This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Paul A: I've taken this out:
- The Flaming Cobra Sugar Cellar (Javert pursuing the reformed Valjean for a minor infraction, while he generally ignores career criminals like the Thénardiers)
Not really true in the original novel. Javert pursues everybody; he doesn't believe in "minor infractions". (Speaking of Thénardier, Javert goes after him at least twice in the novel, at one point arresting him and getting him slung in prison.)
And left this in, but felt moved to comment (and am virtuously avoiding Conversation In The Main Page):
- Author Filibuster : Almost half of the book is Hugo exposing directly his thoughts about the ills of society, history (mostly the first half of the 19th century), the struggle for democracy and many other subjects. Sometimes, there are no mentions of the main characters of the novel for a hundred pages. It is fortunate for the reader that Victor Hugo's thoughts are extremely interesting, well-written and ahead of their time.
I've actually read an edition of Les Miserables where the editor moved the completely irrelevant chapter-long essays out of the main text and made them appendices. It didn't help as much as you might think: it turns out that there are only two of them. All the rest mention, somewhere in the midst of the discursive rambling, something that the reader actually needs to know to follow the story.
Saboteuse:
- Holier Than Thou Subverted in that the Bishop of Digne is really, really, really, really nice and actually ends up causing Valjean to do a Heel–Face Turn. The subversion is also tempered by the fact that the emphasis is on earthly good and basic humaneness.
Paul A: A Subverted Trope is when it appears at first that the trope is being used, and then it turns out that it isn't. For instance, a subversion of Holier Than Thou would be if it looks like the Bishop is going to turn out to be a bad person, but in the end it turns out he really was a good person all along.
Les Miserables doesn't do that: it's made clear up-front that the Bishop is a good person, and it's never suggested that he isn't. It's not so much subverting the trope as it is not actually using the trope in the first place.
Saboteuse: My bad! I meant "Averted." I know the difference; just wasn't thinking. I appreciate you being the de facto guardian of the page, by the way.
Zeppelin: Took out:
- Magnificent Bastard (Javert. C'mon.)
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Javert. Just...Javert.
Bryndon: I wanted to put this here, first -
Wall Banger: in the version of the movie with Liam Neeson and Geoffery Rush, Javert writes a mysterious note in his diary before his final talk with Valjean. He gives his guards the book to be given to his direct superior, the Prefect of Police in Paris. Its not said what this note is, but Javert pulls his gun on Valjean right before his guards leave before handcuffing himself as he had just handcuffed Valjean and throwing himself into the river below as soon as they are out of sight. This leaves a few important questions: what happens when Javert doesn't turn up for work tomorrow? His colleagues have all been shown to find him intolerable, but they'd probably hate a cop-killer more. More importantly, what did Javert write in his diary that would convince his superiors to call off the hunt? - "Javert's Journal, Day 1: This city is afraid of me. Chasing Valjean. Day 3: Chasing Valjean. Day 99: Chasing Valjean. Day 100: Dear sir, please don't worry about me: have decided to fake Valjean's death, substituting my body for his. I will be taking a personal day." It seems far more likely that it was something like "mumble mumble fish. Valjean's address is as follows. Have decided to eliminate myself to avoid tripping over own feet any more."
