A Year of Les Miserables Month in Music

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Les Misérables: A Chapter-by-Chapter Reflection

This is a collection of all of my Les Miserables reflections as I read through the book at the pace of a chapter a day. Reading the novel should take exactly one year and I started on January 1st 2026. Since the structure reflects the layout of the novel, finding a post for a specific chapter should be relatively straight forward.

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Intro Post

Les Miserables: A Chapter A Day

My plan to read through Les Miserables slowly this year and write daily responses as I read

Part One: Fantine

I. An Upright Man

Chapter One - Les Miserables: Monseigneur Myriel

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: Bienvenu

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: Working for the common good

Chapter Four - Les Miserables: Myriel's own way of looking at things

Chapter Five - Les Miserables: Threadbare Cassocks

Chapter Six - Les Miserables: On Beauty & Usefulness

Chapter Seven - Les Miserables: Cravatte

Chapter Eight - Les Miserables: A Philosopher In His Cups

Chapter Nine - Les Miserables: A Sister's Perspective

Chapter Ten - Les Miserables: Shared Humanity

Chapter Eleven - Les Miserables: Luxury & The Arts

Chapter Twelve - Les Miserables: The Loneliness of M. Myriel

Chapter Thirteen - Les Miserables: Myriel's Beliefs

Chapter Fourteen - Les Miserables: What Myriel Thought

II. The Outcast

Chapter One - Les Miserables: We Meet The Outcast

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: That Night in the Bishop's House

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: Monster or Child of God?

Chapter Four - Les Miserables: The Gift of Normalcy

Chapter Five - Les Miserables: Fear & Survival

Chapter Six - Les Miserables: A Broken Window & A Loaf of Bread

Chapter Seven - Les Miserables: A Grain Of Corn Between Two Millstones

Chapter Eight - Les Miserables: Progress and Dispensability

Chapter Nine - Les Miserables: The Yellow Ticket

Chapter Ten - Les Miserables: Temptation and Need

Chapter Eleven - Les Miserables: The Curé, The Criminal & The Crucifix

Chapter Twelve - Les Miserables: Tangible Mercy & Grace

Chapter Thirteen - Les Miserables: Shattered by Grace

III. The In The Year 1817

Chapter One - Les Miserables: An Abrupt Transition

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: Double Foursome

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: Fixated on Beauty

Chapter Four - Les Miserables: The Surprise Awaits

Chapter Five - Les Miserables: A Strange Aside

Chapter Six - Les Miserables: Lies & Adoration

Chapter Seven - Les Miserables: Tholomyès the Fucc Boi

Chapter Eight - Les Miserables: A Dead Horse

Chapter Nine - Les Miserables: A Dreadful Surprise

IV. To Trust Is Sometimes To Surrender

Chapter One - Les Miserables: Fantine & Cosette

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: The Thénardiers

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: Cosette The Lark

V. Degradation

Chapter One - Les Miserables: A Quaint Lesson In Economics

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: The Generosity & Trajectory of Père Madeleine

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: Only Bad Husbandry

Chapter Four - Les Miserables: Is Love an Orbit?

Chapter Five - Les Miserables: We Meet Javert

Chapter Six - Les Miserables: Madeliene Notices Javert's Attention

Chapter Seven - Les Miserables: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Chapter Eight - Les Miserables: Fantine's Demise

Chapter Nine - Les Miserables: A Dark Response

Chapter Ten - Les Miserables: Fantine Hits The Bottom

Chapter Eleven - Les Miserables: In Becoming Dirt, She Has Been Turned To Stone

Chapter Twelve - Les Miserables: Walmart Fuccboi

Chapter Thirteen - Les Miserables: Mercy For Fantine

VI. Javert

Chapter One - Les Miserables: Fates Hang In The Balance

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: The Other Jean Valjean?

VII. The Champmathieu Affair

Chapter One - Les Miserables: Sister Simplice

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: Madeleine's Reaction (from the outside)

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: A War Of Conscience

Chapter Four - Les Miserables: A Strange & Terrifying Dream

Chapter Five - Les Miserables: The Journey To Arras

Chapter Six - Les Miserables: Fantine's Hope & Health

Chapter Seven - Les Miserables: Madeleine's Arrival in Arras

Chapter Eight - Les Miserables: Madeleine Outside The Courtroom

Chapter Nine - Les Miserables: Champmathieu before the court

Chapter Ten - Les Miserables: Madeleine Speaks

Chapter Eleven - Les Miserables: Madeleine Confesses He Is Jean Valjean

VIII. Counter-Stroke

Chapter One - Les Miserables: Madeleine's White Hair

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: Manifold Tensions

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: Javert's Triumphant Justice

Chapter Four - Les Miserables: A Tragic End

Chapter Five - Les Miserables: The Honorable Lies of Sister Simplice

Part Two: Cosette

I. Waterloo

Chapter One - Les Miserables: A Wild Change of Pace

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: Hougomont

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: June 18, 1815

Chapter Four - Les Miserables: The Clear Light of History

Chapter Five - Les Miserables: The Fog of War

Chapter Six - Les Miserables: The Fog Clears

Chapter Seven - Les Miserables: Napoleon's Overconfidence

Chapter Eight - Les Miserables: Napoleon Through The Fog

Chapter Nine - Les Miserables: Napoleon and the Unexpected

Chapter Ten - Les Miserables: A Costly Duel

Chapter Eleven - Les Miserables: Reinforcements and Two Possible Futures

Chapter Twelve - Les Miserables: Leaving It All On The Field

Chapter Thirteen - Les Miserables: Napoleon's Denial

Chapter Fourteen - Les Miserables: Merde! (shit)

Chapter Fifteen - Les Miserables: More Praise for Cambronne

Chapter Sixteen - Les Miserables: A Lucky Throw of the Dice

Chapter Seventeen - Les Miserables: Waterloo and the Counter-Revolution

Chapter Eighteen - Les Miserables: The Myth of Divine Right

Chapter Nineteen - Les Miserables: Thenardier In The Shadows

II. The Ship Orion

Chapter One - Les Miserables: Jean Valjean Recaptured and Sentenced

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: Is That The Devil?

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: A Daring Rescue

III. Fulfilment Of A Promise

Chapter One - Les Miserables: Cosette the Water Girl

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: The Thenardiers & Cosette

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: A Dark Night at the Inn

Chapter Four - Les Miserables: Cosette & The Doll

Chapter Five - Les Miserables: Cosette Alone

Chapter Six - Les Miserables: Valjean's Journey to Montfermeil

Chapter Seven - Les Miserables: Valjean Learns of Cosette's Reality

Chapter Eight - Les Miserables: Love, Fear & Cosette

Chapter Nine - Les Miserables: Cosette's New Beginning

Chapter Ten - Les Miserables: Thenardier Attempts To Squeeze Valjean For More Money

Chapter Eleven - Les Miserables: Filling In The Gaps For Valjean

IV. The Gorbeau Tenement

Chapter One - Les Miserables: A First View Of THre Gorbeau Tenement

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: Gorbeau Through The Eyes Of A Child

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: The Balance of Destiny

Chapter Four - Les Miserables: Valjean Raises Suspicions

Chapter Five - Les Miserables: Sightings of Javert

V. Hunt In Darkness

Chapter One - Les Miserables: Valjean the Hunted

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: Flight Across The River

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: Valjean Trapped?!

Chapter Four - Les Miserables: The Trap Slowly Closes

Chapter Five - Les Miserables: Saintly Aspirations & Criminal Talents

Chapter Six - Les Miserables: The Abandoned Garden

Chapter Seven - Les Miserables: A Horrifying Vision

Chapter Eight - Les Miserables: The Only Thing That Matters

Chapter Nine - Les Miserables: Saved by the Gardener

Chapter Ten - Les Miserables: How Javert Found Valjean

VI. Le Petit-Picpus

Chapter One - Les Miserables: The Mysterious Convent at Petit Rue Picpus, No. 62

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: The Bernadine Convent of the Perpetual Adoration

Chapter Three - Les Miserables: The Boarding School

Chapter Four - Les Miserables: A Touch of Brightness

Chapter Five - Les Miserables: Maybe These Nuns Shouldn't Have Been Raising Children

Chapter Six - Les Miserables: The Little Convent

Chapter Seven - Les Miserables: Indulgence and Severity

Chapter Eight - Les Miserables: The Grounds of Petit-Picpus

Chapter Nine - Les Miserables: A Strange Old Woman

Chapter Ten - Les Miserables: The Sepulchral Parlor

Chapter Eleven - Les Miserables: The Decline of Petit-Picpus

VII. The Convent As An Abstract Idea

Chapter One - Les Miserables: Deeper Digressions, Clearer Intentions

Chapter Two - Les Miserables: When The Vessel Obscures The Infinite

Tommy O'Keefe © 2026 • Powered by Astro & the Astro Micro theme

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