• Enjoyed the general happy tone while explaining sad stuff.
• Liked the apparent civility and fellowship between down and out people. Feels slightly more real than common relationships. I’d say this happens because they are not trying to sell any fake, successful personas to each other. Reminiscent of how relationships work for kids.
• Chapter XXII, an anti-capitalistic conclusion about the terrible lifestyle of Parisian pongeurs, is great food for thought. He compared the social position of these modern heavy-workers with old school slaves, and focus on how their position makes thought impossible for them - which is the system’s key to maintain the status quo. This sets a formal and contemporary real-life example about how the American dream is just the grand illusion for the bulk of society.
• “Victory is normally to him who fights the longer”.
• “Making money is the new only test of virtue”.
• “The thought of not being poor made me patriotic”.