Ses forwarded this message to me with the subject, "You'll never believe it...", and I was a bit wary to open it, fearing that it was some notice that they'd closed Les Mis on B'way or something bad... anyway, curiously, I opened it, and clicked on the link to read an Article. About Les Mis. But not about our beloved Broadway Musical. About the novel.

What I read in that article absolutely horrified me. It was this paragraph that really, REALLY had me furious. And I directly quote:

"To the fury of the Hugoliens, characters killed off in Les Miserables have sprung back to life in Ceresa's sequel. Villains have changed their ways for the better. Good men have turned bad. Javert, the police spy who commits suicide by throwing himself in the Seine, is fished out alive by Ceresa and plays a starring role in Cosette." -- The Age: Hugo Supporters Horrified by Les Miserables II

I thought I was going to have a coronary! Javert is back? Now usually, I would jump up and cheer for our beloved inspector to be back among the living, but Hugo made it absolutely clear that Javert had taken his own life. Now, unless I'm wrong, people don't magically come back to live... gee, I wonder who will rescue Javert? Maybe it'll be Enjolras, because you never know, he might be back from the dead, too.

I know nothing about the release of this book. According to the article (well, what I understood between gasps, screaming, and a general frenzy of emotions), the book has been released in Paris, and around France as of today (May 31st, 2001). I do not know if there are plans to release the book in America -- I don't even know what it's called. (Les Miserables II...?) I am shocked, offended, horrified, and I think I might just be sick...

Okay, so here's a wee little update (as of August 24th, 2001). A friend of LCM/BTB e-mailed me a few weeks ago, as shocked as we were. Marie lives in France, and has access to all the articles regarding this, and has seen the book available on shelves around Paris. She translated the first few pages of the first chapter for me,a nd it was dry, to say the very least. The articles she sent me (All translated from French to English. Thank you so much, Marie!!) were all pretty much "outraged", saying that Hugo's classic should not be tampered with. The novel ended at an ideal time, and people like Ceresa and Kalpakian should not mess around with a classic.

Lord, this is the worst thing that's happened in my Les Miserables obsessed-world since I've read Laura Kalpakian's "Cosette"...

~~Jai May 31st, 2001. (Mail me or Ses with any questions, comments, thoughts or feelings on this outrage.)

[Back to Le Cafe Musain]