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?

I did like today’s descriptions, the paint in particular tickled me and he really emphasised it, but he certainly created an atmosphere. The descriptions did feel a bit creepy though. 🤣

I'm also interested to read more about the inside of the convent.. one is my favourite genres of fiction is medieval mysteries set in convents and monasteries - love a bit of Nun on Nun murder - so will be good to get a view of a slightly more modern house.

Must say, I was never tempted to look into it for myself. As you say, @DuPainDuVinDuFromage , it's a life choice that I think few can make!

Nun-fiction @SanFranBear 😄

I love a bit of nun-fiction so this is ticking all my boxes.

Glad to see Hugo has clarified the point we were all discussing as to how JVJ got so far ahead of/away from the police.

The description of life in the convent sounds horribly strict, they’re going to have quite a shock when they discover that they have intruders!

The long chapter on the life of the nuns… I find this all so baffling, and quite alien. The idea of living such a restricted life is quite chilling. I suppose for many poorer women it was a good option though, life in general hardly being easy.

Only 3 going mad though…

I haven't read these chapters yet; I'll catch up later, but, yay! Nun fiction! This book has everything :)

My grandmother used to maintain that nuns had a very good life in comparison to women who raised families and struggled to make ends meet. My mother used to meet nuns who taught her as a child who were still going strong at eighty-odd years of age; fine, hale and hearty.

Recently, in Ireland, the census of 1926 was made accessible to the public and people who were over one hundred and still alive were contacted to give consent prior to publication. Of the forty-eight centenarians who came forward to share their stories and become ambassadors, ten of these were nuns.

I went to a Catholic school and had a few nuns as teachers. They had some really odd names (to my ears as a child); Sr. Pius, Sr. Clement, Sr. Reginald, Sr. Cyril, Sr. Mercedes, Sr. Mary of the Angels, Sr. Louis-Marie, Sr. Xavier.
Nuns were either jolly or cranky. You never knew where you stood with a nun.

Studies do show that women live longer when not married, the opposite is true for men! I'm not sure I'd go for a nun's life though if I were aiming for longevity - what's the point if its miserable! At the same time you'd have to be very dedicated to sign up to such conditions, and perhaps the it isn't as miserable as I imagine

I’m a few chapters in with the nuns and I must say, I was horrified by the descriptions of their daily routine. Hugo says that this is a particularly strict order, but I was left thinking - how much does a society hate women when it incarcerates them like this in conditions, psychological and physical, which are probably worse than those for prisoners? The lack of sleep, the surveillance, the poor food.

I do understand that for some institutions they offered an escape from men, marriage, from poverty. They must have been literally a refuge for some. But this one sounds awful.

One of the women from whom he obtained accurate descriptions was Juliette Drouet, his mistress, who had been a boarder at such a convent as a young girl (notes at the back of my edition), and also Léonie Biard (can’t remember if she was involved with him or not).

Good grief, just read the daily routine chapters, it honestly sounds like a cult! Quite terrifying. Hardly the life you’d want to lead. Although I do wonder if the hay day of women going to be nuns to avoid marriage was to less extreme convents. By most accounts if you were wealthy you lived a good life in a convent, it also sounds like this lot wouldn’t accept just anybody, given widows weren’t admitted. All a bit messed up though. All about control rather than faith.

I agree. I'm reading these chapters now.
It's horrific.

Although I will admit it reminded me of Mother Theresa, I listened to a podcast called The Turning, The Sisters Who Left and there was some pretty disturbing stuff. Zealotry has a lot to answer for.

Have to agree with the general sentiment here... This sounds like an awful way to live! And there's a school on the grounds, too!

All about control rather than faith - nailed it @Pashazade

Just checking in as I fell behind in the Napoleon chapters but I’m determined to catch up this week. Thankfully Waterloo was quickly followed by Valjean on the boat, which was back to Hugo at his best.

Just wanted to add re nuns that there is also Diderot’s La Religieuse (the Nun) - an 18th century book about a young woman put in a convent by her family - which is a really interesting text. My edition doesn’t have notes so I don’t know if it an influence on Hugo, but I can’t help wondering.

I'm not sure I am entirely looking forward to what looks to be about 10 further chapters about nuns...

Agree with control not faith but I must admit I can sometimes see the appeal of the silence of a life like that- then I shake myself out of it.
I love a bit of nun fiction so I’m happy to read more chapters on this- much happier reading a nun rather than Waterloo digression

Same ÚlldemoShúl - much more interesting to read about than Waterloo, however horrendous the nuns’ lives seem to have been - and how awful to be at the school too, cut off from your family like that! Interesting that Hugo’s mistress had been at a convent school like that, thanks for the information @MotherOfCatBoy. I’m guessing the experience very much put her off the idea of taking the veil!

I can’t help thinking one of the reasons they don’t accept widows is because they would have been a more powerful sort of woman: knowledgeable about men, sex and babies and life in general, probably middle aged, probably menopausal and full of rage! Definitely disruptive to the dynamic here of taking only initiates who have never had that independence or agency.

@MotherOfCatBoy I think you’re entirely correct, the dynamic of a mature woman who has lived in the real world vs senior sisters or a mother superior would be very tricky, plus she would most likely be a bad influence on young minds 😁 and probably cause massive ructions!

Well I much prefer the Bishop’s ways of expressing his faith!

This extreme convent life that involves complete destruction of a young woman’s ego in order to be more spiritual? It’s a weird logic… But being separated from all physical comfort and pleasure is a way of keeping the girls and the nuns virginal. The construct of a society run by men…

At the convent the inhabitants suffer for the sins of the world in extreme ways. The Bishop was living a simple life in order to benefit others and have empathy for the poor but this! It’s not a comfortable read. It’s not the peaceful cloister I was expecting!

@Pashazade and @MotherOfCatBoy I’m glad you pointed that out. It really helped me see how the control in the convent is achieved.

Adding to all of the above, I found today’s chapter a bit creepy the way it was talking about the virginal young girls being kept apart from the world until they’re ready to be (presumably) married - very male gaze. I can see Hugo was trying to do the “kids say the funniest things” schtick but it didn’t sit well, especially the last anecdote - proper icky

Have to agree DuPain, today’s chapter was very very weird. Hugo does like going on about the purity of young girls. Maybe it’s an of its era thing/Catholic Church original sin negating kind of thing. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Next week

Book Six cont’d…..

Mon 4th May - Ch 5 - Diversions (Above the door)
Tues 5th May - Ch 6 - The Little Convent (Within the precincts)
Weds 6th May - Ch 7 - Some Figures in the Gloom (In the six years)
Thurs 7th May - Ch 8 - Post Corda Lapides (After the brief outline)
Fri 8th May - Ch 9 - A Century under the Veil (Since we are giving details)
Sat 9th May - Ch 10 - The Origin of Perpetual Adoration (That almost sepulchral parlour)
Sun 10th May - Ch 11 - The End of the Petit-Picpus (Right from the start)

I'm wondering if there were monasteries for young men set up in a similar way to these convents. Probably not! It seems so twisted, sadistic and demeaning to women. This particular branch seems like an extreme example. It's interesting to have the insider view.

Thanks for the schedule, Pashazade.