Ariel+K.+-+Les+Miserables

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//Victor Hugo: Poet, Playwrite, & Novelist.//

Victor Hugo was born in Besançon, France in 1802 to Joseph-Léopold-Sigisbert Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet. The relationship between his parents was shakey and when Hugo was only two the couple split, his mother settling with him in Paris, France. His mother sent him to the Louis-Le Grand for two years (1815-1818) in Paris for an education where he showed an early interest in literature. He began writing verses and poetry and by 1822 he had published his first book, Odes et Poésies Diverses. Hugo spent his life writing and becoming a politician, his vices being literature and politics which sometimes got him into trouble. He feared for his life when Napolian III came into power and fled France for Britain; He was expelled from Britian in 1855 and fled to Guernsey (a nearby island) and only returned to France in 1870. Hugo spent 15 more years in Paris before his death in 1885 on May 22nd where over 2 million people attended his funeral. His book Les Miserables has become a classic piece of romantic historical fiction that is now considered a honored national symbol of France.

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 * Genre - Historical Fictionmedia type="youtube" key="GuffHRacZMQ" height="405" width="500" align="right"
 * Original Language - French

This novel follows the life of the convict Jean Valjean as he struggles with his conscience and his will to survive, his love for his daughter and his daughter's lover.

The story is broken into five books, each containing their own set of chapters. Each book will be sumarazied instead of the novel as a whole.
 * Book 1 ~ Fantine**

The novel starts with Jean Valjean, a recently released convict of nineteen years, stealing from a kind bishop. Valjean is caught but the bishop insists he gave Valjean the silver he stole, with a whisper he tells Valjean to use the money from the silver to make himself a good man.

Jean Valjean does become a good man, after one more fault. On his way out of the city he robs Petit-Gervais, a chimney-sweep that is playing with a 5 franc coin in the road. Valjean travels on to another small town where he rises to power, first as a good bishop like the bishop that saved him and up to becoming the mayor. At this point two critical characters are introduced: the prostitute Fantine and Inspector Javert. The reader is told Fantine's story and it is a tragic one of a woman leaving her daughter Cosette with innkeepers in another town and forced to travel to find work. The family, named the Thenardiers, abuse Cosette while doting on their own two girls with the money Fantine sends them. Inspector Javert works in the town Valjean becomes the mayor in and was a guard at the prison Valjean was kept in years before. Javert believes he recognizes Valjean (who has taken a new name, Madeleine, as to avoid his past) but does not directly call him out on it. Fantine is laid off from work and becomes a sick prostitute when Javert arrests her for assaulting a man. Valjean excuses her from going to prison and instead takes her to the hospital where he goes to see her daily.

Meanwhile another man in a different town has been accused of stealing from a garden and is identified as Jean Valjean. Javert leaves to speak at the trial and Valjean follows after a moral battle, he cannot let another man be convicted under his name. At the trial Valjean exposes himself and the other man is set free. Valjean leaves the courthouse by telling the officers that he will be back at home when they decide to arrest him. When Javert arrives home and goes to take Valjean back to the galleys, he finds Valjean at the hospital with a delirious Fantine. Fantine faints at the sight of Javert and dies, Javert feels no remorse but doesn't arrest Valjean as he prays for the dead woman. As Valjean promises to find and save Cosette for Fantine, Javert arrests the convict.
 * Book 2 ~ Cosette**

In 1823 Valjean escapes the galleys and travels to Montfermeil, the town in which the Thenardiers kept an inn. He is dressed in rags as he walks the woods near the town and passes by a little peasant girl carrying a bucket of water. She is without proper shoes, it is winter, the bucket is heavy. Valjean takes the bucket from her, offering to carry it to the inn that she is going to, as they walk he asks for her name and she replies with Cosette. At the inn Valjean takes a seat and orders dinner as he watches Cosette crawl under a table and start knitting. He asks the Thenardiers why she can't play like the two girls near the fire who are far more fairly dressed, they reply that she is a child given to them from a mother who could not care for her. The mother stopped sending money and so Cosette must do work such as knitting. Valjean pays for the socks Cosette is knitting and tells her to go play, Cosette is wary and looks to the Thenardiess, who tells her to listen to the man. Cosette pulls out some rags and a toy sword that she makes into a doll.

The two girls at the fire, the daughters of the Thenardiers, randomly leave one of their dolls on the floor as their kitten walks by the fire. Cosette seeing the pretty doll that she has never been able to play with, dashes from the table to the doll and back with glee, carefully she tries to hide and play with her newfound treasure. The girls see the doll missing and whine to the Thenardiess who yells at Cosette. Cosette bursts into tears and hands back the doll, crawling farther under the table in fear of a beating. Valjean laughs at the situation and says that there is no reason to beat the child, the Thenardiess looks to her husband who signals to her to leave Cosette. Thenardier expects that Valjean, though in rags, is wealthy. Valjean sees Cosette cry and unable to watch he leaves the inn.

Valjean returns shortly afterward with a doll from a shop in town, it costs 500 francs, a price no one could pay for their dear child. Cosette, just one of many girls who had stared at the doll with want, is dumbstruck when Valjean offers it to her. It is almost bigger than the girl herself and she is cautious as the Thenardiess and other girls watch her. Valjean is elated to see Cosette happy when she does start to enjoy the doll. In the morning he buys Cosette from the Thenardiers and they walk away without giving a name or address for the Thenardiers to trace them by.

Valjean takes Cosette to Paris where Javert again finds Jean Valjean. In the night Valjean runs with Cosette finally escaping over a stone wall into the garden of a covenant. The gardener of said garden knows Valjean as Madeleine who saved him from a cart that was crushing him. He lets Valjean take his name and tells the covenant mother that Valjean is his brother and Cosette is his niece. Valjean and Cosette are allowed to stay at the covenant and Cosette is enrolled in the school to become a nun. Book 3 ~ Marius ** This book starts by introducing the charming boy Marius Pontmercy, a lad who is under the care of his grandfather Gillenormand. One day Marius receives a letter from his father, a man Gillenormand forbids Marius from seeing, stating that he is ill and due to die soon. Gillenormand gives Marius a few days to see his father and Marius arrives just short of his death. Marius feels no grief because he never knew the man but that changes when he receives a piece of paper left for him from his father. From his father he inherited the title of Baron which spurs a deep curiosity in Marius. He researches his father and all people connected to him at length. Eventually this newfound love for his father drives a fence between Marius and Gillenormand. The two fight over the political views Marius has also inherited from his father, the reason Gillenormand hated Maruis’ father, and it ends with Marius banned from the house.

Marius is in poverty and yet he is able to afford a cheap home with his only neighbors beings a family named the Jondrettes. He finds friends in the Friends of the ABC group, a number of radical students with strong political views that challenge Marius. He takes to walking in a park where he sees an old man and a homely little girl on a bench daily. He stops for several months and returns to find the girl and old man at their bench as always but now the girl is no longer homely but a picture of ultimate beauty. He falls in love with the girl and watches her obsessively, the old man catches on as Marius follows them home and the two move, devastating Marius.

At home Marius is bothered by his neighbors for the first time since moving in, they are on the brink of starving to death and beg for money and food. He gives them five francs, all the money he has and as they leave he notices a cranny up in the ceiling between their rooms. He looks and watches this desolate family, a man and woman with two girls. As he watches a man and girl walk into the Jondrettes room and give the family sheets, clothing, and some money. Marius is out of his mind with elation as he notices that the girl is the one from the park. The couple leave and Marius continues to watch the Jondrettes.

The Jondrettes turn out to be the Thenardiers and the couple Valjean and Cosette. The Thenardiers recognize the girl and old man but remain strangers to Valjean and Cosette. Marius watches in horror as the Thenardiers plan to rob and kill Valjean and rushes to the police in order to stop the crime. The inspector that assists him is Javert, who gives Marius two guns in case something goes wrong and promises to have police at the scene.

All goes down and the Thenardier family is captured as well as four well known criminals of Paris that were paid to assist in the assassination. Valjean escapes out the window and is not recognized by Javert. Marius goes into despair again as his Cosette is lost and he moves away unable to stay near that room anymore.


 * Book 4 ~ St. Denis **

The story doubles back to when Valjean notices Marius following him and Cosette home from their walks, Cosette has also noticed Marius and Valjean is afraid of sharing her affection. Valjean takes Cosette from the covenant and they move to a private house with a servant. Cosette, who had also fallen in love with Marius, thinks of him often but isn't as distraught as the poor boy. Through fortunate events Marius again finds Cosette and leaves a note for her in her garden, she finds it and takes it to her room when she fawns over the paper, enthralled that she has found her lost love. Cosette goes out again to find Marius hiding in the garden, they spend hours together and it becomes a nightly ritual for Marius to show up and stay with Cosette in secret. Quite randomly Valjean deems Paris unsafe and tells Cosette that they will be moving to England.

Desperate to stay with Cosette, Marius goes back to his grandfather after no contact for two years to ask for permission to marry Cosette. The two argue and Marius leaves without his grandfather's blessing, Gillenormand is devastated that he has lost his grandson for a second time and he breaks down, but this time Marius' name hasn't been forbidden in the house. Marius returns to Cosette but she and Valjean have already left.

At this point a political revolution has stirred Paris as a national hero dies. The ABC group, Marius' friends, happily joins the revolt and sets up a barricade at a wine shop at St. Denis. At the barricade a distraught Marius joins his friends as they build up blocks in the streets against the incoming police and guard. Inspector Javert watches the building from a shadowed corner and is captured by the ABC group, held in the basement of the wine shop to be executed just before the barricade is overrun. In the midst of the revolt Marius receives a letter from Cosette with her address, he sends a urchin boy that has joined the revolt to take a letter to her as the fight for Paris goes on.

**Book 5 ~ Jean Valjean**

The urchin boy sent to give Cosette the letter from Marius is eager to fight again and so he hands the letter to Jean Valjean instead of the girl. Valjean, though he detests Marius, won't let Cosette's love die and so he goes to join the revolt at St. Denis. Upon arriving the military is starting to press into the barricade and the ABC group is discussing who and how Javert will be executed, Valjean offers to do the deed. Behind a pile of bodies Valjean releases Javert and tells him to run, Javert is confused but leaves anyway without seizing Valjean.

The revolt members are now being torn down and most of the ABC group has been killed when Valjean returns to the battle. Marius is at the front, unconscious and excessively bleeding, Valjean takes his body and the two escape and the military overrun the barricade and kill all those left standing. Valjean takes Marius back to the home of Gillenormand were he dances on the edge of death.

The rest is for you to read. Do Cosette and Marius get to live happily ever after? How does Valjean handle Marius now? What happened to the inspector? Do Marius and Gillenormand make amends? I'd give the rest but then the book would be no fun for your to read.

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I honestly have nothing negative to say about this book other then it ended, but no book goes without an ending. Some of the things that really caught my eye:

Setting Descriptions - Hugo grew up in Paris and so when he wrote about the setting of Paris, he wrote it very well. At some points his descriptions of the street setup become so minute that you are able to go sentence by sentence and draw a map of a part of the city, for example,

"Such was the quarter in the last century. The Petit Picpus had what we have just called a Y of streets, formed by the rue du Chemin Vert Saint Antoine dividing into two branches and taking on the left the name Petit rue Picpus and on the right the name of the rue Polonceau. The two branches of the Y were joined at the top as by a bar. this bar was called the rue Droit Mur. The rue Poloceau ended there; the Petite rue Picpus passed beyond, rising toward the Marche Lenoir. He who, coming from the Seine, reached the extremity of the rue Polonceau, had on his left the rue Droit Mur turning and on his right a truncated prolongation fo the rue Droit Mur, without thoroughfare, called the Cul-de-sac Genrot.". (Hugo 194)

I also find it amazing how Hugo was able to encompass Valjean's entire life and do it well. He skipped years and months at a time to fit everything and yet we experience Jean Valjean's entire life, his emotions and his pains all the same with the gaps. He also includes great chunks of other characters as well which makes the book even more complex and fantastic.

Characters -media type="custom" key="6343447" align="right" One thing I notice in many books written today is the lack of actual description of the characters. The personality of the character is given by the actions they do along with a couple adjectives such as 'shy' or 'short' or 'blonde'. Hugo takes each of his characters very seriously when he describes them, the most insignificant character gets at least a page of eloquent description to his or herself. This is an excerpt from one of the descriptions of a minor ABC member:

" Bahorel was a creature of good humor and bad company, brave, a spendthrift, prodigal almost to generosity, talkative almost to eloquence, bold almost to effrontery; the best possible devil's pie; with foolhardy waistcoats and scarlet opinions..." (Hugo 246)

Bahorel has three appearances in the book, once to describe who made up the ABC, once to show what a drunkard he was, and once to die standing with another ABC member at the revolt. His role in the book was minor, to the point where Hugo could have completely removed him and not a scratch would have been made to the storyline but he goes on to describe Bahorel in even more exact detail. Hugo includes many characters like Bahorel and then gives them such an extensive description of their personality it was possible to see them crystal clear when imagining them. Hugo makes tapestries out of the spider web of characters in his book and they come together so utterly well that there isn't another writer I can think of that comes close to his ability to properly describe a person.

Historical Fiction - Historical fiction is hard to pull off, every event must fit in with what actually happened and then it also cannot contradict what has happened. Hugo lived these events, he watched them unfold and participated in their creation. He took what he experienced and weaved into those events dynamic characters and he did it correctly. Not one word written in his novel conflicts with the events he is attempting to recreate for his readers which makes his masterpiece all the more amazing. Overall - In my most honest opinion, an avid reader that passes away without picking up Victor Hugo's Les Miserables has died an incredibly sad death. The book is a one of a kind that will go unmatched by any other for all of time.

media type="custom" key="6343877" If you liked the video, here is a link to Les Miserables in Concert. The cast has amazing voices and the actors capture the characters completely. [|Click Here] This is the first video of sixteen, you can find the rest in the sidebar!

Looking for more information on Victor Hugo? [|Here]​​​ is a biography and timeline of his life.

Remember Quasimodo from the Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame? The original story was by Victor Hugo! If you liked Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (Notre-Dame de Paris) would be an excellent book to read next.

Historical fiction is fun! Try [|these] novels for more historical fiction.

Work Cited

"Five Stars." //areyouteeaych//. Web. 8 Jun 2010. [].

Hugo, Victor. //Les Miserables//. Enriched Classic. New York, NY: Pocket Books, 2005. Print.

"Les Miserables Book Cover." //abilene.lib.overdrive//. Web. 8 Jun 2010. [].

"The Friends of the ABC." //cartage//. Web. 8 Jun 2010. [].

"Timeline of Victor Hugo." //BBC//. BBC Guernsey, 19/02/2009. Web. 8 Jun 2010. [].

"Victor Hugo Biography." //Thefamouspeople//. Famous People, Web. 8 Jun 2010. [].

"Victor Hugo." //Curledupwithabook//. Web. 8 Jun 2010. [].

"Victor Hugo." //The Literature Network//. Jalic Inc., Web. 8 Jun 2010. [].