One of the things I think I know about Joshua is that he is a very good reader — he is extremely low-functioning when it comes to dealing with people in person, especially if there are a lot of them or they aren't familiar to him, but he is able to deal with people as texts, and voraciously consumes adventure novels both for the thrill and as one of his few windows into the lives of "normal people". He may speak, when he must speak (and when it doesn't make sense to speak in terms of military logistics), mainly in quotes from, or allusions to, these novels, like Harry from *batteries not included.

What novels should Joshua have read? They must have been available in French in 1870. (Joshua is the son of an Alsacian Jew, but merchants often know several languages, and Joshua is a fast language learner as long as he doesn't have to actually talk to other people). I'm pretty sure about Don Quixote, The Three Musketeers, and Oliver Twist. Any other suggestions?