#gorbeau house

[cliozaur]

Javert at Gorbeau House by Petr Pinkisevich

[lesmisscraper]

Let children just be children...

[hadleysmis]

Instead of seeing 'hallucinations' of Javert when he was staying at the Gorbeau House with Cosette, in the audiobook 'Jean Valjean and Javert', they have a physical talk until a chase ensues.

Jean Valjean tells Javert he cannot be arrested solely because of Cosette: "She has good food and a good place to live, and she can finally sleep without any worries."

Javert doesn't seem to care.

Jean Valjean says that this is impossible for he has to live freely in order to protect Cosette.

Jean Valjean tells him he should surely know this feeling, and asks if he has ever loved anyone before.

Javert replies as if 'love' is foreign to him. "What I believe in is the law (法)." And "Love is powerless."

And the chase begins when Valjean gets tired of arguing with him.

I think this representation of Javert is not totally unique to many adaptations of Les Misérables; so much so that I believe I should read many of the Javert chapters again just so that I can remember what kind of a character he is 😅

[dolphin1812]

“ This door with an unclean, and this window with an honest though dilapidated air, thus beheld on the same house, produced the effect of two incomplete beggars walking side by side, with different miens beneath the same rags, the one having always been a mendicant, and the other having once been a gentleman”

The Gorbeau house encapsulates Valjean’s past through its structure. On the one hand, he’s always been a “mendicant” in the sense that Jean Valjean has never had much, and has always lived at risk of starvation, imprisonment, etc for the smallest error or problem. On the other, Valjean in disguise as Madeleine was a “gentleman” who lost his status once his origins were revealed. The Valjean we follow now contains both of these pasts, just as the building consists of both of these seemingly contradictory features at once and makes them into a semi-coherent whole (the building is very deceptive in its appearance, so it seems inaccurate to just say coherent; still, that’s a link to Valjean in itself, since his life relies upon disguises and deception to maintain his safety).

Hugo specifies that the chambers resemble “stalls more than cells,” but that’s really only a small comfort as he continues with his description. They almost match the cells he has described in how gloomy they are, and he even characterizes them as “sepulchral,” as if they were graves. The building isn’t a prison, but it certainly isn’t very hospitable, either. However, we know from the last chapter that to Valjean, death is a comfort in a way, so perhaps this dark environment that seems so forbidding to the reader (and the narrator, who is choosing to use all of these terms) is actually a relief.

I love that the name of the house came from lawyers trying to change their names after being teased through puns (?), it’s so Hugo to include that sort of humor in the middle of a lengthy and sad architectural description.

It seems telling that all the trees in the area are mostly dead or unhealthy. The presence of factories calls to mind the worst environmental consequences of industrialism (although the 1820s are, admittedly, early for that), and the fact that people are living in this toxic environment emphasizes their marginalization. The wealthy wouldn’t live in a place that kills trees and where the smell of factories is ever-present (and where every location is a reminder of violence, crime, and death, as Hugo details). Only those with no alternative would (although the fact that bourgeois houses later appear suggests that either the neighborhood changed [likely because of the railroad Hugo mentions], urbanization put enough pressure on the city’s housing that they had no alternatives, both, or that some other factor pushed them to that area). Either way, the Gorbeau house seems intimidating, but we also know that it might not be, since much of its outward appearance doesn’t match its reality. It looks small, for instance, but is actually large inside. In the same way, while its neighborhood and gloomy character seem frightening, it may be a good shelter.

[lesmisscraper]

Please someone draw this!

cosette that plays with valjeans hair and puts it into those hideous dog ponytails

[landfilloftrash]

the zoned out word association game

[lenievi]

“I can’t believe you were that stupid,” Javert said, carefully tracing the burn scar on Valjean’s forearm with his fingers.

Just a short post-Seine ficlet.

[secretmellowblog]

There’s constant imagery of Toulon and the galleys throughout the Gorbeau House ambush (the mentions of torture chambers, handcuffs, the false coin used by prisoners to escape, etc) — and my favorite subtle example of this is how Valjean ends up tied to the bed in the same way he would’ve been chained in Toulon.

After freeing himself a bit Valjean ends up in a position where he’s bound by just one leg— just as, while doing hard labor, Valjean would’ve been chained by just one leg. (Being bound by one leg is also why he walks with a slight limp; it was a common physical effect laboring with a chain on one leg for so long had on people. It was both mental and physical— the chain could obviously physically hurt you, but your mind also gets so used to wearing it that you keep walking as if you’re wearing a chain even when it’s gone.)

But yeah, it’s like��� Jean Valjean was ambushed by his own nightmare PTSD flashback full of constant evocations of the galleys, and somehow managed to escape!

[cliozaur]

Initially, it may appear that we are embarking on another digression, but in reality, Hugo introduces a gloriously irreverent yet significant location where many iconic events will unfold: the Gorbeau house, ladies and gentlemen. A hideout for criminals and a magnet for police (constantly represented by Javert).

It’s a relatively old house that is already falling apart: “A hundred years is youth in a church and age in a house. It seems as though man’s lodging partook of his ephemeral character, and God’s house of his eternity.” Hugo reveals an amusing story about the change of the house owner’s name, followed by less amusing tales about its notorious and murderous neighbourhood. Moreover, it’s situated between two early madhouses of Paris: “between the Salpêtrière, a glimpse of whose dome could be seen, and Bicêtre, whose outskirts one was fairly touching; that is to say, between the madness of women and the madness of men.”

Transitioning from the past to his present, Hugo provides a lovely description of the impact of modernity, symbolized by the railway, on the suburbs:

a railway station is the death of a suburb and the birth of a city. It seems as though, around these great centres of the movements of a people, the earth, full of germs, trembled and yawned, to engulf the ancient dwellings of men and to allow new ones to spring forth, at the rattle of these powerful machines, at the breath of these monstrous horses of civilization which devour coal and vomit fire. The old houses crumble and new ones rise.

Beautiful, as always.

[lesmisscraper]

What he is to Cosette. Volume 5, Book 7, Chapter 1.

Clips from <Il cuore di Cosette>.

[dolphin1812]

And it's finally six o'clock! The ambush begins!

As this chapter is short, this will be brief.

We get a quick repetition of all the earlier symbols: Jondrette's hand tosses are a reminder of the theatricality of this moment (and of crime); there's light and dark with Mme Jondrette's lantern-lighted grimace, the moonlight, and the one candle lighting the Jondrette home; and another reference to how Mme Jondrette is a "wolf."

The single candle is particularly ominous. M Leblanc literally can't see what he's getting into, with the limited light unable to reveal how sinister the Gorbeau house really is (and remember, the house isn't just sinister because of the Jondrettes; it was a fickle dwelling when Valjean was there, too, quick to give him up to the police).

Already, though, this isn't looking great for Jondrette. He feels confident and he's trying to be disarming, but his smile (whether it stems from either state) is "alarming." It's not that this bodes well for M Leblanc, either. The house is described like this:

"the Gorbeau hovel, at its highest pitch of silence, of horror, and of darkness"

That's not a good indication for M Leblanc at all, as no one would want to be in the Gorbeau house at its worst. Still, M Leblanc isn't described as being particularly vulnerable. He's "serene" and "tranquil," which does imply that he isn't aware of the danger, but not in a way that inherently weakens him. In fact, he's "venerable" because of it, commanding respect through his character in a way that M Jondrette (who relies on fear) does not. He's definitely in danger - the Gorbeau house isn't safe for anyone - but it's interesting that his character alone seems to lend him strength compared to the overeager Jondrette.

[le-loup-et-lion]

Mme. Thénardier: I am going to crush your skull with a rock

Javert:

This is probably the funniest illustration we’ve gotten so far. This lady is about to smash his fuckin skull in and he’s just standing there like „nuh uh“

[could-they-be-a-pro-wrestler]

How successful would Inspector Javert…

Propaganda for the mic skills:

Generally has zero charisma, but occasionally has the best one liners. Example from the book: the Gorbeau House raid scene. Example from the musical: Javert’s Intervention.

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Propaganda for the wrestling skills:

I mean, I don’t know if he could actually win a match, but that would definitely be part of the fun. To understand this, just watch any performance of The Confrontation after 2015.

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Would you like to submit a character? Click this link if you do!

[moethh]

I WISH LES MIS 1978 INCLUDED THE GORBEAU HOUSE SIDEPLOT I WISH MARIUS COULD GO TALK TO PERKINSVERT AND BE SILLY I WISH PERKINSVERT COULD BURN HIS COAT FROM TH STOVE AND GET MAD AT IT EVEN THOUGH HE WAS LITERALLY THE ONE STANDING TOO CLOSE I WISH PERKINSVERT COULD GIVE TWO(why two?!?!!) PISTOLS TO MARIUS AND GO “bang! a pistol shot.” I WISH PERKINSVERT COULD GO “would you like my hat? :]” TO THENARDIER I WISH PERKINSVERT COULD GO “don’t shoot! you’ll miss ;]” AND THEN THENARDIER MISSES I WISH PERKINSVERT COULD SAY TO MME THENARDIER “i have claws like a woman >:3” I WISH PERKINSVERT COULD BE ANGRY AFTER REALIZING VALJEAN ESCAPED EVEN AFTER HE JUST ARRESTED A LITERAL GANG I WISH PERKINSVERT COULD GO “LITERALLY WHERE IS THAT GUY(Marius)?!?!??!” AND GO AROUND LOOKING FOR HIM I W

[fluentisonus]

hhh,,

gah the chapter(s) where valjean goes to get cosette make me crazy not just because he's the first person who is actually seeing & paying attention to her & understanding her mistreatment which is happening in a room full of people who have never bothered with it. but also the way he reacts to it it's like so so evident this is a guy who's also been mistreated in similar ways & like. how much he really seems to struggle with seeing it happen. like the first time I read this bit I was very focused on cosette herself but this time reading his reactions to these things is like. augh. he is so hesitant & quiet & deeply disturbed by the whole thing & not entirely sure what to do it's devastating to read

[lesmisletters]

Congratulations, Les Mis Letters readers, on finishing Volume 2: Cosette! 🎊

A wild journey from Waterloo, to the ship Orion, to Montfermil, to the Gorbeau House in Paris, and finally to the Petit Picpus convent and a wacky coffin heist.

On to Volume 3!