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

In this episode, the HEE team tries to keep up with Hugo as he leads us on a detailed chase through the neighborhoods of Paris.

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Ian, Emily, and Megan discuss Chapters 2 and 3 of “Cosette,” in which Shawshank Redemption and the Cinderella story meet villains straight out of the work of Charles Dickens.

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In this episode, the HEE team unpacks the significance of Hugo’s digression on the Battle of Waterloo and tries to connect it back to the developing themes we have already recognized in the novel. ABBA reference included.

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Ian, Emily, and Megan follow Jean Valjean down the twisty-turny corridors of his subconscious and try not to get lost along the way.

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The story of Fantine continues. Meanwhile, we meet both M. Madeleine and Javert: one suspiciously familiar, the other a compelling but unambiguous symbol.

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n this episode, the HEE team walks through Fantine’s tragic backstory and tries to process that firehose of a chapter on “The Year 1817.”

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This week we are at last introduced to Jean Valjean! The HEE team members discuss “The Fall” and try to pinpoint the conflict which will carry our protagonist throughout the rest of the novel.

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Our journey begins! Ian, Emily, and Megan discuss “An Upright Man.” They unpack Monseigneur Bienvenu’s character and try to determine why Hugo began his novel from such an indirect angle.

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How to Eat an Elephant is back! Ian, Emily, and Megan kick off their discussion of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables with an introductory overview of the historical context of the novel and author.

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Victor Hugo: A Biography by Graham Robb

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The end is finally here! We celebrated War and Peace with a live recording which covers Tolstoy’s Appendix to the novel, a host roast, and a series of Q&As. Thank you to all who have followed us on this journey!

The HEE team will be taking a couple of weeks off to rest and recover before we embark on our next elephant, Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, in late summer 2022.

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Follow along with our reading schedule: https://www.centerforlit.com/hee

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