Kelson Reads Stuff @KelsonReads@booktoot.club

I've been posting more on birdsite than here, and collecting my thoughts on my blog. For the previous read-through I ended up doing way too much plot summary, but this time I managed to keep focused on reactions and (some) analysis

Recent posts include Javert's breakdown and the way Valjean's ending tracks with a descent into depression.

No one accused it of being a happy book.

https://www.hyperborea.org/les-mis/

#LesMiserables #books #amreading

I finished #LesMiserables today.

6 months' worth of lunch hours as I found, time and again, that a 150-year old book set 200 years ago on another continent continues to be relevant in ways I wish it wasn’t.

I wish everyone had the time and patience to read it. I think a lot of people would gain valuable perspective from it. Or maybe not. There are people who read & watch superheroes & take the use of power as the lesson, not the efforts to help the powerless.

Speaking of Marvel stuff, I recently read 2 issues of the current #Quicksilver: No Surrender and the first issue of his 1990s series.

I'm really enjoying "No Surrender." Good art, interesting character study, interesting superhero action, interesting concept...

The 90s series, not so much. It's too wrapped up in other Marvel stuff (Wundagore, the High Evolutionary, etc) that I'm not familiar with and it doesn't feel *focused*.

#comics

Also ended up trying to sort the major characters from #AntMan (having watched it & then moved onto reading Harry Potter right afterward).
Yellowjacket's obviously Slytherin
Hank: Gryffindor
Hope: Ravenclaw
Scott: Hufflepuff

Almost finished reading #HarryPotter & the Chamber of Secrets as storytime for the kid. I'd forgotten how early the wizard racism analog was established for Slytherin & Voldemort. And how nasty it gets, and how quickly.

Today was some light lunchtime reading about the history of the Paris sewers. 😱

They're particularly awful until a dangerous multi-year exploration starts in 1806. Slightly improved by 1832, much better by 1862.

And I kid you not, Hugo insists that Paris has the best *sewage*. While complaining about how we flush all that fertilizer out to sea, he actually describes "Parisian guano" as "the richest of all."

#LesMiserables #amreading #books

I finished the June Rebellion chapters of #LesMiserables early afternoon on June 6, the same time that the barricade fell in the book. That was kind of weird.

Lots of commentary and philosophy on revolution & urban/civil warfare, presented as supporting for the story, but I realize now it's the other way around.

#amreading #books

I was hoping to have finished reading the barricade section of #LesMiserables in time for #barricadeday, but the last few days have been packed & I don't think I'll have much time to read at lunch today.

There's not much plot from where I left off to the last stand, but it's dense.

#amreading #books

One thing about #LesMiserables that always seemed odd: at times we see the start of someone's inner turmoil in great detail, but the POV pulls away before we can see how they actually *make* the decision.

Ex: When Valjean heads to the barricade to...save Marius? Make sure he dies? Who knows?

This time through, I understand: he hasn't decided, but he can't let fate take the responsibility away from him.

More at my blog: https://www.hyperborea.org/les-mis/book/hidden-decision/

#books #amreading

Kiddo has asked to pick up #HarryPotter again for storytime. #ChamberOfSecrets is my least favorite of the series, but it's interesting seeing things set up for what we know now. We're up to the polyjuice potion - it's been kind of fun doing alternate voices for everyone.

Also: Someone clearly did renovations on the Chamber entrance prior to Tom Riddle opening it, but during the 20th century. Who?

Read some #comics today:

#Saga #52: The more innocuous the cover, the more apprehensive I am about the story. Interesting character bits, quick reversals and a nasty cliffhanger.

#TheFlash #47: Everything and the kitchen sink that's missing from the current book, but playing out oddly disconnected.

Flash & Speed Buggy: Over the top.

...and I finally had the sense to pick a slightly different username on this one, so it'll look different when Mastodon hides all the instance names.

#introductions

I'm a long-time sci-fi, fantasy and comics fan living in the Los Angeles area. I used to read a lot, but these days it's mostly lunch hours and storytime w/the kid.

I'm currently in the final stretch of re-reading Les Misérables, hoping to finish the barricade by June 6, and plan on picking up Head On next. (Contrast!)

I can also be found talking tech (I'm a computer programmer) at @kelsonv, random stuff at @KelsonV, and photos at @kelsonv.