The book which the reader has before him at this moment is, from one end to the other, in its entirety and details ... a progress from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from falsehood to truth, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from corruption to life; from bestiality to duty, from hell to heaven, from nothingness to God. The starting point: matter, destination: the soul. The hydra at the beginning, the angel at the end.
Friday, December 29, 2017
Les Misérables
Les Misérables is a huge, powerful, magnificent, and quirky
book. It is rich in vividly portrayed human
emotion: love (Marius and Cosette), pluck and humor
(Gavroche), callous villainy (Thénardier) and tragedy (Fantine and Éponine). I
thought I knew the main story line from the musical: the relentless pursuit of
the still-wanted but reformed criminal Jean Valjean by the obsessive and
righteous Javert. But I was surprised
to realize that the novel actually concentrates on the transformation and
redemption of Jean Valjean.
A quirky part of the book is the insertion, at intervals,
of lengthy discourses on subjects with a glancing relationship, or no
relationship whatsoever, to the story: a detailed analysis of the Battle of
Waterloo, the different kinds of convents in 18th century France,
the history and meaning of slang, a virtual treatise on the development of the sewer system
in Paris. Some of these were pretty
interesting! (But not all).
A wonderful, compelling story line, tremendous empathy for
the downtrodden, and a fiery commitment to human dignity and liberty. An unforgettable read.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.