How to Eat an Elephant: A Little Book Club for Large Books

Ian, Emily, and Megan explore the world of “argot” and compare this broken language to Marius and Cosette’s budding language of love.

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This week we wrestle through Hugo’s philosophy of love and follow Gavroche into the nooks and crannies of Paris.

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In this episode, we talk about the Edenic imagery of Cosette’s garden on the Rue Plumet and Jean Valjean’s reaction to her sudden beauty.

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The HEE crew wrap their heads around French history while trying to pin down Victor Hugo’s political opinions. Meanwhile, Marius continues to be Marius.

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The HEE team follow Marius into a bit of a tight spot, caught between his lady love and his father’s savior!

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Marius is in love, and he doesn’t care who knows it! In this episode we talk about the young hero’s character development, Hugo’s prescriptions for the progress of society, and the shadows that lurk beneath the surface of our story.

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In which we finally meet Marius, examine his changing worldview, and get our first glimpse of the Friends of the ABC! (Do you hear the people sing?)

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How to Eat an Elephant is back for the new year! In this episode, we take up two extremes: the gaman and the old man. We compare the two and begin to unpack Hugo’s perspective on French history.

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We’re wrapping up 2022 with a discussion of Jean Valjean’s burial and resurrection at the end of “Cosette.” Stay tuned for our 2023 reading schedule, coming soon!

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It appears that Victor Hugo has some fairly strong opinions about the nuns. In this episode, the HEE crew wrestle through the layers of his argument about God, convent life, and the nineteenth century.

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe