LIFE LUXURIES

In his youth, Victor Hugo would climb buildings and observe the layouts of streets. Then, he would saunter home and draw a detailed map of what he had seen. He created thousands of drawings and paintings but also found time to hold seats in the French Assembly and Senate. He was a loving father and grandfather

“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” — Victor Hugo

Driven by his commitment to reform and progress, Hugo wrote Les Misérables with nothing less than a literary and political revolution in mind. Victor Hugo, uses Les Misérables to deliver critiques of wealth distribution, the justice system, industrialism, and republicanism. He was a creative savant who followed his heart in how he lived his life. Painter, poet, writer, illustrator and social activist who faced many highs and hardships; childhood poverty, adult exile and over whelming acceptance of his multi talented creative genius. 

To love another person is to see the face of God." Hugo believed in a God, a God whose power manifested itself as universal love. The supreme happiness of life is the conviction of being loved for yourself, or more correctly, being loved in spite of yourself. 

His most famous work, Les Misérables is not a true story, but it is historical fiction. While the characters and specific events are fictional, the novel is deeply rooted in historical events and social conditions of 19th-century France. 

Victor Hugo drew inspiration from real-life figures and incidents, incorporating them into his narrative. 

Fictional Characters:
The main characters like Jean Valjean, Fantine, Cosette, and Javert are fictional creations of Victor Hugo.  

Historical Setting:
The novel is set against the backdrop of real historical events, including the June Rebellion of 1832 in Paris. 

Inspired by Real Life:
Hugo drew inspiration from real people and events, such as the story of Eugène-François Vidocq, an ex-convict who became a police officer, to create the character of Jean Valjean. 
Real Events: 

The June Rebellion, a real uprising in Paris, is a key event in the novel, and Hugo accurately depicts the setting, the political climate, and the atmosphere of the time. 

In essence, Les Misérables is a fictional story woven around a historically accurate setting, with characters inspired by real-life figures and incidents. 

LUCEAT lux VESTRA 🌅

Morning walks are a daily reminder of this truth. Let your light shine, even in mid winter, there’s so much beauty to take in if that is what you choose to sea; the light, the calm, nature’s ever shifting, ever flowing, storms, rises and natural resilience. After a recent damaging to humans’ deluge, and today’s predicted weather “bomb”, nature and human hands as they always do, come together to create something quietly powerful. Grateful for this moment, this town, this season, and the steady way life rises daily at dawn, fresh, endlessly renewing itself.

Like many of his time, though views changed throughout the century, Hugo was a man of faith though not necessarily religion. He respected the religious. He held them in high regard and was not afraid to make his view known. He had his criticisms of post revolution France and was exiled for these strongly held views. When Napoleon III (hear the trumpets sound…) took absolute control of France in 1851 he abolished their democratic system of government. For this, Hugo labelled him a traitor to his country. His remarks rendered him unwelcome in his homeland and he was forced into exile. He was ICE, sent packing, but still breathing. 

Hugo believed You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. To love another person is to see the face of God. (Not a religious “god” but as the source of creation) 

To put everything in balance is good, to put everything in harmony is better. Love and compassion are important themes in many of his works as it is characters' love and compassion for one another that allows them to survive in a difficult and dark world. 

Myriel's act of kindness to Valjean at the beginning of the story changes his life forever. It is a story love (when I mean love, I mean more than just romantically), compassion, hope in the midst of darkness, forgiveness, humanity, and redemption. Hugo had the amazing capacity to capture the infinite nature of the human spirit in his prose and poetry. 

Hugo had lived in abject poverty for a year, but then won a pension of 1,000 francs a year from Louis XVIII for his first volume of verse. Barely out of his teens, Hugo became a hero to the common people as well as a favourite of heads of state. He was comfortably authentic with a broad cross section of French society because he spoke and wrote in a universal language. 

He famously stated, “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent.”  

Then Maria Popova @MARGINALIAN comments further on the magic and importance of creativity and music throughout the ages. 

Complement Victor Hugo on Music with “Anthony Burgess’s account of the magical moment he fell in love with music as a little boy and this wonderful vintage guide to the seven essential skills of listening to music, then revisit similar collections of great writers’ reflections on New York City, the creative benefits of keeping a diary, the importance of boredom, and how creativity works.”