As a former high-school English teacher it’s always struck me as odd that many of the most influential works of Western fiction contain whole chapters or sections that add little or no value, bore the reader to tears, and seem completely out of place.

In Les Miserable, for example, Fantine spends an inordinate amount of time in the first half of the novel aimlessly (and quite tediously – at least for the reader) frolicking with her friends, soon to be deserted.