It is a novel constructed like a poem, where each character is only exceptional because if the hyperbolic manner in which he represents generality.

“Scepticism, that dry caries of the intelligence.”

“If there is anything more poignant than a body agonizing for want of bread, it …”

“Poor old Jean Valjean, of course, loved Cosette only as a father; but, as we no…”

“No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.”