It's a small world...

[ldhenson]

Was re-reading Riis' and Campbell's chapters on NYC's street Arabs and comparing them to the also-being-reread commentary from Victor Hugo on the Paris gamin in Les Miserables. A separation of thirty years and entire continents, and it's astounding how similar the descriptions are...the generosity, the rough codes of honor, even down to things such as the boys' love of the theatre.

Are some things really that universal? Or is it possible that a significant work such as LM had some sort of influcence on the later writings? Either way, it's fascinating to ponder.