Les Miserables, version brick, Installment 2: Volume 2, Book 7

[elsane]

Alternate post title: well, that made for an argumentative plane ride.

I have actually been hugely enjoying the infamous digressions, after setting aside a certain allowance for the rolling of eyes. One of the side benefits of reading La Brique electronically is that I feel blissfully at liberty to scribble mad quantities of notes and arguments in the margins. Well, the last couple of chapters I have stopped to comment on every paragraph, because these are the chapters where Hugo decides to go into great detail about how atheism destroys society.

For now I have to go be productive and stuff, so I leave you with two thoughts.

• Dear Hugo,
  
  Your "proof" of the existence of a divine essence is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the mathematical concept of infinity.
  
  Very nettled love,
  -me.
  
  
• "To place the infinity here below in contact, by the medium of thought, with the infinity on high, is called praying." (Vol II, Bk 7, Ch V.)
  
  Not so, sir! It’s called science.
  

(General book logging as well as a post on Waterloo: coming when things calm down a bit I swear no really)

Comments

[carmarthen]

Oh good, I shall look forward to Hugo's Thoughts on Atheism, for a value of "look forward to" that will involve shrieking.

[elsane]

Hee :)

I'm not sure about your tolerance, but I found it not utterly horrid? I mean, I made ALL THE MARGINAL NOTES on the chapter where Hugo locates divinity in absolutes, and they run somewhat along the lines of two parts DEAR SIR I OBJECT, one part DEAR SIR THAT IS A COOL IDEA BEAUTIFULLY PHRASED, one part DEAR SIR YOU ARE CONTRADICTING YOURSELF, and one part "...oh hm, that says some very interesting things about the conceptual angel-nature of Enjolras". So it's fun!...for that brand of fun that is defined to contain a certain amount of "oh Hugo".