter title is perfect: Where Convictions Take Shape. Double meaning preserved without being awkward.
Javert vs. the One Who Got Away Javert cares about order, hierarchy, authority. He doesn’t care about people. Anyone on top of the heap he figures deserves to be there, and vice versa. That’s why “Madeleine” throws him for such a loop.
Back on the Chain Gang What happens when Jean Valjean is recaptured, and how he fakes his death...but accidentally tips off Javert with a good deed.
Rescuing Cosette The woodcut of Little Cosette drastically understates how badly she’s treated by the Thénardiers. So do all the adaptations I’ve seen.
The Ambush We see the ambush entirely through Marius' limited POV. The reader has to piece things together, making the multiple dualities even clearer.
Lobster Jean Valjean?!? 🤪 Saturday Night Live's sketch with Jean Valjean as a singing lobster is utterly bizarre. And it gets stranger as it goes along
Now Arriving at Rue Plumet Back to Jean Valjean and Cosette, POV changes, foreshadowing, and clear signs of PTSD a century before it was really understood.
Mugging Fail There are some wonderful reversals, irony and coincidence in the scene where Montparnasse tries (badly) to rob Jean Valjean.
Valjean’s Hidden Decisions and the End of Resilience After 19 years of prison and 17 years on the run, Valjean has latched onto supporting Cosette as the one thing he's good for. And if Marius is going to do that instead...
Cosette is Separated from Another Parent Jean Valjean carefully creates a false paper trail for Cosette's legal history (and inheritance) that won't lead back to him, just in case he's found out again.
Valjean’s Depression Pretends to be his Conscience Valjean's ethos of sacrificing himself for others has become self-sacrifice as its own end, because deep down he still believes what those 19 years of prison hammered into him.
Marius Joins the Persecution With all his ideals, you want Marius to know better, but he still treats Jean Valjean the way the people of Digne did two decades earlier.