This is actually really good for babies’ brain development. You’re laying the groundwork for conversation, teaching them through example that people take turns talking and listening.
Did you know that babies from affluent families hear an average of thirty MILLION more words before age 5 than babies in families below the poverty line? For context, Les Miserables is about 650,000 words and it looks like this:
So it’s like reading this book 46 times.* And that’s not the total number of spoken words, that’s the GAP between affluent and poor babies. And these are the years in which the brain undergoes the most development. It’s mind-boggling.
So what I’m saying is: keep doing the thing. Do it to all babies, all the time. Narrate your day. Ask them for opinions. (“Should we buy the large bag of potatoes or the small bag?” “Gaabooglagje.” “Yes, just as I thought.”) Point out colors and shapes and letters. Let them scribble outside the lines and treat their babble like talk. Sing them nursery rhymes and Raffi songs and songs from the radio. All of these things are going to build their brains to prepare them for kindergarten and beyond.
*Please do not read Les Mis 46 times to an infant. They don’t even care about the Parisian sewer system.
Don’t tell me what to do I’m going to read Les Mis 46 times to my child until they start a toddler uprising
Citoyen(ne), do you print up business cards declaring you to adhere to a defunct political standpoint? Do you refuse to wear any color but black or dark-green-but-only-at-night-time? Do you have less than one friend?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might be Pontmercy! But don’t worry yet, mon ami(e), because here is a handy diagnostic quiz to address your concerns! Keep track of your score as you answer these questions about your symptoms.
Question 1: You see your love interest across the park. What do you do?
My only love interest is universal education and equality amongst all mankind. (+0)
Which love interest? I have so many. (+2)
Approach them stealthy-like even though they can clearly see you, sit down next to them, aggressively say nothing. (+3)
Question 2: I say Napoleon, you say…
Buonaparte (+0)
Bonaparte (+2)
The great emperor who brought France and her people to the pinnacle of their achievement(+5)
Question 3: Do you have enough money to get by?
Yes, because I am a student in Paris and can literally buy anything I want. (+1)
No, because I am a member of the working class and am probably starving to death RIGHT NOW. (+1)
No, because I refuse to accept money from my reactionary grandfather. (+5)
Question 4: Personal politics?
Republican (+1)
Apolitical (+3)
Clinging to the most fragile shell of an ideal because the person I idolize above all else believed so. (+5)
Question 5: Why are you at the barricades?
I seek to overthrow Louis-Phillipe and lead the people to a glorious future. (+0)
Honestly? I’m here because I got drunk and passed out before the fighting started. (+3)
I CAME HERE SEEKING DEATH. (+5)
Question 6: Honestly, were you still alive after the Paris Uprising of June 1832?
No, and I didn’t even get a death scene. (+0)
No, but I got such a badass death scene like you don’t even know. (+2)
Yes. (+5)
RESULTS:
0-4: Enjolras? Combeferre? Feuilly? ?? What are you guys even doing here? You are way too devoted to your carefully-reasoned, well-articulated ideals to be Marius Pontmercy.
5-7: Courfeyrac, Lesgle, you are not Marius Pontmercy, but you introduced him to Les Amis, so you are still somewhat to blame for the tragic mess that is Pontmercy. Jehan, you are approximately as ridiculous as Marius, but, you know, in a cute way. So you’re fine.
8-15: You are probably not Marius Pontmercy, but your life is in such shambles that it is an easy mistake to make. Grantaire and Éponine, I respect your rights to make your own decisions but perhaps you should make different ones in future???
16+: IT IS LIKELY THAT YOU ARE MARIUS PONTMERCY. SEEK TREATMENT IMMEDIATELY AT YOUR LOCAL POLITICALLY-CHARGED CAFÉ.
headcanon that the real reason les amis first names are never mentioned is bc they never fuckin learnt each others first names and at this point theyre all too afraid to ask
Okay no. Eponine is not the devil. If anyone is, it’s Thenardier (the father). That man cheated on his wife, gave up the baby (Gavroche), abused Cosette, sold her, lied to Javert, robbed the Les Amis after they died, tried to profit off of his knowledge of Maurius’s saviour. And then, when Maurius was like “ihy get tf outta France” the dude was like “i mean that’ll take money” so Maurius is like “whatever bro here’s some just f*n leave” and this guy goes and becomes a slave trader. He’s not simply a villain. He’s the freaking devil.
This is a set of what the characters themselves say they are, in the novel.
“God will bless you,’ said he, ‘you are an angel since you take care of the flowers.’ ‘No,’ she [Eponine] replied. ‘I am the devil, but that’s all the same to me.”
Just found this lovely diagram in The Literature Book that shows that no, Cosette is not a secondary character (and it’s also pretty useful if you want to explain the novel to new fandom people/ friends)
