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The Man Who Laughs
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The Man Who Laughs - Week Two - Nov. 7-13
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Wow...what an intense section.I was a little disappointed also about not going back to the story of the boy but this was so descriptive. As I was reading, I kept waiting for the ship to go down, but they kept avoiding the impending dangers. I kept thinking, this is too lucky to be reasonable even in a fiction novel. But at the end, when they finally drown was heartbreaking even if I was upset at them for leaving the boy.
I'm curious to see where the note with all their names ends up and if it will tie back into the story. I'm guessing there is a purpose for this section that we will figure out later.
I found the descriptions amazing and could clearly picture being on that boat...and very happy I wasn't.
Well OK, my first reaction as I was starting this weeks reading was "I don't care about these people, what happened to THE BOY!?!"I had a little bit of trouble concentrating at first but then I quickly became involved in the story Hugo was telling. The tension for a few chapters was so high. The atmosphere Hugo created was excellent I was chewing my nails in anticipation of what was going to happen. I can't imagine the roller coaster of emotions they must have gone through to survive all of THAT and then end up with a leak and drown. The last scene was especially poignant with the doctor and the names. I'm not sure if the names will come back into play or if that was just their way of saying we were here. Kind of like a tombstone at sea.
I think it's too early to guess why Hugo included this section. In addition to being tension filled all on it's own it does also serve to build up the anxiety about what happened to THE BOY.
Denise wrote: "Wow...what an intense section.I was a little disappointed also about not going back to the story of the boy but this was so descriptive. As I was reading, I kept waiting for the ship to go down, ..."
Didn't you think that the ship would go down every second? I sure did. Every scene I was thinking this is it! They are surely all goners now! And yet they were saved again, and again, and just when I thought they would finally, against all odds, survive, BOOM! they are sinking! they can't swim! and the storm is over! Wow, Hugo knows how to lay on the suspense and the tragedy.
I agree the bottle has to pop up somewhere! Will be interesting to see where!
Amanda wrote: "Well OK, my first reaction as I was starting this weeks reading was "I don't care about these people, what happened to THE BOY!?!"I had a little bit of trouble concentrating at first but then I ..."
It definitely did help to build up the tension, and I think in some sick way I was glad that these people that abandoned our young boy met a well deserved end. The doctor was a fascinating character, he seemed to be rather omniscient, but is that why they called him the doctor?
Denise wrote: "Wow...what an intense section.I was a little disappointed also about not going back to the story of the boy but this was so descriptive. As I was reading, I kept waiting for the ship to go down, ..."]
Denise, agreed, what's going on with the boy? But this ship-section was a page-turner, certainly! I like the structure, I'm sure we'll get back to the boy in the next section! (At least, I hope so!)
Dianne wrote: "I'm going to post each week's thread a day early for those who, like me, find that the week starts flying away come Monday. I clearly was not paying close attention to the chapter titles because ..."
Dianne, I think there will be a survivor or two (and that's why this section is here, in addition to the fact that they are being punished for leaving the child), and they will indeed cross paths with the boy at some point, and perhaps this collision will be the resolution of the book. Do I think they deserve to die? It's true they left the child alone, and it's true that these people are mostly smugglers. But we don't know the whole story yet, we don't know the background of the boy, there is a lot we haven't learned.
Amanda wrote: "Well OK, my first reaction as I was starting this weeks reading was "I don't care about these people, what happened to THE BOY!?!"I had a little bit of trouble concentrating at first but then I ..."
Amanda, I think this section is important because some of these characters will make it to shore and eventually will meet up with the boy. But yes, I am anxious to get back to the boy's fate.
Dianne wrote: "Denise wrote: "Wow...what an intense section.I was a little disappointed also about not going back to the story of the boy but this was so descriptive. As I was reading, I kept waiting for the sh..."
Diane, agreed, Hugo knows how to ramp up the tension and keep the pages turning fast!
Greg wrote: "Dianne wrote: "I'm going to post each week's thread a day early for those who, like me, find that the week starts flying away come Monday. I clearly was not paying close attention to the chapter ..."
what?? a survivor! No, it can't be so. I refuse to believe that.
Last week was really busy and this week going to be busy with holiday stuff. It's all taking a toll on my reading plans. Such is life. Anyway...It's astonishing that none of the sailors knew how to swim. They had at least 2 people on board who had some navigating experience, but sailors that can't swim? Obviously, the women and other men who were not seamen wouldn't be able to swim. I mean, it just seems like a really important thing know considering it can be a matter of life or death.
The doctor was an interesting person. He probably has an interesting background story and plays an important part to some event in the past or future. The skipper was debating whether or not he was a madman. I remember someone said he was the "soul" of the crew.
When they had to lighten the ship and through stuff overboard one lady was disappointed about the really nice and expensive clothes she would lose. Also, some of these people who sign their names sound like they come from important and high-status backgrounds. Although, there was one person who signed with an X, interesting. Hhhmmmm. Why would these people be fleeing? What do they have to do with the comprachicos? They are taking the appearance of poor travelers to escape.
I like how Hugo compares and contrasts things. For example, when they wanted the storm to stop but then they would have been better off if it continued. They would have had more of a chance to wash up on a shore rather than being stuck in the sinking ship. Another comparison is when the women would not go below deck. Hugo makes closed spaces compared to a coffin.
"the women had obstinately refused to go below again. No one, however hopeless, but wishes, if shipwreck be inevitable, to meet it in the open air. When so near death, a ceiling above one's head seems like the first outline of a coffin."
There was tension here, but I did not need 18 chapters of it. I too assumed the ship would go down right from the beginning, and Hugo almost got me to consider other possibilities once or twice. But, eventually, I was right. And yes, some one usually "survives" for later, and although I didn't think he telegraphed that, I might have missed something as I was waiting for the story to resume.But the author is Victor Hugo, it's one of his last novels, so I hung in there to see what he was up to. He is a mature author here, and has his reasons.
Since the beginning of this section the course has been set for something ominous lurking in the waters ready to envelop this hooker inhabited by some of life's most undesirable beings...From the blue clouds casting a shadow over their heads, to the flash of red copper lightning hitting the waters behind them as she sails forward, the vermillion flames, and that looming red light seen as they finally meet their fate, Hugo's colors are getting richer, darker, and definitely more dramatic, as the scene comes to close. I could not make heads or tails of the dialogue between the skipper and doctor. However, I did find the doctor to be very intuitive and knowing of the hooker's demise when he says, If tonight out at sea we hear the sound of a bell, the ship is lost; immediately followed by, the time has come for sullied souls to purify themselves (97). The doctor also reemphasizes the fate of the ship when he suggests the broth the Provencal was preparing was meant for the fishes (100). To be met with the very sound of that bell a few pages later and what ensues thereafter was like a roller coaster ride set in the middle of a very turbulent sky and sea. Scary! At every turn, hanging on to the hooker for dear life, in this sea that is ever changing while the surface of the waters is described as what was once scales, to resembling the skin of a boa, the bubbles of surge like pustules, the foam like leprosy, these waters inhabited a demonic heartbeat of its very own. The doctor he has taken steps (getting the parchment ready for the signatures) for the endgame which they are finally unable to escape. There was so much foreshadowing leading up to this moment, and after escaping the Caskets, Ortach Rock, and even Aurigny, against all odds, I did forget about the guilt ridden doctor's wise words and thought the hooker "would" make it!
You have mentioned, Dianne, this last scene being very impactful; and it was, as the waters begin to steady, the hooker submerged and the arm of the doctor sticking out of the water hanging on to the flask belonging to Harquanonne. I too thought this letter was going to be important and via Harquanonne who is alive and in jail (?).
Ah yes, the child...There he was watching at the end of Ch V, as the hooker lighted her signal and was mentioned again as the ship is out of sight traveling traveling south while the child went north. Both traveling in opposite directions, these two entities are meant to meet again in some capacity, as fate will bring their stories together (102).
I'm not sure why, but I was amused by the fact that the hooker was inhabited by sailors who did not swim, which is very common, according to Hugo (120). I do not doubt it, it's just not something I would have thought.
Dianne wrote: "Greg wrote: "Dianne wrote: "I'm going to post each week's thread a day early for those who, like me, find that the week starts flying away come Monday. I clearly was not paying close attention to..."
Well, umm, I could NOT stop reading once I reached page 400 or so. All I will say is that there are surprises.
JJ wrote: "Last week was really busy and this week going to be busy with holiday stuff. It's all taking a toll on my reading plans. Such is life. Anyway...It's astonishing that none of the sailors knew how ..."
JJ, maybe by learning to swim, the sailors consider that as tempting fate. But it is odd.
Ami wrote: "Since the beginning of this section the course has been set for something ominous lurking in the waters ready to envelop this hooker inhabited by some of life's most undesirable beings...From the b..."Ami, great points. Yes, Hugo gives us the sea as an additional villainous character, certainly.
Dan wrote: "There was tension here, but I did not need 18 chapters of it. I too assumed the ship would go down right from the beginning, and Hugo almost got me to consider other possibilities once or twice. Bu..."Dan, I also assumed there would be a survivor: Hugo never tells us specifically that everyone dies in the shipwreck.
Ami wrote: "Since the beginning of this section the course has been set for something ominous lurking in the waters ready to envelop this hooker inhabited by some of life's most undesirable beings...From the b..."Great observations, Ami! Indeed Hugo even takes a turn for the dramatic with the colors he uses! Now that I am much further along in the book, it is clear that Hugo intended to have much foreshadowing throughout the entire book, indeed each section is peppered with clues! It is helpful to read with this perspective, and see what will resurface next! I won't tell you whether you are right or wrong in your suppositions regarding the future plot, but there is a lot of intrigue, and Hugo is careful about planting seeds about things to come!
I clearly was not paying close attention to the chapter titles because when I started this week's section I was totally dismayed, because WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR BOY? He is about to die in a freezing snowstorm and then we find ourselves back on the ship with those horrible people who left him? Argh! And then I saw that the section that would talk about the child is next week's reading! Agh!
However, true to form Hugo continues to captivate and this section was scary, gripping, thrilling and devastating just as (at this point) I have come to expect from this book. The early part of the section reminded me a bit of Moby Dick with the expansive digressions on the wind and the sea, and all of that seemed to portend great disaster for our seafaring crew. It almost seemed that you were waiting to find what exactly would sink the ship, was it the storm itself, crashing into this rock, that rock! And then the ending, what?? It was the very placidity of the sea that did them all in?
How very profound was the scene at the end though, when the doctor is praying over the poor lost souls, who in their desperation (but still only at the doctor's behest) seek forgiveness for their grave transgressions against the young boy. Perhaps the gravity of their sin is what caused them to remain on their knees until the very end, and what a scene that must have been. Even as the water must have approached their shoulders, their necks, their chins, their mouths, they remained kneeling, welded to the deck with the weight of their own evils. And the light shining until the last moment, what do you think that symbolizes? I imagine someone will find the note in the flask, but how could that possibly be?
Did you think for awhile during this section that the ship and its crew would survive? Did you want them to survive or did you feel they deserved to die? How do you think the 'doctor' knew so much? Do you think it is true, what Hugo writes about those near death having near super human powers? Why do you think Hugo included this section in the book?