Les Miserables read-a-long 2026 | Première Partie (1)

[AgualusasL0ver]

Welcome to the first thread of the Les Miserables Read-a-long.

I'll be using the Christine Donougher translation for posting in the main, but it doesn't matter which translation you have, they seem to follow the same breakdown. I have not seen the film, the musical, and have very little knowledge about the book, but suspect I will be doing all of these Christmas 2026.

The only rules
The plan is to read ONE chapter a day and contribute/follow the thread as you see fit. There are c. 365 chapters, so we plan to take the year to read slowly and really get under the skin. Sometimes we have clustered chapters in past read-a-longs, and people do sometimes read ahead. All fine - but No spoilers until the relevant day.

Notes from previous read-a-longs

• How you manage one a day is entirely up to you, some people prefer to store them and read all the chapters for the week at once, some read each day.
• Sometimes these books can go off on a tangent all their own (looking at Mr Tolstoy), stick with it :-)
• All formats and translations welcome. Sometimes the translation discussions are some of the most interesting conversations.
• You WILL get behind at some point, but don't worry, just catch up when you can.
• Tangents, things you discovered down a rabbit hole, articles, pod casts, clips of epic scenes when we get to them all very welcome on the thread.

Spoiler free summary , courtesy of Chat GPT below. Schmoop has book summaries so I will post those at the relevant points.

**

Les Misérables is a classic novel by Victor Hugo that explores justice, compassion, and the struggle for dignity in 19th-century France.
At its core, the book follows the lives of several interconnected characters from different social classes as they navigate poverty, law, love, and moral choice. Rather than focusing on a single hero or plotline, the novel paints a wide picture of society—showing how personal decisions are shaped by systems like the legal system, economic inequality, and social expectations.
Key themes include:

• Justice vs. mercy — how laws affect people differently, and whether strict punishment leads to fairness
• Redemption and moral growth — the possibility of change, even after hardship
• Poverty and inequality — the daily realities of people living on the margins
• Love and sacrifice — care for others as a powerful force for good
• Social responsibility — how individual actions impact the wider community

The novel is known for:

• Deep character development
• Emotional intensity
• Philosophical reflections on society and humanity
• Detailed descriptions of history and everyday life

Overall, Les Misérables is less about a single storyline and more about asking big questions:
What does it mean to be a good person? How should society treat its most vulnerable? And can compassion change lives?

Well I liked the idea behind today’s chapter but I was completely overwhelmed by the details!

It really shows how turbulent the politics was at this time. Turning from revolutionary back to royalist ideas. People scrambling to align themselves with whoever was in power…

Makes me think -

‘Ce n’est pas la girouette qui tourne, c’est le vent’

(It’s not the weathervane that turns, it’s the wind)

Edgar Faure

That weathervane quote reminds me of another that's often mentioned in relation to true values:

"It's not the needle that turns, but the compass"

I let this wash over me a bit. It reminded me of whatever awful year it was (2019?) when every week seemed to bring some new political crisis - and even a few years later, I have (thank god) forgotten a lot of them.

I really like this idea. Giving a name and voice to someone who would not have been given space in more traditional literary works.

I wish I had expressed this idea as eloquently as you @VikingNorthUtsire

🤣🤣🤣

Well I just read today’s chapter.

I never realised before that the name ‘Fantine’ has a particular significance.

“The name derives from Old French fantin (child/young one) or enfantine (childlike)”

A bit like “Baby” in Dirty Dancing 🤣

I see Fantine as kind of emerging from the mist of history and standing before us as an angelic, anonymous young woman.

She doesn’t know her legal name. She was never baptised as she was born in the time of the Directory. The name Fantine was given to her by a passer-by. She is no one and has nothing.

Young, innocent, beautiful, naive, in love. Let’s give her her moment 😊. I don’t want to think further ahead…

I got so distracted by the idea of a child not having any parents or guardians, its such an awful prospect, and to think it does happen. Was she supported as a baby and as soon as she could walk she was left to fend for herself? I'm getting caught up on small details!

I wondered the same thing @EmbroideredGardener , there must have been someone caring for her to start with, but for how long? So awful to think that there are so many young children through history and still now, who have had to fend for themselves. And things are clearly going to go downhill for Fantine, it sounds like we’re meeting her at a high point (no matter how unappealing her boyfriend sounds!)

The footnote in my French version mentions that “Les Fantines étaient pour les Vaudois des Alpes des fées protectrices de l’enfance, images symboliques des forces de la nature ou de la providence de Dieu” - for a particular region’s folklore, a sort of fairy protector of children. Apparently Hugo mentions this connection in a couple of other works. So she has a sort of mythical quality as well.

Her boyfriend sounds 🤮

As I'm reading, I'm trying to work out who the characters are in the musical. I was very confused by dear Bienvenu at first, and now I'm wondering if Tholomyès appears in it also 🤔

Nope Tholomyes never appears, and is never mentioned by name, although obviously alluded to in “I dreamed a dream”.

I don't really know the story of Les Mis but I'm guessing from some commentary, Fantine doesn't hold onto her angelic, pure nature for long? And agree her boyfriend sounds grim!

I also found the historical chapter fascinating but didn't take any of it in - I started thinking I might do a bit of digging around it but as it stretched on and on, I thought nah, let's get back to the nitty gritty.

Right, off to read what jape the four wild students drag their four ladies (of the night? Forgive me, but they are prostitutes, aren't they??) off on... I sense it could set the scene for some more misery and injustice 😁

He was in the BBC adaptation because it is one of the bits I very much remember. But I am sure he was played by someone good looking. Jerome Flynn's son perhaps.

Prostitutes? Yes maybe one or two?? (The older one?) Is Fantine so naive she would hang out with 3 prostitutes? I guess Hugo prepared us for the possibility that she actually is that innocent - despite living on the streets from infancy?

She was unaware of her floaty dress with the seductive innocence vibe…

It must have been along these lines?

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Firmin_Massot_-_Jos%C3%A9phine_de_France_full.jpeg

Very interesting, thanks for that @MotherOfCatBoy 😊

I’m intrigued by what Hugo means by the girls striking “english poses”. I wonder what they were? Can’t find any obvious meaning online.

I was trying to work out whether they were "working girls" or just working girls. If the latter, he hasn't mentioned what their work is. And they seem to have quite fancy somewhat slutty clothes for young women of restricted means.

I am one of the people who hasn't seen the film or the musical so I am scared to Google anything and accidentally spoiler the plot!

Fantine most certainly is not 🙂, this becomes very clear later, I think they are just shop girls or factory workers.

They re described as “grisettes” which meant shop girls/ maids/ lower class young women.

@MotherOfCatBoy that is a very interesting linguistic point. Thank you for explaining!

I always felt like it was an insult when I lived there. We used to get told we had “an English head” which I think means coarser physical features which made you identifiable as English so my guess is not graceful or elegant?