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Welcome to the website for "The Les Misérables Reading Companion," where you'll find all the episodes of this podcast about Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, plus extras relating to what I've discussed there. 

This page is a work in progress. Come back early and often for updates!

The comment function on this page was giving us trouble--comments disappearing, that sort of thing--so I've shut it off...

BUT DON'T BE DISCOURAGED! You can share your thoughts about the book on Facebook or Twitter at the links below.

I still very much look forward to reading your comments! (Unless you're a troll; I will exercise ruthless editorial authority when it comes to trolls!)

 

  1. All Episodes
  2. Episode 15 extras

Episode 15 extras

Apr 3, 2018

Congratulations! It looks as though Part II book 1 was not your "Waterloo!" (Sorry, I had to.)

Here again is the map, to which I've added the location of Waterloo. While I was there, I also added the location of Hauteville-House, Hugo's home on Guernsey, the other main place where he worked on the final version of Les Misérables. The marker for the House on the map includes a link to more information about it.

 

The Lion's MoundThe Lion's Mound is a major tourist destination today for those interested in the history of the battle.

 

In Chapter 16 here, Hugo suggests that Napoleon was, in his early days, a genius of war in the Romantic sense of "genius"--drawing on inspiration the way artists did, with the result being energy, creativity, vitality. Jacques-Louis David's famous painting of Napoleon, here in the original version painted in 1799 (there were several versions), reflects a similar image of the young Emperor.