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The side read is back to run without interruptions. This week we are discussing the next three books from Part IV.

1. Loyal to his previous style, Hugo again deliberates and discusses France's recent past. Do you you think his interest is determined by the past that still is important for France or is the political and historical foray important for the book in the long run?

2. Hugo is very informed about the structure of the universe. What does it tell us about him and is it relevant when we are talking about his political creed?

3. Hugo was a republican (a supporter of French revolution, not a conservative right-wing republican as a political trend in the USA)and a free thinker. Is it obvious form book I?

4. How does book II characterize Marius? Is he love sick? Is he still torn between the oath he gave and the knowledge he gained about Thenardier?

5. Hugo introduced an interesting concept in this part, 'the evil poor'. Do you accept his definition/explanation?

6. Hugo touched upon a very interesting issue in the novel - the upbringing of a young lady by a gentleman. Obviously, Jean Valjean struggled with her physiological and emotional changes, but a more open language was not acceptable in mainstream and quality literary fiction. I still find it extremely brave to handle such an issue in the novel, written by a male author. What do you think about it?

7. And again, is the novel about free choice or fate because Valjean and Cosette meet the convoy of prisoners, and Jean is haunted by his past while Cosette is overwhelmed by a certain feeling of fear and premonition. Is the author foreshadowing the plot or is Fate ruthless and inevitable as Valjean fails to escape his past even in his new life?

Post away, dear readers. I hope you have had a nice break and are ready to discuss the final third of the book.

Marius appears totally love sick! He has fallen into a life of no direction constantly thinking about the girl he loves. I was happy that Epinone is going to show him where the girl lives, but I am frightened about Jean Valjean and Cosette being found out by the Thenardiers. I feel as if it will be a trap somehow, or at least there will be unintended consequences.

Zulfiya, you mention Hugo writing about Cosette's transformation into a young woman, and I found these passages very charming - how Cosette always thought herself plain and not pretty at all, and then one day she discovers that she is actually quite beautiful. And Jean Valjean's parallel realization, yet his was filled with angst at what her transformation would mean in regards to their relationship.

Linda wrote: " Cosette's transformation into a young woman, and I found these passages very charming"

Her transformation is very similar to my experience with my image that I saw in the mirror, and I am sure many, many women can relate to this experience.

What I was talking about is Hugo's attempt to show how Jean Valjean struggled with her sexuality and her physiological development. And for a man, who was not married, it was not an easy thing to do.

At the same time, I do feel how Hugo criticized the clerical education that Cosette received - she knew nothing about her body and her future because she had lived in a insular environment of a covenant. I wonder how he dealt with her menstruation cycle.:-) Just a thought.

And poor girl, she was not even fully aware that she was in love!

Zulfiya wrote: "What I was talking about is Hugo's attempt to show how Jean Valjean struggled with her sexuality and her physiological development. And for a man, who was not married, it was not an easy thing to do. "

Oh yes, I see. I did not think of it in those terms or at the time I was reading this section, but you're right - I imagine it would have been quite a difficult thing to approach as a subject matter.

I know probably every father feels that way about his daughter, to never grow up and stay with him forever. But I felt that Jean Valjean was a bit overprotective and selfish in sheltering her from everything. Yes, she may be young to be thinking of love and courting, but his reaction went to the extreme...moving out of their house and into almost a solitary confinement!

You can see a lot of humanity in it, though. He chooses to leave the convent FOR Cosette, because he recognizes that it would be cruel to cloister her from the world without her ever having experienced the world she's hiding away from. But he's nervous when her exposure to the world may bring about the very consequences he fears; Cosette leaving him. I'm sure that's the plight of any parent, though; how much to let one's child experience and how to let go and allow the child to make his own choices?

I agree with you. There is a lot of humanity in him, in general. He sacrifices his whole existence for Cosette, but because she is his whole world, he naturally feels jealous. And again, it is only natural and so human ...

1. Loyal to his previous style, Hugo again deliberates and discusses France's recent past. Do you you think his interest is determined by the past that still is important for France or is the political and historical foray important for the book in the long run?
I see some signs that it might play a role in the plot in the future. The ABC seems to be involved in some anti-royalist plotting, and Marius is living with one of the members. Depending on if the ABC actually acts on that plot, Marius could get caught up in the mess.

3. Hugo was a republican (a supporter of French revolution, not a conservative right-wing republican as a political trend in the USA)and a free thinker. Is it obvious form book I?
I thought so. You could see where his sympathies were at various points earlier in the story, and it showed up again here.

4. How does book II characterize Marius? Is he love sick? Is he still torn between the oath he gave and the knowledge he gained about Thenardier?
He is certainly love sick. He is absolutely obsessed with Cosette to the point of distraction. I do think he is still torn about Thenardier. He sees that the man is awful now, but he must believe that the man might have been good in the past.

6. Hugo touched upon a very interesting issue in the novel - the upbringing of a young lady by a gentleman. Obviously, Jean Valjean struggled with her physiological and emotional changes, but a more open language was not acceptable in mainstream and quality literary fiction. I still find it extremely brave to handle such an issue in the novel, written by a male author. What do you think about it?
I thought this was very well done. Valjean wants what is best for her, but he also is scared that she will grow up and leave him. She has gone from being a child to a young woman in what must seem to him as mere moments.

Anne wrote: "I thought this was very well done. Valjean wants what is best for her, but he also is scared that she will grow up and leave him. She has gone from being a child to a young woman in what must seem to him as mere moments. "

It is quite obvious that she was everything for him, and I am afraid the wave of jealousy is brewing somewhere deep in his heart, and the more she means for him, the more painful for him it will be to let her go, and he will have eventually to let her go. I do not see Valjean as a possessive despot. The candlesticks have turned him into a very generous and giving person.

I still have to wonder about Eponine's motivation here. From the last section, I was wondering if she was in love with Marius, from having watched her neighbor over time, and that is why she gave him the way out with the note on the night stand. And now here she is again, trying to make him happy by bringing him to this other girl.

At this point, I don't think that she knows this is Cosette, although her father surely does. It seems she is giving up her own potential happiness (of a future with Marius) because she wants him to be happy. I wonder if this will change if/when she discovers who this girl really is! Or was she too young back then to even remember Cosette as a child?

I do think he is still torn about how to treat Thenardier. He realized before that the man is awful, "the evil poor", but yet he is still sending money to Thenardier, and putting himself into debt to do so! Clearly he still feels some obligation for his father's sake to help this horrible man.

I think the parts where Valjean is torn about how to raise Cosette were very well done. I do not know how out of character this would be for that time period, but I found it very tasteful and believable.

As you justly notice, Eponine is not a simple character. At that moment in the story, I was also confused about her behavior, but you will get this answer further in the novel - Hugo is very good at planning, and eventually all loose threads come together. Murakami is definitely not the literary follower of Hugo - he likes to leave many things unanswered. I enjoyed reading both books, but they are quite different.

Zulfiya wrote: "Hugo is very good at planning, and eventually all loose threads come together. Murakami is definitely not the literary follower of Hugo - he likes to leave many things unanswered. I enjoyed reading both books, but they are quite different."

Yes, it was quite the contrast to be reading these two books at the same time!