Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along: Welcome to Volume II – Cosette and Waterloo

If you have been reading one chapter a day in Les Misérables, then congratulations on reaching Volume II today. It’s been over two months since we started, and we have finally finished the first of the book’s five volumes. I hope you have been pleased by what you have read so far of Hugo’s magnum opus.

Fantine is behind us, Cosette is before us. But before we get back to our little Lark, Hugo will take us on an extended tour of the battlefield of Waterloo. Prepare yourself to read about the battle of Waterloo for the rest of this month. From March 12 to March 30, we will read Hugo’s lengthy description and analysis of Napoleon’s final battle. Why such a long section on a battle that took place months before Jean Valjean was released from prison? Here is what David Bellos has to say:

Making sense of Waterloo was…in Hugo’s mind the only way to make sense of the century his novel aimed to portray and understand, and the only way to explain why despite its defeat France remained the moral and intellectual centre of the world.

Interestingly enough, “The great essay on the battle that launched the great peace of the nineteenth century turns out to have been the last piece of Les Misérables that Hugo wrote — and only just in time.” Hugo wrote this essay just before Volume II was published.

I am looking forward to hearing what Briana Lewis has to say about this section in her Les Misérables Reading Companion podcast. If you’re not listening to it, then you’re missing some great analysis, explanation, and discussion. I highly recommend listening to it as you read along this year.

So what did you think of Volume I: Fantine? What were your favorite parts? Least favorite? How is the read-along going for you so far? Leave a comment below and share your experiences with others.