One Year Later
It’s been a year since I completed my re-read of Victor Hugo’s epic. In that time this blog has found a small niche, and I’ve even found new things to write about so it hasn’t completely stagnated.
Mainly, I’ve been reviewing adaptations of the book. I re-watched the movie of the musical with a new perspective. I tracked down the 1978 film with Richard Jordan and Anthony Perkins and the 1998 film with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush. I discovered a classic comic book adaptation, a manga version, and a board book for toddlers. I even stumbled into a cabaret-style parody of the musical at a local theater (the kind of show that you’re likely to stumble out of at the end).
For the first few months I also tried to repost highlights on Twitter and Tumblr, and occasionally wrote follow-up commentary on things like Cosette’s nickname or the heroic side of Javert.
The most-read posts over the past year have been the Waterloo commentary and my reviews of the 1978 movie and the Classics Illustrated comic.
Interestingly, while the site didn’t attract any comments the first year (after an initial “great idea!” cluster), people have started commenting on it after the re-read! Not many, but a few readers have chimed in on the 25th anniversary production, the 1978 movie, Valjean’s dilemma, and Montparnasse’s epic fail at mugging.
In the coming year I plan on watching some of the other movies and reviewing the Manga Classics version. And I found out about an anime series that I’d love to track down at some point. I can’t promise any sort of schedule, but if you’re reading this now, I hope you’ll keep an eye out for future installments!