Great White North: The Annotated Les Miserables: Weeks 8 & 9

So....about three years ago maybe four, I decided to try and read this monster. I failed, more than once. But now I'm back and more focused. I've even got a schedule going. And considering how I started off posting annotations I thought I should see it through.

If you're planning on reading this book for yourself I would suggest not reading any further if you don't want the book to be spoiled.

Start from the Beginning

Weeks 10 and 11

Pont-a-Mousson - An industrial town situated on the Moselle River. It contains several historical monuments including ones from the 18th century.

Charles Joseph Edouard Potier - (1806-1870) A 19th century French actor and playwright. He acted at the Theatre des Varietes, the Theatre du Palais-Royal and at the Theatre des Folies-Dramatiques. His plays were presented on various Parisian stages.

Theatre des Varietes - It was created by Marguerite Brunet. She was imprisoned for debt in 1803 by decree in 1806, she and her company were ordered to leave the Theatre du Palais-Royal. At the time that theater was called the name "Varietes." She didn't like having to leave and in 1807 she got an audience with Napoleon and received help and protection. Then she founded the new theatre.

By Arturo Michelena

Simon Bolivar - (1783-1830) He was Venezuelan involved in both the military and in politics, helping to establish Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama as sovereign states. Growing up he spent some time in Europe where he was introduced to ideas from the Enlightenment, giving him the ideas of replacing the Spanish as rulers of several countries. He was President of Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru and Gran Colombia.

Pablo Morillo y Morillo - He was a Spanish general that participated in the Battle of Trafalgar and fought against Bonaparte in the Peninsular War. After the war he was appointed Expedition Commander and General Captain of the Provinces of Venezuela. He then had to fight in a military campaign against Simon Bolivar's revolutionary armies. He would later meet Bolivar in Santa Ana when negotiating a six month truce.

"Curiosity is a form of gluttony: to see is to devour."

Eau de vie - Aka "water of life", it's known as a clear, colourless fruit brandy made by fermentation and double distillation. It typically has a very light taste.

"An insult to me may be said to be my property. I can do what I like with it."

Peremptory - (esp. of a person's manner or actions) Insisting on immediate attention or obedience, esp. in a brusquely imperious way

Bas-reliefs - a kind of sculpture in which shapes are carved so that they are only slightly higher than the flat background

Rheims - It was founded by the Gauls and became a major city during the Roman Empire. It was also important because it was the traditional site where the kings of France where crowned. The Cathedral of Rheims is where the ceremony would take place. It also housed the Holy Ampulla containing consecrated oil allegedly brought by a white dove to the baptism of Clovis in 496. This oil was important for the anointing, the most important part of the coronation ceremony.

Professor Laennec - (1781-1826) Aka Rene-Theophile-Hyacinthe-Laennec. He was a French physician responsible for inventing the stethoscope in 1819 and pioneered its use in diagnosing various chest conditions. He developed the understanding of peritonitis and cirrhosis. He coined the term melanoma and described metastases of melanoma to the lungs.

Auscultation - It's listening to the internal sounds of the body, usually using a stethoscope. It's performed in order to examine the circulatory, respiratory and gastrointestinal systems.

Simon-pure - Genuinely and thoroughly pure. Superficially or hypocritically pure.

Assizes - A trial session, civil or criminal, held periodically in specific locations by a judge of a superior court. An inquest before members of a jury or assessors; a judicial inquiry.

Chary - Cautious; wary; Not giving or expending freely; sparing

Patois-speaking - It's non-standard French and regional languages such as Piard, Occitan, Franco-Provencal and Catalan. Many vernacular forms of English spoken in the Caribbean are referred to as Patois. Other examples are Trasianka, Sheng and Tsotsitaal.

Jean Massieu - (1772-1846) He was a pioneering deaf educator. He taught at the famous school for the deaf in Paris where Laurent Clerc was one of his students. He later founded a deaf school in Lille, France.

Mairie - Mayor's office; town hall

"Nothing discernible to the eye of the spirit is more brilliant or obscure than man; nothing is more formidable, complex, mysterious, and infinite. There is a prospect greater than the sea, and it is the sky; there is a prospect greater than the sky, and it is the human soul."

Sophistry - Plausible but fallacious argumentation. A plausible but misleading or fallacious argument.

"The infinite space that each man carries within himself wherein despairingly he contrasts the movements of his spirit with the acts of his life is an overpowering thing."

"Dante Alighieri found himself one day at a fateful doorway which he hesitated to enter We too are confronted by such a doorway, an we too must hesitate but enter none the less."

Quixotry - A wild, visionary idea, an eccentric notion or act; a quixotism.

Recidivist - Repeated or habitual relapse, as into crime. The chronic tendency towards repetition of criminal or antisocial behaviour patterns.