To: Bob (Media Mouse)
Bob, here are a few reviews for you as promised. I think I have a couple more in me that I'm not thinking of right now, but I'll send them along as I think of them. You'll notice that:
1) All of my reviews are novels. However I think as we develop our book review section could comprise a wide variety of both fiction and non-fiction
2) I'm kind of hogging the classics a bit, and someone else on Media Mouse (or connected to Media Mouse) could probably write a better review of several of these books. But, I think it might even be cool to include more than one review on a given book if more than one person is interested in reviewing it. That way we could get different takes on stuff. These are just my takes.
3) I hope it's not too much trouble to copy--paste out of hotmail. I'm not good at using attachments. If it is too much trouble, just let me know, and I'll figure this attachment thing out. Peace.
Author: Victor Hugo
Book: Les Miserables
Victor Hugo's classic, "Les Miserables" has become so popular in mainstream society that it may seem strange to claim this book as a piece of radical literature. And in truth there is little in it that is radical by today's standards. Although Victor Hugo did deal with themes of political rebellion in this classic, religious ideas and the theme of redemption are more dominant in the work.
Nevertheless, the book is not without political relevance. Victor Hugo, who himself became a nominal socialist in old age, was no stranger to the political world. He was expelled from France after resisting Napoleon III's coup d'etat, and wrote "Les Miserables" in exile.
Anarchist-feminist Louise Michel, arguable the most famous figure associated with the Paris Commune, considered Victor Hugo her childhood hero. She referred to herself as Enjolas, after the fictional leader at the barricades from "Les Miserables" and she was even sexually involved with Victor Hugo when he returned to Paris.
Victor Hugo himself was not involved in the Paris Commune, but earned the anger of the conservative bourgeois by pleading for leniency once the Commune fell. It was because of this stance that an angry mob smashed the windows of his house one night shouting "down with Jean Valjean" (again, another reference to a fictional character from "Les Miserables", this time the protagonist).
Through the fictional ABC club in "Les Miserables" Victor Hugo offers a glimpse into the world of the Paris radicals of 1832. Granted this was in a time when republican ideals by themselves were enough to be considered radical, but there are references to other causes. For instance, one of the revolutionaries is obsessed with the idea of freedom for the Polish people, even though he is not Polish himself. This is a reflection of a time when Justice for the Polish people was the darling cause of European radicals. Mikhail Bakunin himself, when he was first becoming involved in politics, was swept into this cause and gave speeches to the Polish exile community.
Many would be readers are intimidated by the length of Les Miserables. However, large sections of the book have no relevance to the plot, and can safely be skimmed over, making the book not as long as it seems. Many readers are happy with an abridged version of Les Miserables. However many, like myself, can never read an abridged book without an uncomfortable feeling that they might be missing something important. For this reason I recommend investing in an unbridged copy, and simply skimming over the irrelevant parts. This allows the reader to be the editor, instead of having the publisher decide which portions of the book are worthwhile.
Besides which, some of the tangents Victor Hugo goes off on might actually be worth reading, such as the passages describing the problem of inequality in Paris. On the other hand, the long passages he uses to describe some of the architecture can probably be painlessly skipped over. The reader should just use their own discretion.
Finally, this review would probably not be complete without some mention of the various sequels to "Les Miserables" floating around. The most widely circulated one is probably "Cosette" by Laura Kalpakian. The book deals with the surviving characters from "Les Miserables" as participate in the 1848 revolution and live through the following coup by Napoleon the III, and the repression of radicals that followed. No doubt the period covered is a fascinating time in French History, but Kalpakian pales in comparison with Victor Hugo. The attempt to recapture the drama of the original "Les Miserables" results in a somewhat cheesy and melodramatic storyline. Nonetheless as there appears to be a shortage of English historical novels covering this period, I suggest anyone interested in this period might do well to at least try out "Cosette", but keep your expectations low.
Author: Tom Wolfe
Books: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Radical Chic, Mau Mauing the Flack Catcher,
I apologize first of all for including in this radical book review section an author who by his own admission is a conservative. However, while one might disagree with Tom Wolfe on ideological points, one has to admit he does a good job of painting a vivid picture of his subject matter.
The three works I have read by Tom Wolfe, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test", "Radical Chic" and "Mau Mauing the Flack Catcher" (the last two are quite short and usually included in one volume) all deal with the New Left movement of the late 1960s. However Wolfe's books are not love letters to the radicals, as he pokes subtle fun at the New Left participants throughout. Nevertheless, Wolfe's descriptions of the events he describes are so detailed and so vivid that I recommend his books to anyone interested in this time period, provided on reads with a critical mind.
And one could even argue Wolfe makes some good points in his criticisms; for example, when he pokes fun at government bureaucracy and wealthy liberals who enjoy the prestige of hanging out with the Black Panthers. However it should be noted that Wolfe always chooses easy targets for his barbs.
"The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" is about Ken Kesey (author of "One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest") who travels around with his band of Merry Pranksters, and experiments with LSD. Most of the book is more cultural in nature than political, but there are interesting sections about the uneasy alliance between the hedonistic minded counter-culture and the politically minded New Left.
"Radical Chic" is a description of a party hosted by Leonard Bernstein to raise money for the Black Panthers. It is an interesting commentary on rich liberals who, Wolfe believes, are into radical politics because of the image, and not because of conviction. The primary focus of Wolfe's satire are the rich liberals, but he manages to take a few jabs at the Black Panthers as well. However, because of the detail in which Wolfe describes the event, this book should be read by anyone interested in the Black Panthers, provided this is not used as the only source on the Black Panthers.
And "Mau Mauing the Flack Catcher" is about organized militant minority groups, and the strategies they use to try and manipulate government bureaucracy. Again, some of what Wolfe says should be taken with a grain of salt, but I enjoyed this book the most out of the three, and often found myself laughing at Wolfe's satire.
Author: George Orwell
Books: 1984, Animal Farm, Keep the Aspidistra Flying
Because he is primarily known as an anti-communist, George Orwell was the darling of the political right all through the Cold War. However, while George Orwell was appalled by Stalinist style communism, he never gave up on democratic socialists ideas, and for this reason he has also been popular in anarchist circles.
His two most famous books, "1984" and "Animal Farm" both deal with thinly veiled allegories to the Soviet Union. However most of the criticism made in these books could be applied to any type of totalitarian government. Orwell also criticizes, through satire, those citizens who are uncritical of what the government tells them to believe.
"1984" is truly brilliant, not only for the political content involved, but Orwell has a writing style that makes him a joy to read. The book explores the nature of totalitarian states, and how they maintain their power. Although all of this is described in an exaggerated fictional context, the general points Orwell makes are sound. Orwell also describes how people react to totalitarian states, whether they comply, seek their own personal liberation, or seek to destroy the entire system. Orwell gives examples of all three reactions through his characters.
"Keep the Aspidistra Flying" is one of Orwell's lesser known works, but it is not without value. It is the story of Gordon, a man who had success in the advertising industry. However Gordon becomes so appalled by capitalism, and his contribution to it, that he decides to drop out of the whole system and work in a bookshop. The book describes Gordon's struggle to live a happy life in his self-imposed poverty. Although it is always dangerous to assume autobiographical content, much of this book parallels Orwell's own life when he was working in similar circumstances. The book describes a struggle many of us face in different circumstances: How much of our principles are we willing to compromise in order to live in mainstream capitalist society, or should we live out our lives on the outskirts of society? Orwell's ending may be inconclusive, but the question cannot be ignored.
Author: Richard Wright
Book: Black Boy
Richard Wright is certainly a master of English prose, and his books are a pleasure to read no matter what the subject matter is. Therefore when he writes about an interesting subject, it is all the more reason to check out his writings.
"Black Boy" is Richard Wright's autobiography, and is divided into two parts. The first part concerns Richard Wright growing up as an African American in the South during the first part of the 20th Century. This makes for excellent in itself, but the second part of the book is more noteworthy from a radical perspective.
In the second part, Wright moves to Chicago in the 1930s. It is there that he encounters the Communist party. Wright is impressed with the communist party's dedication to the cause of civil rights for African Americans, and so enlists. It is, for the most part, a very sympathetic portrait of the Communist party, even though at the end of the book Wright leaves the Communist party thoroughly frustrated. As Wright becomes more involved in the Communist part, he realizes how authoritarian the party is, and how there is no room for dispute within the party itself. In short, the book captures both the good and bad points of the Communist party: the dedication for equality is mentioned right alongside of the authoritarian structure.
[Editor's note: Unfortunately none of these reviews ever saw the light of day on Media Mouse's web-page. I never heard back after sending them over, so I'm not sure what happened.
Most of the things we had discussed for the Media Mouse web page at that time never happened, so I suspect the web master just got either burnt out or distracted by other projects. No doubt the fact that September 11th happened a few days after this e-mail was a factor in most of our old projects fading away, and a change of focus.
A few years later, however, Media Mouse did start up a book-review project on their site. It was clear from the wonkish style of books being reviewed that they were interested in books with detailed policy analysis, not just novels by writers with vague left-leaning sentiments (as I had sent them).
Nevertheless, despite the fact that these reviews never saw the light of day, I have, over -the past- few - years-, gotten several other book reviews published on their webpage. ]
Showing posts with label Victor Hugo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Victor Hugo. Show all posts
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Louise Michel by Edith Thomas
(Book Review)Louise Michel was one of the leading figures in the Paris Commune, and afterwards became one of the leading figures in the early anarchist movement.
Because of her polemical role in history, Louise Michel is one of those historical figures always made out to be either a demon or a saint by biographers, but seldom given a balanced treatment.
Which is why Edith Thomas offers a refreshing take on the life of Louise Michel. Although Edith Thomas is sympathetic to Louise Michel, the Paris Commune, and the anarchist tradition, she fortunately does not believe in hagiography or making saints out of revolutionary heroes. Edith Thomas comes down very hard on Louise Michel on a number of points.
Edith Thomas's criticisms vary from the trivial to the serious. On the trivial side, she notes that throughout her life Louise Michel consistently lied about her age. ("Whether sparring with the judicial system or providing biographical data under calmer circumstances, Louise consistently claimed to have been born in 1836, rather than (as was the case) 1830. This is a traditional practice on the part of beautiful women, but a curious indulgence by a plain woman who--as we shall see-- was never preoccupied by affairs of the heart.")
Another recurring theme throughout the biography is Louise Michel's graphomaniac nature, and her compulsion to constantly write poems and novels. And no literary critic could be harder on Louise Michel than Edith Thomas. (She calls Michel's novels unreadable.)
On the more serious side, Edith Thomas points out that Louise Michel, despite her romantic dreams of revolution, really understood very little of the socialist or anarchist economics she dedicated her life to.
And, like many political celebrities, Louise Michel could be a bit of a sensationalist seeker, and loved the media lime light a little too much.
And yet inspite of all this, it is impossible not to admire Louise Michel when reading Thomas's biography. Louise Michel always gave away everything she had. She worked herself tirelessly for the anarchist cause even after the onset of old age. When a crazed rightest tried to kill her during a speaking engagement, she forgave her attempted assassin and even intervened in the courts to save him. And until her death all the European governments were so frightened of this little old lady that she had an escort of police spies follow her everywhere. (The only exception being England, which she much preferred because the government at the time had a much more relaxed attitude towards political refugees and radicals).
Although Louise Michel is most famous for her role in the Paris Commune, the entire Paris Commune ordeal (from the initial revolution, to the final trial of the revolutionaries) occupies a comparatively small part of the book. Over half of the book deals with Louise Michel's life after she returned from exile and became a leader in France's anarchist scene.
(As Edith Thomas notes in the introduction, one of the things that makes Louise Michel such a fascinating figure is that old age never seemed to slow her down. She continued leading demonstrations and speaking in political clubs until her death at close to 80.)
Therefore this book may be somewhat disappointing for those interested in a detailed history of the Paris Commune, but it does provide an interesting look at the anarchist movement in Europe in the 1880s and 90s. Although the author never takes her spotlight off Michel, glimpses are given of the first May Day demonstration in France (at which Louise Michel was prominent) the anarchist era of dynamite in the 1890s, the Dreyfus affair, and how it split the anarchist community in France, and the Russian revolution of 1905, and the excitement it caused among all European radicals. Figures like Emma Goldman and Peter Kropotkin also make small appearances.
Louise also had several friends in more mainstream politics, such as writer and politician Victor Hugo (with whom Louise had a rumored sexual liaison. Thomas explores this rumor in the book).
And George Clemenceau (later to become prime Minister of France during World War I) who supported Louise financially several times throughout her life.
I have two quibbles with this book, and both have to do with the publisher rather than the author.
First of all there is no index, which makes it hard to keep track of some of the characters wandering in and out of Louise Michel's story.
Secondly the translator for this book chose not to translate any of the poems in English. (This is a bigger deal than it sounds like, considering how many of Louise Michel's poems are quoted in the book. Not to mention poems about Louise by Victor Hugo and Paul Verlaine.) I can't tell you how much I hate this kind of thing. If I could read French, I wouldn't have bought the translated version of this book.
(To add insult to injury, the translator has an introduction in which she apologies for translating street names into English, and adds: "I have based my own [translation choice] on one simple assumption: most people who read a translation do so because they do not speak the language of the original publication"...And then she leaves untranslated verse on pretty much every page of the text).
This book review has also been printed at Media Mouse
Link of the Day
Via Tom From Guam, Pentagon Confirms It Sought To Build A 'Gay Bomb'
Louise Michel by Edith Thomas: Book Review (Scripted)
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Japan E-mails: Aug 16, 2001
(Retrospection)
More old e-mails from Japan (in the pre-blogging days). On Aug. 16 I sent out 3 e-mails: a few book recommendations to a friend, a group e-mail updated, and a brief e-mail to my supervisor, all reproduced here.
The first e-mail has nothing to do with my life in Japan, but since I've been including so many book reviews on this blog recently anyway, I thought I might as well include them in the Retrospection segment as well. (Also this e-mail, the graphomanic way I go about writing it and the way I look for any small opening to launch into a lecture about my own opinions and book reviews, clearly shows that my personality was tailor made for the age of blogging even before blogs became widespread. No wonder I spend so much time on this thing.)
Any books to recommend you ask? Oh, I've got a bunch. That's a dangerous question to ask me.
I'm currently reading "The November 1918 Revolution" series by Alfred Doblin, which I'm enjoying. It concerns the socialist revolution in Germany at the end of World War I. Doblin mixes historical characters such as Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht with his own fictional characters. The historical parts of the book are great. Doblin is vivid in his descriptions, and he also makes fun of a lot of the historical characters which brings a refreshing humor to the story. Of course, if you're not familiar with World War I era German history (and let's face it, who is?) then there are a lot of strange names to keep track of. I was a history nerd, so I don't mind keeping track of strange names, but be forewarned.
Unfortunately the fictional characters are not as intriguing as the historical characters. They seem a bit flat, unrealistic, and Doblin's portrayal of his fictional female characters is somewhat dated (to put it nicely). Doblin was a Christian Anarchist, and he primarily uses the fictional sections of his book to flesh out both themes. And he tends to get heavy handed and preachy with both the Christianity and the anarchism.
Anyway, there were four books originally. The first one for some reason was never translated into English, so you have to jump into the middle of the story (which isn't too hard to do, although it does give the series a feeling of incompleteness). The second two books have been translated together into one volume, "A People Betrayed" and the last one is "Karl and Rosa" the book I was racing to finish at the end of the summer. Calvin library interesting enough contains a commentary on these books, but not the actual books themselves. The Grand Rapids public library has both books. (You can also get them online for cheap, which is where I got "A People Betrayed" which I'm currently working through).
Another good book I read this past winter was "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo. The original version is quite long, and Victor Hugo tends to go off for several pages (say 50 pages or so) describing things that are connected with his general themes, but not his story. Many people are happy picking up an abridged version of "Les Miserables" but I have yet to find an abridged version I like. Many abridged version (including all the ones in Calvin's library...I checked) end up cutting out pieces of the narrative as well as the digressions. If you don't care about missing bits and pieces of the story, go ahead and get an abridged version. If you tend to be uptight about missing details, like I am, then just check out the unabridged version, and skim over the parts that aren't important. I think this is best because it allows the reader to become the editor, rather than having someone else make these decisions for you. And once you get started, you'll figure out pretty quick which sections of this book can be safely skimmed over.
I also read "1984" recently. I imagine you've already read this, but if you haven't run to the library right now and get a copy. It's a must read. I can't recommend it enough.
***********************************
Greetings from Japan. I hope all is well back home (or where ever you are) and I hope to hear back from all of you as to what has been happening in your lives.
I'm here in a little mountain town in Southern Japan called Ajimu. I've been here for a little over a week now, and getting to know my way around and getting to know a few of the local people as well. (Although the names are killing me. I was bad enough with names back in the States, but Japanese names are so unfamiliar to me that I have trouble remembering a single one of them. and to make it worse, everyone seems to remember my name.)
But lest I sound too bitter, I really am having a good time here so far. There are not too many other English speakers around. There's one other guy from New Zealand here, and that's it. so I'm trying to pick up a bit of Japanese.
School hasn't started yet, but because of the emphasis on teamwork here, I have to show up anyway, even though there is not much for me to do. It's not too bad though. It's a bit of a rough change from my workaholic lifestyle back in the United States, but I'm adjusting slowly. During my free time at the office I do e-mail (like the one you're reading right now), study my Japanese, and I've been trying to pursue my interest in the Japanese peace movement. My Japanese supervisor has been helpful in helping me find books on the Japanese peace movement, which I've been reading through, but there are so few of them in English. But I read whatever I get my hands on.
This week is the o-bon festival for the spirits of the dead. People have been trying to teach me the 0-bon dance, but you know me, I'm not very good at anything that is choreographed, and my feet are too big to be graceful.
Let me know how all of you are doing, and take care for your health.
******************************************************
Email to my Japanese supervisor:
Thank you very much for you help in locating books for me. I know it's very hard to find English books on the subject. I had the same problem back in Michigan when I was writing my college paper on the Japanese Peace Movement. It is a shame, because there are so many English books on the Japanese Wars, but so few on the peace movement. I think people should study peace movements as much as military history. I hope to learn a lot while I'm here, and bring the knowledge back home to the United States when I leave Japan.
Link of the Day
Now that we've got internet in our apartment, I'm engaged in the continuing struggle to use it for productive purposes instead of wasting time. So far my track record has not been good.
With that in mind I'm not sure if I'm doing the world any good by providing more time wasting links, but recently I've been spending a lot of time on TV Links. (And I do realize that some of you are way ahead of me on this one, but it's been a new discovery for me the past couple weeks. And maybe there are a few other people out there who don't know about it yet).
In particular I recommend: The U.S. vs John Lennon. (I reviewed this a while back, but if you still haven't gotten around to seeing it, now you have no excuse).
Also this BBC program Japanorama documents some of the more bizarre aspects of life in Japan. (Some of this I could identify with, some of it refers to things more focused in Tokyo and the other big cities, and not so much the countryside).
Video Version
More old e-mails from Japan (in the pre-blogging days). On Aug. 16 I sent out 3 e-mails: a few book recommendations to a friend, a group e-mail updated, and a brief e-mail to my supervisor, all reproduced here.
The first e-mail has nothing to do with my life in Japan, but since I've been including so many book reviews on this blog recently anyway, I thought I might as well include them in the Retrospection segment as well. (Also this e-mail, the graphomanic way I go about writing it and the way I look for any small opening to launch into a lecture about my own opinions and book reviews, clearly shows that my personality was tailor made for the age of blogging even before blogs became widespread. No wonder I spend so much time on this thing.)
Any books to recommend you ask? Oh, I've got a bunch. That's a dangerous question to ask me.
I'm currently reading "The November 1918 Revolution" series by Alfred Doblin, which I'm enjoying. It concerns the socialist revolution in Germany at the end of World War I. Doblin mixes historical characters such as Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht with his own fictional characters. The historical parts of the book are great. Doblin is vivid in his descriptions, and he also makes fun of a lot of the historical characters which brings a refreshing humor to the story. Of course, if you're not familiar with World War I era German history (and let's face it, who is?) then there are a lot of strange names to keep track of. I was a history nerd, so I don't mind keeping track of strange names, but be forewarned.
Unfortunately the fictional characters are not as intriguing as the historical characters. They seem a bit flat, unrealistic, and Doblin's portrayal of his fictional female characters is somewhat dated (to put it nicely). Doblin was a Christian Anarchist, and he primarily uses the fictional sections of his book to flesh out both themes. And he tends to get heavy handed and preachy with both the Christianity and the anarchism.
Anyway, there were four books originally. The first one for some reason was never translated into English, so you have to jump into the middle of the story (which isn't too hard to do, although it does give the series a feeling of incompleteness). The second two books have been translated together into one volume, "A People Betrayed" and the last one is "Karl and Rosa" the book I was racing to finish at the end of the summer. Calvin library interesting enough contains a commentary on these books, but not the actual books themselves. The Grand Rapids public library has both books. (You can also get them online for cheap, which is where I got "A People Betrayed" which I'm currently working through).
Another good book I read this past winter was "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo. The original version is quite long, and Victor Hugo tends to go off for several pages (say 50 pages or so) describing things that are connected with his general themes, but not his story. Many people are happy picking up an abridged version of "Les Miserables" but I have yet to find an abridged version I like. Many abridged version (including all the ones in Calvin's library...I checked) end up cutting out pieces of the narrative as well as the digressions. If you don't care about missing bits and pieces of the story, go ahead and get an abridged version. If you tend to be uptight about missing details, like I am, then just check out the unabridged version, and skim over the parts that aren't important. I think this is best because it allows the reader to become the editor, rather than having someone else make these decisions for you. And once you get started, you'll figure out pretty quick which sections of this book can be safely skimmed over.
I also read "1984" recently. I imagine you've already read this, but if you haven't run to the library right now and get a copy. It's a must read. I can't recommend it enough.
***********************************
Greetings from Japan. I hope all is well back home (or where ever you are) and I hope to hear back from all of you as to what has been happening in your lives.
I'm here in a little mountain town in Southern Japan called Ajimu. I've been here for a little over a week now, and getting to know my way around and getting to know a few of the local people as well. (Although the names are killing me. I was bad enough with names back in the States, but Japanese names are so unfamiliar to me that I have trouble remembering a single one of them. and to make it worse, everyone seems to remember my name.)
But lest I sound too bitter, I really am having a good time here so far. There are not too many other English speakers around. There's one other guy from New Zealand here, and that's it. so I'm trying to pick up a bit of Japanese.
School hasn't started yet, but because of the emphasis on teamwork here, I have to show up anyway, even though there is not much for me to do. It's not too bad though. It's a bit of a rough change from my workaholic lifestyle back in the United States, but I'm adjusting slowly. During my free time at the office I do e-mail (like the one you're reading right now), study my Japanese, and I've been trying to pursue my interest in the Japanese peace movement. My Japanese supervisor has been helpful in helping me find books on the Japanese peace movement, which I've been reading through, but there are so few of them in English. But I read whatever I get my hands on.
This week is the o-bon festival for the spirits of the dead. People have been trying to teach me the 0-bon dance, but you know me, I'm not very good at anything that is choreographed, and my feet are too big to be graceful.
Let me know how all of you are doing, and take care for your health.
******************************************************
Email to my Japanese supervisor:
Thank you very much for you help in locating books for me. I know it's very hard to find English books on the subject. I had the same problem back in Michigan when I was writing my college paper on the Japanese Peace Movement. It is a shame, because there are so many English books on the Japanese Wars, but so few on the peace movement. I think people should study peace movements as much as military history. I hope to learn a lot while I'm here, and bring the knowledge back home to the United States when I leave Japan.
Link of the Day
Now that we've got internet in our apartment, I'm engaged in the continuing struggle to use it for productive purposes instead of wasting time. So far my track record has not been good.
With that in mind I'm not sure if I'm doing the world any good by providing more time wasting links, but recently I've been spending a lot of time on TV Links. (And I do realize that some of you are way ahead of me on this one, but it's been a new discovery for me the past couple weeks. And maybe there are a few other people out there who don't know about it yet).
In particular I recommend: The U.S. vs John Lennon. (I reviewed this a while back, but if you still haven't gotten around to seeing it, now you have no excuse).
Also this BBC program Japanorama documents some of the more bizarre aspects of life in Japan. (Some of this I could identify with, some of it refers to things more focused in Tokyo and the other big cities, and not so much the countryside).
Video Version
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo
(Book Review)This is another one of those books that has been on my reading list forever, and I picked it up several times before in the past before finally getting around to finishing it now. (For example, I listed it as a book I was reading in this blog post way back here, although in truth I got less than 50 pages into it back then).
Like a lot of classic books, then isn't a bad read at all, but it's not written in the modern style and therefore requires a bit of discipline to get started before you get hooked by the plot. If you can make it past the first 50 pages, you'll be hooked.
Although to be honest, I think it also helped that I'm a little bit more knowledgeable about the French Revolution than I was a couple years before. Like "The Gods Will Have Blood", this is a book on the French Revolution by a French author, and so gets a little more into the intricacies of the Revolution than say "A Tale of Two Cities". The book starts out in the middle of the civil war out in provinces in 1793, and the reader is more or less just thrown into the action. It can be a little bit confusing.
The action then swings back to Paris, and if you don't know who Robespierre, Danton, or Marat were, then it is going to get even more confusing. You don't have to be a scholar to understand this book (I'm certainly not), but a passing knowledge of the major figures of the French Revolution is certainly helpful.
Victor Hugo published this book in 1874, shortly after the Paris Commune, which is one of the reasons usually given for why this book never became as successful or as well known as some of his other classics; the theory being that after the events of the Paris Commune the French public was in no mood for a book which idealized the turbulent times of the original French Revolution.
(Victor Hugo himself, although his radical legacy is often forgotten these days, was one of the leaders of the movement for amnesty of the Paris Communards, for which he once had his house stoned by a conservative mob. He wrote poems about the Commune martyrs, and he had a long friendship (and rumored sexual liaison) with Louise Michel, the most famous of the Commune revolutionaries.)
In fact the quick eyed reader can catch a couple of passing references to the Paris Commune of 1871, such as when Victor Hugo talks about how men were buried alive in the fighting of 1793, and then adds "we have seen a return to this recently" ( a reference to the Paris Communards, who were thrown into mass graves and buried alive by the Versailles forces).
But passing references to the Paris Commune are just that: brief and passing. This is a book about 1793.
Although it has been several years since I read "Les Miserables", I remember one of the major themes of that book was the legacy of the French Revolution, and whether it was possible to separate the ideals of the revolution from its excesses. Needless to say this is a theme Hugo continues even more so in "Ninety-Three".
(Here again a little digression might be in order, because I have noticed in conversation that many people who are familiar with "Les Miserables" only through the Broadway musical seem to think the barricade scene at the end of that book takes place during the French Revolution. It does not. In addition to what we think of as THE French Revolution (1789-1793), France also underwent 3 other revolutions in the 19th Century: 1830, 1848, and 1871 (the Paris Commune).
But revolutions do not come out of nowhere, and so in the years in between major revolutions there were growing tensions, street demonstrations, and occasionally failed uprisings. The barricade scene in "Les Miserables" takes place during one of these failed uprisings in 1832, an incident so minor it doesn't usually even make the history books. Which is of course part of the tragedy of the story.)
Many other parts of "Ninety Three" are also reminiscent of "Les Miserables". The revolutionary and former priest Cimourdian, whose strict sense of justice and duty forbid any forms of mercy, is very similar to Javert.
As in "Les Miserables" the characters advocating cold justice are contrasted against other characters using mercy and forgiveness. But in "Ninety Three" Hugo adds an interesting twist. Whereas the Bishops kindness towards Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables" produces good results, in "Ninety Three" a beggar risks his life to shelter an aristocrat, only to regret it later when the aristocrat goes on to commit terrible atrocities.
And as with "Les Miserables", Hugo goes off on a few of his famous digressions at points. Fear not, however, they are not as long as the digressions in "Les Miserables" and, in my opinion, this time around they have more relation to the plot. But you just need to forgive him if in the middle of the story Hugo spends 10 pages talking about the Breton forests, or the French Revolutionary Convention.
For the history nerd, Hugo's portrayal of characters like Marat, Danton, and Robespierre are a real treat. When he gets into the sections on the Convention there is a lot of name dropping going on, and I didn't have a clue who most of the people were he was talking about were, but I was still able to appreciate the story.
Although this isn't one of Hugo's better known books, his perception and analysis as a writer are as brilliant as ever. This book is packed with brilliant observations and quotes. I actually wish I had written more of them down as I was reading, because so many of them seem like they would be perfect for framing on the doorway, or using in a paper. My favorite was when he was describing the various personalities of the French Revolution:
"Revolutions have two slopes, ascending and descending, and on these slopes they bear all seasons, from ice to flowers. Each segment of these slopes produces men adapted to its climate, from those who live in sunlight to those who live in lightning."
(As a history major, I think this perfectly describes the way a Revolution works.)
One final note: the edition I have contains an introduction from Ayn Rand who, it turns out, is a huge Victor Hugo fan, despite the latter's socialist leanings. She argues that Victor Hugo's books, in contrast to the Naturalist writers like Emile Zola, show man not as being controlled by his circumstances, but able to rise above them and realize true greatness.
It is an interesting perspective, although parts of "Ninety Three" do appear to directly contradict Rand's thesis at times:
"A Revolution is an act of the Unknown. Call it a good act or a bad act, according to whether you yearn for the future or the past, but leave it to him who did it. It seems to be the joint word of mingled great events and great individuals, but it is actually the resultant of events. Events spend, men pay. Events dictate, men sign....Desmoulins, Danton, Marat, Gregoire and Robespierre are only clerks. The enormous and awesome author of those great pages has a name, God, and a mask, Destiny. Robespierre believed in God. Of course!"
I didn't quote the whole thing, but Hugo goes on in this way a little more. Looking at parts like this, one might think Hugo is in direct opposition to Ayn Rand. And yet when you look at the narrative as a whole, and the greatness that Hugo's characters aspire to, you just might think Ayn Rand has a bit of a point.
Link of the Day
Immigrant Rights Groups Condemn New Senate Proposal To Overhaul Nation's Immigration Laws
Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo: Book Review (Scripted)
Saturday, February 18, 2006
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
Yet another book in which most of us are probably more familiar with the Hollywood version than the actual story. I should say “Hollywood versions” because its been remade several times. Prior to reading the book, I had seen the Disney version and the 1939 version.
The 1939 version as well as I can remember it (I saw it in middle school), sticks very close to the original story. The Disney version was (no surprise) very inaccurate.
Ordinarily I hate it when people criticize Disney movies for accuracy. That whole controversy over “Pocahontas” (remember that?) was just ridiculous. But it is worth noting that the character of Phoebus, who in the Disney version is the dashing hero, is really a cold-hearted jerk in the novel, who tries to seduce Esmeralda, and then does not even try and save her when she is falsely arrested for his attempted murder. I’m surprised they changed the character so dramatically. I mean, that goes beyond changing the novel; it’s like the complete opposite of the novel.
As opposed to the movies, the plot of the novel is actually less about the Hunchback and more about Esmeralda and her lovers. In fact I understand the title of the novel in the original French doesn’t include the word “hunchback.”
Coming on the heels of “I am Charlotte Simmons”, I thought that this novel had some interesting parallels to the modern teen love story. The girl falls passionately in love for the jerk who doesn’t care about her. Only in this case there is no happy ending.
It’s a sad story, and there are a lot of pointless tragic deaths. There’s also a lot of humor in it as well though, mostly towards the beginning, but throughout the book. Most of it comes from Hugo’s dry sarcastic writing style, somewhat similar to Dickens’ humor in “A Tale of Two Cities” (and possibly other books, but that’s the only Dickens I’ve read so far.)
Being a Victor Hugo book, you should expect several lengthy digressions on a lot of tangents, such as the architecture of 14th Century Paris. Anyone who’s already read “Les Miserables” will be prepared for these sorts of Hugo-esque digressions I’m sure.
Also like “Les Miserables” there are a lot of themes about social justice and the plight of the unfortunates. Near the end there is a bit of a popular rebellion, which seems reminiscent of “Les Miserables” as well. I’m not a French historian, but it almost seems to me that Hugo was imposing some of 19th century politics on his 14th century Paris. But I’d be interested in the opinion of someone who knows more.
Link of the Day
Time out for some good old fashioned blogotism: I notice this post I wrote two years ago, "Me and the Snake I found outside", has gotten some attention on the Fukuoka JETs discussion board.
Also
Jared English sent me this link to a video on Asian/Caucasian relationships. If you think it's funny, thank me. if you find it offensive, blame Jared.
Video Version
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
As usual I'm throwing a bunch of diverse subjects under the same blog posting. I guess you're used to that by now.
I screw up singing performance
Graduation is still a month off, but last week we had a special ceremony last week in which all the younger students sang to the 9th grade students, and then the teachers sing to the 9th grade students, and then the 9th grade students sing back to the rest of the school. It's supposed to be a real moving performance, and the some of the other teachers were upset that the 9th grade students didn't take it seriously enough.
And I'm afraid I didn't help. The teachers were practicing their song after school, and I couldn't be bothered to stay after school to practice them. Not that I don't ever stay after school. In fact I've been doing that quite frequently lately (we'll come to that shortly), but no one gives me advanced notice on these things. So I've got all my books packed up and I'm heading out the door and totally in my "I'm going home" mood, and then someone will say, "Oh, Joel, we're practicing our singing this afternoon. Do you want to stay for it?" And I'll just say I was kind of going home, and besides I have Japanese class in the evenings (which is true) so I just said I'll sit the singing performance out.
But, when the actual day came, the vice-principal thought it was important that I should be standing up with the other teachers even if I couldn't sing the song. The students were very excited to see me take the stage. What can I say, it's easy to be popular in Japan.
The song was in Japanese, and although other teachers had music with them, I had nothing. So I just sort of mumbled along while trying to look over at another teacher's music. The students were beginning to laugh already at this point. I made eye contact with a few in the front row and just winked or shrugged my shoulders, because it was perfectly obvious that I didn't know what was going on anyway. And then came the part of the song that was accompanied by motions, and I had to look around me to see what motions the other teachers were doing and tried to follow it, and I was always one step behind. And that part just brought the house down. Students were laughing so hard some fell out of their seats. Well, you know Junior High School kids, it's easy to make them laugh.
So, it's nice to be popular. I did worry somewhat that my fellow teachers had been practicing this song for a long time, and I just showed up on the performance day and stole the show. I'm not sure if any of them were resentful of that or not, but like I said they did later chew out the 9th grade students for not taking the singing seriously enough.
Busy at School Lately
This week and next week are entrance examinations for students who want to go to high school. High School is not compulsory education in Japan, and in fact after 9th grade the students all go to different High Schools, which they carefully choose, and then have to take tests to get into. It's somewhat like going to University for us.
One of my students wants to go to a high school that has an English interview for an examination test. So, I've been staying after school last week and this week to practice with her. In fact, last week I ended up post poning my trip to Kyushu by one day because my Japanese colleague wanted me to stay after school and work with this student.
Also, during Spring Break we will be having a group of junior high school students from California here on an exchange program. I've been asked to help out with it, which will cut into my spring break when the time comes, and is also meaning after school meetings now.
I've had a bit of experience doing these exchanges before during my stay in Ajimu. There somewhat fun to do because they allow me to feel important as someone who helps to guide translate. I just wish it didn't cut into my free time so much. Also I'm somewhat worried that, as happened with the Australian Rotary club exchange last year, my presence will be a bit superficial, all the translating will be taken care of by people who are better than me, and I'll just be along for the ride and wasting time.
North Korean Versus Japan Soccer Match
Big sports news here last week was the North Korean Japan soccer match. There is always a lot of tension between Japan and North Korea, and sometimes it is difficult to separate sports and politics. The Japan times had an article to that effect here.
Not many people in Japan like North Korea. And with good reason. Certainly no reasonable person in the world favors the North Korean regime, and Japan has a number of legitimate grievances against North Korea, such as the abduction issue which always gets a lot of press in Japan. But relations between Japan and Korea have been hostile for so long that sometimes it is hard to tell where anti-communism stops and anti-Korean begins. Evidence of this is the attacks on children who attend North Korean schools within Japan.
Of course as I write this I am thinking that currently Japan is in a midst of a Korean boom, where all things South Korean are extremely popular. So things are complicated of course, and to go into all the nuances would take a lot of writing, and then I'm no expert anyway.
But I went into a bar with some ex-pat friends to watch the game, and it seemed to us that all the Japanese people there were a little too excited to beat North Korea. I briefly pretended I was cheering for North Korea, and no one laughed at that joke.
Even among the ex-patriots things were a bit tense. The next game Japan has to play to qualify for the world cup is against Iran, and one of my friends joked Japan was taking on the axis of evil one by one. At this point another American angrily said it was about soccer, not politics, and it seemed at the time that a fight was close and only adverted by my friend repeatedly apologizing.
Although, since bars are places that are famous for people fighting for no reason, perhaps this story proves nothing.
Media Mouse Starts On-line Book Review Section
Which you can read about here. And apparently they're looking for submissions, if anyone feels like writing.
Perhaps it would be unfair for me to take credit for this, but I did suggest it to them a long time ago. It was just after I came to Japan, and I was looking for ways to stay politically active from abroad. Media Mouse was redoing their website, and I said I could write up some book reviews if they wanted to post them. I sent over a few reviews, but shortly after September 11th happened, and everyone's priorities started to change and suddenly those reviews didn't seem so important anymore.
At any rate, given what kind of book reviews they have posted now, I don't think what I sent over fit their criteria anyway. I reviewed old classics like "1984" and "Les Miserables" and I think they are looking for more recent books and non-fiction.
"Les Miserables" by the way is more of a radical book than people often give it credit, especially since it has become a Broadway musical. But Victor Hugo spent 20 years in exile for defying Napoleon III. His satirical verses on Napoleon III were considered required reading during the Paris Commune. He was later expelled for sheltering some of the Commune revolutionaries.
And the most famous figure from the Paris Commune, Louise Michel, even took to calling herself Enjolras, after the character in "Les Miserables."
I screw up singing performance
Graduation is still a month off, but last week we had a special ceremony last week in which all the younger students sang to the 9th grade students, and then the teachers sing to the 9th grade students, and then the 9th grade students sing back to the rest of the school. It's supposed to be a real moving performance, and the some of the other teachers were upset that the 9th grade students didn't take it seriously enough.
And I'm afraid I didn't help. The teachers were practicing their song after school, and I couldn't be bothered to stay after school to practice them. Not that I don't ever stay after school. In fact I've been doing that quite frequently lately (we'll come to that shortly), but no one gives me advanced notice on these things. So I've got all my books packed up and I'm heading out the door and totally in my "I'm going home" mood, and then someone will say, "Oh, Joel, we're practicing our singing this afternoon. Do you want to stay for it?" And I'll just say I was kind of going home, and besides I have Japanese class in the evenings (which is true) so I just said I'll sit the singing performance out.
But, when the actual day came, the vice-principal thought it was important that I should be standing up with the other teachers even if I couldn't sing the song. The students were very excited to see me take the stage. What can I say, it's easy to be popular in Japan.
The song was in Japanese, and although other teachers had music with them, I had nothing. So I just sort of mumbled along while trying to look over at another teacher's music. The students were beginning to laugh already at this point. I made eye contact with a few in the front row and just winked or shrugged my shoulders, because it was perfectly obvious that I didn't know what was going on anyway. And then came the part of the song that was accompanied by motions, and I had to look around me to see what motions the other teachers were doing and tried to follow it, and I was always one step behind. And that part just brought the house down. Students were laughing so hard some fell out of their seats. Well, you know Junior High School kids, it's easy to make them laugh.
So, it's nice to be popular. I did worry somewhat that my fellow teachers had been practicing this song for a long time, and I just showed up on the performance day and stole the show. I'm not sure if any of them were resentful of that or not, but like I said they did later chew out the 9th grade students for not taking the singing seriously enough.
Busy at School Lately
This week and next week are entrance examinations for students who want to go to high school. High School is not compulsory education in Japan, and in fact after 9th grade the students all go to different High Schools, which they carefully choose, and then have to take tests to get into. It's somewhat like going to University for us.
One of my students wants to go to a high school that has an English interview for an examination test. So, I've been staying after school last week and this week to practice with her. In fact, last week I ended up post poning my trip to Kyushu by one day because my Japanese colleague wanted me to stay after school and work with this student.
Also, during Spring Break we will be having a group of junior high school students from California here on an exchange program. I've been asked to help out with it, which will cut into my spring break when the time comes, and is also meaning after school meetings now.
I've had a bit of experience doing these exchanges before during my stay in Ajimu. There somewhat fun to do because they allow me to feel important as someone who helps to guide translate. I just wish it didn't cut into my free time so much. Also I'm somewhat worried that, as happened with the Australian Rotary club exchange last year, my presence will be a bit superficial, all the translating will be taken care of by people who are better than me, and I'll just be along for the ride and wasting time.
North Korean Versus Japan Soccer Match
Big sports news here last week was the North Korean Japan soccer match. There is always a lot of tension between Japan and North Korea, and sometimes it is difficult to separate sports and politics. The Japan times had an article to that effect here.
Not many people in Japan like North Korea. And with good reason. Certainly no reasonable person in the world favors the North Korean regime, and Japan has a number of legitimate grievances against North Korea, such as the abduction issue which always gets a lot of press in Japan. But relations between Japan and Korea have been hostile for so long that sometimes it is hard to tell where anti-communism stops and anti-Korean begins. Evidence of this is the attacks on children who attend North Korean schools within Japan.
Of course as I write this I am thinking that currently Japan is in a midst of a Korean boom, where all things South Korean are extremely popular. So things are complicated of course, and to go into all the nuances would take a lot of writing, and then I'm no expert anyway.
But I went into a bar with some ex-pat friends to watch the game, and it seemed to us that all the Japanese people there were a little too excited to beat North Korea. I briefly pretended I was cheering for North Korea, and no one laughed at that joke.
Even among the ex-patriots things were a bit tense. The next game Japan has to play to qualify for the world cup is against Iran, and one of my friends joked Japan was taking on the axis of evil one by one. At this point another American angrily said it was about soccer, not politics, and it seemed at the time that a fight was close and only adverted by my friend repeatedly apologizing.
Although, since bars are places that are famous for people fighting for no reason, perhaps this story proves nothing.
Media Mouse Starts On-line Book Review Section
Which you can read about here. And apparently they're looking for submissions, if anyone feels like writing.
Perhaps it would be unfair for me to take credit for this, but I did suggest it to them a long time ago. It was just after I came to Japan, and I was looking for ways to stay politically active from abroad. Media Mouse was redoing their website, and I said I could write up some book reviews if they wanted to post them. I sent over a few reviews, but shortly after September 11th happened, and everyone's priorities started to change and suddenly those reviews didn't seem so important anymore.
At any rate, given what kind of book reviews they have posted now, I don't think what I sent over fit their criteria anyway. I reviewed old classics like "1984" and "Les Miserables" and I think they are looking for more recent books and non-fiction.
"Les Miserables" by the way is more of a radical book than people often give it credit, especially since it has become a Broadway musical. But Victor Hugo spent 20 years in exile for defying Napoleon III. His satirical verses on Napoleon III were considered required reading during the Paris Commune. He was later expelled for sheltering some of the Commune revolutionaries.
And the most famous figure from the Paris Commune, Louise Michel, even took to calling herself Enjolras, after the character in "Les Miserables."
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