Archiving my Twitter, Facebook and other social network activity
Found this tweet from the previous time I read Les Miserables, back in 2013. I took several breaks to read other books, including the environmental dystopia The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi:
I’ve been reading The Windup Girl. It’s very good, but I’m ready to go back to Les Miserables for something more cheerful.
— Reading Les Mis (@ReadingLesMis) September 29, 2013
Debating whether to read Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver next, or re-read Seanan McGuire’s Sparrow Hill Road in preparation for The Girl in the Green Silk Gown.
Decisions, decisions…
#books
For max contrast to Les Miserables, I #amreading Space Opera by Catherynne Valente. It’s an absurd #scifi tale of first contact/alien invasion in which a washed-up glam rocker is drafted to save the world by competing in the galactic equivalent of Eurovision. Absurdity, social satire, lots of music references, & a fast read that still feels like a wall of words at times. In the same vein as Hitchhiker’s Guide & Year Zero (though in this case humans are the *worst* musicians in the galaxy) #books
I finished #LesMiserables today.
6 months’ worth of lunch hours as I found, time and again, that a 150-year old book set 200 years ago on another continent continues to be relevant in ways I wish it wasn’t.
I wish everyone had the time and patience to read it. I think a lot of people would gain valuable perspective from it. Or maybe not. There are people who read & watch superheroes & take the use of power as the lesson, not the efforts to help the powerless.
I’ve been posting more on birdsite than here, and collecting my thoughts on my blog. For the previous read-through I ended up doing way too much plot summary, but this time I managed to keep focused on reactions and (some) analysis
Recent posts include Javert’s breakdown and the way Valjean’s ending tracks with a descent into depression.
No one accused it of being a happy book.
https://hyperborea.org/les-mis/
Today was some light lunchtime reading about the history of the Paris sewers. 😱
They’re particularly awful until a dangerous multi-year exploration starts in 1806. Slightly improved by 1832, much better by 1862.
And I kid you not, Hugo insists that Paris has the best *sewage*. While complaining about how we flush all that fertilizer out to sea, he actually describes “Parisian guano” as “the richest of all.”
#LesMiserables #amreading #books
I finished the June Rebellion chapters of #LesMiserables early afternoon on June 6, the same time that the barricade fell in the book. That was kind of weird.
Lots of commentary and philosophy on revolution & urban/civil warfare, presented as supporting for the story, but I realize now it’s the other way around.
#amreading #books
I was hoping to have finished reading the barricade section of #LesMiserables in time for #barricadeday, but the last few days have been packed & I don’t think I’ll have much time to read at lunch today.
There’s not much plot from where I left off to the last stand, but it’s dense.
One thing about #LesMiserables that always seemed odd: at times we see the start of someone’s inner turmoil in great detail, but the POV pulls away before we can see how they actually *make* the decision.
Ex: When Valjean heads to the barricade to…save Marius? Make sure he dies? Who knows?
This time through, I understand: he hasn’t decided, but he can’t let fate take the responsibility away from him.
More at my blog: https://hyperborea.org/les-mis/book/hidden-decision/
@Einahpets Yeah, it’s an impressive exploration of the many consequences of the tech & how people would use it. Both the threeps and the Agora, which I find myself seeing as a counterpoint to the Oasis.
I’m going to have to get out to the Festival of Books one of these days – I keep meaning to, but haven’t quite managed yet!
Finished the #Waterloo section of #LesMiserables, infamous for being ~50 pages where only 4 relate to the plot. (Thénardier has a track record of mistaking Pontmercys for dead.)
It starts out fascinating, with a tour of the old battlefield, then flashing back to the battle itself. Eventually it gets tedious as Hugo rambles on about what it means philosophically. When he gets back to the story, it becomes a riveting (if short) tale set in the aftermath of battle.
Things that are appropriate while reading October Daye novels: Headaches. Coffee. Cutting your mouth on potato chips so you taste blood.
The only thing that would make these secret room bookcases cooler is if you activate them by pulling out a special, secret book 🙂
Someday.
SO MUCH PORN!!
Yes, I do believe there are more pages in front of that bookmark than behind. #reading #LesMiserables #books #bookmark
At the halfway point! #LesMiserables #CoffeeBean #coffee #books #reading
I just finished the chapter in Les Miserables that focuses on the Battle of Waterloo. Thoughts at Waterloo
#books #lesmis #lesmiserables #waterloo #reading #wordswordswords