It's that time of the year again! Remember to leave out bread and absinthe for Victor Hugo and he will leave you 50 pages on a subject that is off-topic but that he is vaguely interested in. Be safe out there!
made a post a while back on how javert's suicide is often poorly portrayed in film adaptations to the point of accidental comedy, and how the 1978 movie in particular is the most unhinged example. audio warning for a loud trumpet blast, don't turn up your volume
Since it’s come up yet again: no, Victor Hugo was not paid by the word to write Les Misérables, nor any of his other notable works.
While Hugo may have been paid a word rate for his early serialised fiction, by the time of Les Mis’ authorship he was sufficiently famous that he was able to command advance payment in a lump sum.
Indeed, he famously caused his publisher a great deal of anxiety by refusing to discuss how long Les Mis would be, leading to fears that he was planning to turn in a tiny pamphlet-length piece, then take the advance and run. His editors were reportedly extremely surprised at what they actually received!
The reason that Les Mis is the way that it is is because Victor Hugo is just Like That.
Whether you interpret Enjolras as a raging homosexual or a proud aroace lad, I find it a little funny that everyone collectively agrees that man does NOT like women. Sure, it’s explicitly in the text, but usually you’d get at least a few people desperately trying to cope otherwise.