
I have read many classic books. In Les Mis, I just stumbled upon what is easily the most powerful chapter I have ever read.
The prose is so beautiful, but also the content of the chapter is so heartbreaking and heavy that it made me cry. And I'm a man from a middle class family who does not have to go through any of the struggles Fantine did. But it hit me like a truck. Never have I ever read a chapter that is so beautiful yet so tragic. Some of Dostoevsky's writings come close, but this just won the trophy from me. And from where I'm now at in the book it just got a little better for her but my point remains. And the imagery about "a saturated sponge" just goes to show how incredible of a writer Hugo truly was. What a book.