Miserable Les Mis Progress

[pantryslut]

Only 10 pages? Well, it's been a busy week.

350 / 755 (46.36%)

Marius, having repudiated his Royalist upbringing, has now had his Bonapartist leanings challenged by the gaggle of students he has fallen in with.

Marius: "...to be the great nation and to give birth to the grand army, to make its legions fly forth over all the earth, [...] to conquer the world twice, by conquest and by dazzling, that is sublime, what greater thing is there?"

"To be free," said Combeferre."

Or, if you prefer:

""Citizen," said Enjorlas to him, "my mother is the Republic.""

Also, he is penniless.

("by dazzling?" Shame on you, translator.)

Comments

[spiralsheep]

If I said "she's a bobby dazzler" to you without further context would you know what it means without looking it up?

P.S. You are one of three people on my smallish flist reading Les Mis at the moment.

[pantryslut]

I'd have to look it up. I'm going to go look it up!

[spiralsheep]

I only asked because I suspect "dazzling" has shrunk in meaning and usage and even popular slang such as "bobby dazzler" has mostly disappeared.

I admit I'm quite taken with the idea that the British felt they had to trudge round the world sticking flags in places (Izzard) while the French honestly thought/think they are so splendid that everyone everywhere desires to be French/more French at all times (Hugo). ::wryface::

[pantryslut]

My guess would have been right! I am probably too proud of this.

It was actually the grammatical part of speech that bothered me. "by bedazzlement," maybe? if we were keeping the word. I'm totally OK with the concept that the Empire under Napoleon conquered "the world" [sic] with both military might and because they were so culturally awesome and shiny that the metaphorical glare off their awesomeness blinded the eye.

Possibly the literal glare off their shiny military accoutrements, even, although I'm pretty sure that's not what poor Marius meant to invoke. (Hugo, though, might've.)

[pantryslut]

And now I am thinking "lens flare!"

[spiralsheep]

Napoleon would've LOVED being stalked by his own pack of celebrity-hunting paparazzi!

[spiralsheep]

My guess would have been right! I am probably too proud of this.

No such thing as being "too proud" of one's word hoard! ♥

"dazzling" works for me as it is - like this, dropping [the implied]:

"to conquer the world twice, by conquest and by dazzling [the eye/mind],"

Although mostly I have mental images of the Marvel Comics superheroine/popstar character Dazzler fighting with the French army: for liberte, egalite, fraternite, French Imperial expansion, and the Marvel marketing department!

[pantryslut]

the Dazzler plus lens flare. Win all around.