Tag Archives: Victor Hugo

Our Time in the Covid Sewers

By Robin Bates | Published: March 10, 2021

Reading “Les Misérables” while awaiting a Covid shot led me to compare our pandemic experience and Jean Valjean’s trek through the sewers.

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Hugo on Freedom-Loving Insurgents

By Robin Bates | Published: March 2, 2021

To get a sense of protesters in Myanmar, Hong Kong, and elsewhere who are risking their lives, read Hugo’s “Misérables.”

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Hugo on a Nation Catching Its Breath

By Robin Bates | Published: February 22, 2021

In “Les Miserables,” Hugo says France needed a period of quiet following the rambunctious Napoleonic years. Sounds familiar.

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Hugo Describes Trump-Style Resentment

By Robin Bates | Published: February 17, 2021

The toxic mixture of resentment and entitlement found in the Capitol Hill insurrectionists is described by Victor Hugo in “Les Miserables.”

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Les Miz and Trump’s Execution Spree

By Robin Bates | Published: January 3, 2021

As Trump and Barr go on an execution spree, Victor Hugo’s thoughts on the guillotine come to mind.

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The Lit That Inspired Van Gogh

By Robin Bates | Published: May 26, 2020

Writers like Stowe, Dickens, Hugo and Maupassant played a pivotal role in the evolution of Van Gogh as an artist.

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How Notre Dame Was Saved by a Novel

By Robin Bates | Published: April 15, 2019

Tuesday Notre Dame in flames is breaking my heart, along with hearts all over the world. For me, Notre Dame is the soul of Paris, and I remember counting the stairs and wandering around the demon statues when I was 11. My attachment was further cemented when I read Victor Hugo’s novel in French at […]

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A Cradle Yet Shall Save the Earth

By Robin Bates | Published: August 27, 2017

Mark Twain has fun in “Huckleberry Finn” with today’s New Testament reading, which is about Moses being discovered in “the bushrushers.” Victor Hugo also has a charming poem about the incident.

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When It Comes to Culture, Bet on France

By Robin Bates | Published: November 18, 2015

In the wake of the ISIS attacks, France has something to fall back on: its proud literary tradition.

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