![]() "John calls you Light, the book of kings call you Lord, The creation calls you God, man calls you father; but Solomon calls you compassion, and that is the most beautiful of all names" The Theme of compassion and redemption permeates throughout this amazing book where merely reading it is an experience unto itself. While there is no denying that some segments of the book are tedious, (Particularly the digressions which run for several chapters which describe diverse topics from philosophy, gardening to the history of the French Sewer is a testament to the sheer breadth of the authors interests") the are unforgettable. The whole novel has a strong poetic quality to it where the prose is meant to be savored slowly and deliberately. With regard to the characters, I was quite surprised to learn how tightly knit the characters of the novel were compared with the musical and the film and how they were interrelated with even minor characters such as Gavroche and colonel Pontmercy. It was also intriguing to see how much more complex and nuanced the motives of the characters are. Ie: Jean valjean and his relationship with Cosette and his opposition to Marius is testatment to the fact that even he struggled with his human nature. The death of Eponine, Jean Valjean deciding to reveal his identity in court, Javert giving Jean Valjean his liberty and the bittersweet final meeting of Cosette and Jean Valjean are particularly poignant and moving scenes. Favourite quotes "The beautiful is as useful as the useful" He added after a pause, more so perhaps" - Bishop Myril on why they are growing flowers instead of something more useful like Salads. "To be a saint is the exception; to be an upright man is the rule" - Bishop Myriel "It is very easy to be kind; the difficulty lies in being just" - Javert to Jean Valjean at their first meeting "Let us never fear robbers nor murderers, those are dangers without, petty dangers. let us fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers" - Bishop Myriel "And by the easy, Monsieur Marius, I believe that I was a little bit in love with you" - Eponine's final words "It is nothing to die, it is dreadful not to live" - Jean Valjean's final words Book details -Goodreads
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AuthorAvid reader of Historical fiction, High fantasy novels, Comics & Graphic Novels. Passionate about teaching & the future of education in general. Categories
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December 2023
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