A Preface that Sticks.

Occasionally I read something that really makes sense to me... usually a quote, or an exert from a book. Sometimes its artwork, and often it's poetry. Today I read the Preface to Les Miserables, a book I'm planning to read. And it made sense... it's one of those things that will stick with me, and I'll remember for a long time to come, just because of the intense emotion that I felt when reading it.
So here it is:

"So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which in the face of civilization, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine, with human fatality; so long as three problems of the age - the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night - are not solved; so long as in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible, in other words, and from a yet more extended point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless." 

~Hauterville House, 1862 

I love Les Mis. I love the musical, and the movie, and based on the amazing preface, I'm guessing I'm going to love the book too. Les Mis is about Jean Val Jean, a convicted felon, who finds his soul purchased for God. He breaks parole, and starts a new life, trying to be the best person that he can be. He, and his adopted daughter, soon get caught up in the French Revolution... an all around bad scenario. It's a beautiful love story, involving the politics and history of the time. This story pulls at my heart strings in so many ways.


I love learning about history; it has so many facets and despite what most people believe, its not boring. There are so many fascinating events and occurrences that happened throughout history, and there's so much we can learn from the experiences of the generations before us. I personally love learning about the American Civil War. My National History Day project, entitled Separation Beyond Mere States: The True Cruelty of the Civil War is about how the Civil War affected families, and tore apart relationships. I would love it if you decided to check it out, just click on the title and it'll take you there. I recently won 1st place in the district competition in my category, and will be going to state next month... I think? If I place at state, I get to go to Washington DC, which is extremely exciting. See? I told you I'm nerdy. =D