The Les Misérables Reading Companion

Caught in the web of fate, what reason is there for hope?

We think about just what, exactly, this long digression about Waterloo is doing in this book.

Divine encounters come in many forms.

Our hero's dilemma finds resolution in a strangely familiar place.

We discuss horse-drawn travel, our hero's anonymity, and his final agonizing moments of indecision.

We watch Jean Valjean ask "Who am I?" and two special guests chip in some thoughts about his dream.

The men around Fantine are both heroic and.... less so. And Hugo is as well.

We talk about humans behaving like animals, and worse, as we meet Javert, and discuss Fantine's "descent."

We leave a lot unsaid, for now, as we add some new characters to our cast.

We meet Fantine, and get an up-close look at the year 1817.