Tagged: Les Misérables

Gericault's Raft of the Medusa

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along

Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along: The Monstrous Waters

With day twenty-two of the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along upon us, we reach “The Deep and the Dark,” one of the most fascinating chapters of the book so far — at least to me. Hugo’s considerable poetry skills are on full display, and from this chapter it is easy to see why Hugo is more famous in France for his poetry than for his novels or plays. “The Deep and the Dark” is a chapter-long metaphor that uses the sea to represent the fate of convicts. The chapter attempts...

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Chapter-a-Day Read-Along / Homily

One Chapter a Day: Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

Many of you know that Les Misérables is one of my favorite books, but it’s a long one, almost 1500 pages, so reading it takes a while. Last year I found out that it has exactly 365 chapters, so I decided that in 2018 I would read one chapter a day, starting on January 1st and going to December 31st. They’re short chapters, about 5 pages or so, and I I thought it would be kind of a meditation and exercise in patience and delayed gratification to read...

Jean Valjean on Twitter

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along / Twitter

#LesMisReadalong on Twitter: Week 3 Highlights

As readers are finishing week three of the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along, the Twitter chat has been informative and fun. You can be a part of the Les Mis action by using the hashtag #LesMisReadalong. Here’s a sampling of the tweets from this past week: https://twitter.com/bronasbooks/status/952783356302774272 https://twitter.com/bronasbooks/status/952819730447925248 https://twitter.com/burns_nancy/status/952887291390898177 https://twitter.com/MissCarrieLA/status/952930490943713285 The good woman touched the man's arm and pointed out to him on the other side of the square a little low house beside the bishop's palace."You have knocked at every door?" she asked."Yes.""Have you knocked at that one?""No.""Knock...

A Traveler in Digne

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along

Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along: The Beginning

I once read that almost every story begins in either one of two ways: someone goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town. The journey story is as well known as The Odyssey, Gulliver’s Travels, The Grapes of Wrath, The Lord of the Rings, and Journey to the Center of the Earth. But think about the other type of story, the tale that begins with the arrival of a stranger. For example: The events of To Kill a Mockingbird get started “the summer Dill came to us, when Dill...

Victor Hugo on Twitter

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along / Twitter

#LesMisReadalong on Twitter: Week 2 Highlights

The tweets keep coming in the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along. We’ve finally reached the end of Book 1: A Good Man, and I’ll have a new read-along post up tomorrow to wrap it up and look forward to Book 2. In the meantime, enjoy this post which gathers some of the tweets from the second week. A big Thank You! to everyone who’s sharing their favorite quotes, thoughts on translation, struggles, victories, and all the other other ways Les Misérables is affecting you. You’re making this read-along an interactive adventure, and...

The Bishop of Digne in his garden

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along

Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along: The Bishop

Welcome to week two of the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along. We’re now seven chapters into the book, and the story so far has been dominated by one man: the Bishop of Digne. Dominated is probably too strong a word for someone with his humility and charity, but he certainly makes an impression, and for all the right reasons. To my mind, the Bishop of Digne is one of the most memorable saintly characters in all of literature. But he almost wasn’t. Get Rid of That Bishop In the mid 1800’s,...

The Bishop of Digne

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along / Twitter

#LesMisReadalong on Twitter: Week 1

We’ve almost finished the first week of the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along, and the Twitter conversation about the opening few chapters has been amazing. Readers are using the hashtag #LesMisReadalong to chronicle their reading experience, share their knowledge, and support each other in their literary journey. But if you don’t have a Twitter account, not to worry. This post is a sampling of some of the tweets from this past week that caught my attention. And I’ll have a new read-along post on Monday that will feature that humble,...

Battle of Waterloo

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along

Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along: Structure and History

Welcome to 2018 and the beginning of the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along. By the time you read this you may already have read your first chapter, especially if you are one of our friends in Australia! It’s exciting to have so many of you on board and to know there are readers from all over the world participating. In this first of what I hope to be weekly posts, I’m going to discuss the structure of the novel and briefly mention a bit of French history. Feel free...

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Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along

Preparing for the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along

The Read-along Is Nearly Here It’s less than a week until the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along begins, and I’m excited to have so many of you along for the ride. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, or if you haven’t had the chance to sign up, be sure to read the post announcing the read-along for all details. Also, be sure to follow this blog so you don’t miss any posts about the read-along throughout the year. There are lots of ways to follow along. You can...

Les Miserables Read-along Logo

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along

Announcing the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along

This is the official sign-up post for the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along. Please join me in spending the next year reading one of the great works of world literature, Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. If you’ve always wanted to read the unabridged edition of Les Misérables, this is your opportunity. Maybe you love the musical or one of the movies. Maybe you’ve read an abridged version and now you want more. Whatever it is that has brought you here, I invite you to join me in reading this epic work of historical...

David Bellos Les Miserables Novel of the Century

Books and Reading

Nonfiction November 2017 Week 2: Book Pairing

It’s time for another Nonfiction November post. After reading last week’s posts my TBR pile has already grown! For a roundup of last week, see the links at JulzReads. This week Sarah at Sarah’s Bookshelves hosts one of my favorite events of Nonfiction November, Book Pairings: This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. It can be a “If you loved this book, read this!” or just two titles that you think would go well together. Maybe it’s a historical novel and you’d like to...

Nonfiction November 2017

Books and Reading

Nonfiction November 2017 Begins

My favorite reading event from last year, Nonfiction November, is back! Nonfiction November was my very first online reading event, and it was a terrific experience. It helped reignite my excitement for blogging and it connected me with several terrific book bloggers. I can’t wait to see what new discoveries are in store this year. The topic for this first week is Your Year in Nonfiction, so here we go… Your Year in Nonfiction: Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following...