The Hunchback of Notre Dame (A Stepping Stone Book)

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame (A Stepping Stone Book)

by Marc Cerasini (adapted by), Victor Hugo

3.82 · rating details · 22,243 ratings · 1,018 reviews

In the dark world of medieval Paris, the deformed bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral heroically fights to save the life of a beautiful Gypsy girl about to be unjustly executed. Told with simple vocabulary and set in large type, this adaptation of the classic tale is perfectly suited for young readers.

Paperback, 112 pages

Published August 31st 2011 by Random House Books for Young Readers (first published 1831)

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Sep 13, 2008

Melissa Rudder rated it

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I have officially been wooed by nineteenth century French literature. First Dumas and now this. I just finished reading Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, and it was fantastic. The characters, the themes, the literary structures… Ahhh… *swoons*

Before I proclaim my love affair with Victor Hugo, I have to mention some negatives. First off: very, very difficult book to get into. I struggled through at least the first hundred pages, and I’m not that hard to please. Secondly...more

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Nov 20, 2009

Jason rated it

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What happened to the beginning of this unabridged story!? For 300 pages, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame was scribed like a meandering storyline over a checkerboard, each square representing a chapter of the book. The few squares scribed directly by the line told fleeting, but essential parts of the story (about Quasimodo, Esmeralda, and Frollo). The more numerous squares adjacent to the scribed storyline told even less essential bits of the story. And, the majority of squares, several dozen cha...more

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Jan 30, 2011

♔ Leah. rated it

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Shelves: waterworks-like-the-niagara-falls, classics-i-adore

This is definitely my favourite classic, I loved the dark atmosphere of the book, and the setting being Notre-Dame, which is one of my favourite places in Paris. It's not entirely dark and horrible, there are times when it can be humorous, but it's brutal in terms of showing what obsession can become when it's misunderstood as love and the true form of love shown by other characters.

When starting this book, it was really difficult to get into which is why I had to force myself to keep...moreThis is definitely my favourite classic, I loved the dark atmosphere of the book, and the setting being Notre-Dame, which is one of my favourite places in Paris. It's not entirely dark and horrible, there are times when it can be humorous, but it's brutal in terms of showing what obsession can become when it's misunderstood as love and the true form of love shown by other characters.

When starting this book, it was really difficult to get into which is why I had to force myself to keep reading until about 60 pages in (with the introduction) when I got into the plot. The story follows different characters, as well as flashbacks and Hugo's knowledge of Notre-Dame and Paris as a city. I also love how the cathedral is a metaphor for beauty and the beast as a balanced whole— the gargoyles being a representation of Quasimodo and the famous Rose window being Esmeralda, 2 distinct features of the cathedral.
*spoilers ahead*
I didn't like Frollo at all, I found him to be a fucking creeper and I didn't sympathize at all with him, and I'm baffled as how people could love him. the stuff he did was sickening:— the attempted rape of Esmeralda, forcing her to love him, laughing when she was hanged, not even caring for his adopted son, Quasimodo, when he was being jeered by the crowd. He was nasty and I didn't feel for him at all, because he didn't deserve to be sympathized with.

Esmeralda, as much as I liked her for being compassionate towards Quasimodo, was shallow and naive. I could have played a drinking game as to how many times she says Phoebus' name during her scenes. She was foolish and pathetically in love with Phoebus because he was handsome when really he was cold and lecherous and only wanted to get in her pants. Like Frollo, she thought that lust was love, when really it was not.

The story was heart-breaking and tragic, it really showed how appearances and social positions in society can be deceiving, and how cruel it could be for individuals who were good.

Overall rating is 4.5 (less)

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Jul 17, 2008

Joe rated it

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Shelves: classics, top-20

"Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." This has created a theme that stories have focussed on for centuries. It is one that we try to teach different ways with more unique characters.

When one first reads a synopsis of "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame", they would easily assume they will be reading another author's method of bringing this theme into their story. However, very shortly into the novel one finds that Quasimodo is not org...more"Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." This has created a theme that stories have focussed on for centuries. It is one that we try to teach different ways with more unique characters.

When one first reads a synopsis of "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame", they would easily assume they will be reading another author's method of bringing this theme into their story. However, very shortly into the novel one finds that Quasimodo is not orginally this fully rejected outcast for his appearance. At the beginning of the novel he is actually being praised by a large crowd. His rejection comes as different incidences are misinterpreted and people begin to make the wrong assumptions.

As the story continues on this happens to more characters than only Quasimodo. And other characters make mistakes by acting too quickly. It turns out that this story is about making the wrong judgements based on appearences. Only, it's not about the appearences of the characters, it's about the appearences of what is happening around our characters.

When I noticed this, I realized that the whole book turned out to be about ignorance (the ignorance of the characters in what they were doing and the assumptions they made). If any of the characters would stop and figure out what had truly been happening, things would have been solved, but everytime this was a possibility they would make a new assumption and the problems would escalate. To me, the most stunning aspect of this was that the consequences did not only take effect on those that had been ignorant.

In the same way, the end of the novel was only that upsetting if we remain ignorant of the fact that everything is finally brought to a close and those characters we care most about wanted something they could only come closest to through the way the novel ended (Hugo knew what he was doing in the titles of the chapters). Though it may be one of the most disturbing novels I've read, it has also taken it's place among my top ten favorites.(less)

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Sep 22, 2008

Rebecca rated it

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The writing is brilliant, the plot is unusual. But-- perhaps like in life-- where are the good guys? Esmerelda doesn't say much other than "Oh Pheobus!" She's a very flat character, imho. The book seems to be a study in love gone wrong-- romantic love, parental love, all gone wrong. There are examples of charitable love toward Quasimoto, and in the end he performs a selfless act for Esmerelda, but overall it was a very depressing look at love vs lust, and a study in what not to do...more

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Apr 07, 2009

Chelsea rated it

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Recommended to Chelsea by: mary howe

ok... i'll be honest. i hated the first 150 pages and had i not been reading it for book club i would have abandoned it. about 300 pages in i started to think it was okay. around 400... i really liked it. at page 450 i couldn't put it down. i stayed up till 2am last night finishing it.

so... is it worth the painful first half to get to the second half? now that i've done it... i would say so.

victor hugo could have used a good editor. pages and pages of diatribes and desc...more

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Feb 25, 2009

Paul Dinger rated it

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This is so much a redone work, that few would ever consider that it began life as a historical novel. Just like Les Miserables is historical so is this. It takes place in medieval times and it tells of a supposedly celibate priest who falls in love with a gypsy, as does everyone else in the novel, inclduding the ugly bellringing hunchback. She is the notorius lady of the title, Hugo's version of Mary Magdeline, a type he would return to in Les Miserables. She is a victim even though everyone...more

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Oct 30, 2011

Simona Bartolotta rated it

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Shelves: classici, favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Esisteva, tra la vecchia chiesa e lui (Quasimodo), una simpatia istintiva così profonda, un così gran numero di affinità magnetiche, un così gran numero di affinità materiali, ch'egli vi aderiva in certo qual modo come la tartaruga al suo guscio. La rugosa cattedrale era la sua corazza.

Non so da dove iniziare. Mi sembra anche comprensibile, voglio dire, è.. è Notre-Dame, eccheddiamine! Come si fa a parlare di Notre-Dame de Paris senza sminuire, seppur involontariamente, questo capolavoro? Senza cadere in imperdonabili mancanze o senza parlare con inutili fronzoli e giri di parole? Eppure, dire semplicemente 'è bellissimo' è un sacrilegio, scrivere 'meraviglioso' e basta qualcosa di profano.
Ma sento di aver già esagerato, quindi passiamo alla storia:
E' una vicenda, questa, che colpisce per la sua grande varietà. Ci troviamo di tutto, ogni volta che si gira pagina è come aprire gli occhi su uno scenario diverso. Tranne, ovviamente, nelle parti descrittive, che pure sono ricche di fascino e scritte con penna molto più che raffinata. L'unico colpo di scena un po' più banale -ma che dico! Scempio! Non posso parlare di Hugo e scrivere 'banale'!- è quando si viene a sapere che la Gudule è la madre di Esmeralda. Per dire, io me l'ero immaginato sin dall'introduzione della storia della Chantefleurie, ma sicuramente sono io che guardo troppi film. Questo capitolo, devo dire, questo della rivelazione, è uno dei più commoventi di tutto il libro. Stupendo quando la povera madre dice:

«E che me ne importa, a me, del tuo re? Ti dico che è mia figlia!»

E' straziante. Straziante. Ero lì lì per piangere, e non è che abbia esattamente la lacrima facile!
Esmerada, invece, ha suscitato in me emozioni molto differenti, a volte mi ha ispirato una profonda simpatia, altre commossa, altre irritata. Traduzione: ogni volta che pensava a Phoebus e/o faceva qualcosa per attirarne l'attenzione con inevitabili danni a se stessa e chi le stava intorno, avrei voluto prenderla e sbatterla contro ad un muro. Forse mi sarei contenuta per rispetto nei confronti di quel Santo che è Quasimodo! E' semplicemente adorabile! Ditemi se questo non è amore, cioè, era disposto a portarle fin lì il suo stesso rivale pur di farla felice... io le avrei sputato in faccia alla sola richiesta. Sopportare per sedici anni quel cavolo di prete, poi.
Don Claude Frollo, però, mi ha toccato l'anima.

«Ti amo, capisci?» gridò ancora il prete.
«Che amore!» disse la sventurata in un fremito.
«L'amore di un dannato!» riprese lui.

Anche lui è un personaggio che confonde e suscita diverse sensazioni. Disprezzo per il suo amore depravato; pietà per la sua situazione; tenerezza verso un uomo che in fin dei conti non voleva che essere amato e deve vedersela con un rivale col quale non è capace di competere.
Ecco, Phoebus: visto che non voglio essere volgare, di lui non parlo nemmeno.

Insomma, è un romanzo da leggere. Da assaporare al massimo, fino in fondo, goderselo con tutta l'anima. Entra tra i miei preferiti.(less)

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Aug 29, 2011

Kim rated it

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Shelves: french-language, audiobook

I listened to this on a French language audiobook, downloaded at no cost from http://www.litteratureaudio.com/. The English title is The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

It was the first time I have tackled this classic of French literature. I suspect that I appreciate the fact that I made the effort more than I appreciate the work itself. I chose to listen on audiobook so that I would not feel compelled to look up every single word I wasn't sure of in the dictionary. This strategy worked fo...more

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May 19, 2011

rebellyell666 rated it

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Der Glöckner von Notre-Dame ist ein Sittenbild der damaligen Gesellschaft, dargestellt von Victor Hugo. Er bricht diverse Themen an, die er im Laufe des Buches zu einer Geschichte verwebt. Stark beschäftigen ihn die verfallenen Gebäude und auch die ständigen Wechsel der Architekturperioden – die Menschen verbauen einfach ihren Stil in ein bestehendes Objekt, um der Zeit Herr zu werden. Dass dies ein schwieriges bis mittelschönes Unterfangen ist, teilt er breitgefächert mit.

Inmitten die...moreDer Glöckner von Notre-Dame ist ein Sittenbild der damaligen Gesellschaft, dargestellt von Victor Hugo. Er bricht diverse Themen an, die er im Laufe des Buches zu einer Geschichte verwebt. Stark beschäftigen ihn die verfallenen Gebäude und auch die ständigen Wechsel der Architekturperioden – die Menschen verbauen einfach ihren Stil in ein bestehendes Objekt, um der Zeit Herr zu werden. Dass dies ein schwieriges bis mittelschönes Unterfangen ist, teilt er breitgefächert mit.

Inmitten dieser baulichen Aspekte verflechtet er eine Liebesgeschichte, die komplizierter nicht sein könnte: Die Zigeunerin Agnes, die ob ihrer Schönheit nur Esmeralda (Smaragd) genannt wird, ist unsterblich in den Hauptmann Phoebus verliebt, der aber schon versprochen ist. Im Turm von Notre-Dame de Paris, der berühmten, alten Kathedrale lebt der arme, verunstaltete Glöckner Quasimodo, der zu allem Überfluss auch noch durch das ewige Läuten taub geworden ist.

Meine Meinung:

Ich habe dieses Buch nicht im Glauben angefangen, Disney wäre das Maß aller Dinge. Im Gegenteil: Vielleicht habe ich diesen Film ein Mal als Kind gesehen, vielmehr interessierte er mich aber auch nicht. Von daher kann ich auch gar nichts richtig über diesen sagen, nur in groben Zügen.

Ich las eine ungekürzte Ausgabe des Glöckners von Notre Dame, die ich auch wirklich empfehlen würde, um einen umfassenden Eindruck des Werks zu erhalten. Bereits zu Anfang befindet sich der Leser im Justizpalast von Paris, in dem das Volk sich befindet, um den Narrentag zu feiern. Nun, das ganze Volk Paris’ passt nicht in diesen Palast, drum drängen sich die restlichen Leute um das Gebäude herum, schlagen Fenster ein, um sich einen Blick ins Spektakel zu verschaffen. Hugo geht hier besonders auf den Stil ein und bereits hier merkt man als Leser, dass dieses Werk wohl langatmig werden mag.

Was es ab dem dritten Buch sodann wird – ein sehr gute Einteilung im Übrigen, da man so immer einen bestimmten Erzählabschnitt vor Augen hat. Im dritten Buch also widmet er sich der gesamten Pariser Innenstadt mit allen Feinheiten, welche ich – gebe ich zu – nicht annähernd wiedergeben kann, da ich es ob der anekdotischen Langeweile nur müßig überflogen habe.

Die Geschichte nun mit Esmeralda und Quasimodo ist grundsätzlich eine schöne, keine Frage. Dennoch ist Pierre Gringoire der heimliche Antiheld, wie auch von Wikipedia deklariert, da er sich immer wieder aus nahenden Todesurteilen herauslavieren kann. So belustigt zwar der ein oder andere Charakter den Leser, die Geschichte im Gemeinen ist aber sehr eingefahren und auch in der Weiterentwicklung eher stagnierend als fortkommend. Auch, dass diese Handlung viel zu wenig Beachtung erfährt, ist ein großer Nachteil – obwohl sich diese zum Schluss hin als einen der Hauptgründe für den Leser, dieses Buch weiter zu lesen, entpuppt.

Im Gesamten muss ich sagen, dass ich es gut finde, das Buch gelesen zu haben, es aber nur wenig weiterempfehlen kann, da Disney mir nicht erzählt hat, wie langwierig sich Hugo über Nichtigkeiten auslassen kann.
(less)

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Sep 15, 2011

Nemo rated it

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Historian, Philosopher and Poet

If I can quote one passage from Hugo's books that best reflects the author, the focus of his passions, the style and architecture of his novels, it would be the following:

"There he was, serious, motionless, absorbed - all eye, all ear, all thought. All Paris was at his feet, with the thousand spires of its buildings, and its circular horizon of gentle hills, with its river winding beneath its bridges and its people pouring through its s...more

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Apr 03, 2010

Dana rated it

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Shelves: movies, classics-and-legends, best-books-ever, favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Review in the least amount of words: Homo homini monstrum*

If I were to rate this book based on how good it is, I'd give it one star. I say 'good', as in it ends with rainbows and sunshine and happy characters. But it doesn't. It's probably the cruelest, most grotesque book I've ever read. And I'm not rating it based on how it should've ended. I'm rating it based on the hours I spent reading into the night, telling myself this next chapter would be the last and then going back on my p...moreReview in the least amount of words: Homo homini monstrum*

If I were to rate this book based on how good it is, I'd give it one star. I say 'good', as in it ends with rainbows and sunshine and happy characters. But it doesn't. It's probably the cruelest, most grotesque book I've ever read. And I'm not rating it based on how it should've ended. I'm rating it based on the hours I spent reading into the night, telling myself this next chapter would be the last and then going back on my promise. The outcome of the story? I hated it. Hate it with all my soul. The story itself?
I loved it.
There's just a few things I want to point out: this book is in no way like the Disney Hunchback. Of course Disney could never bring itself to make a dramatic ending any more than it could bring itself to quit making movies altogether. But I'll treat the two versions, the book and the movie, as two seperate stories, because recently The Hunchback of Notre-Dame has become one of my favorite Disney films. Admittedly now I can never picture in my mind the Disney 'Quasi', Esmeralda, and Pheobus the same way I used to-with admiration and compassion-or without remembering their much darker novel counterparts. But I'm not gonna make comparisons in this review.

Hugo is one of those authors that gives us endless descriptions of the scenery, as if they matter, but unlike C.S Lewis I enjoyed reading them (I'll just admit that I did skip a few chapters because I wanted to get back to the story). One of the few of these sort of chapters I did read was Notre-Dame: you could plainly see how opposed Hugo was to what man has done this monstrous structure, defaced it, amputated its spire, knocked over its statues, rendered its interior unrecognizable from the time setting of this story. This I enjoyed reading. Hugo was more than a historian; he was a passionate rebel. He perfectly captures the background of the fifteenth-century, and makes a point of letting the reader know how different society was back then. In the Disney movie, Frollo tells Quasimodo that the world is cruel and evil outside of Notre-Dame, but Esmeralda teaches him that really it isn't, and that gypsies are kind people. But in the book it is evident right away that the people of Paris are every bit as cruel and heartless as the Disney Frollo made them out to be. While Quasimodo is being punished at the pillory not a single heart is moved, except for that of the fair Esmeralda. The Truands, or the beggars, are likewise heartless; Clopin Trouillefou, king of the Truands, enjoys nothing less than slitting throats and hangings. Their superstitions and strong religious beliefs, though got on my nerves at times, also made the medieval folk seem more sinister to me; the mad preist, the deranged recluse; such characters deepened the sense of devilry in the story.
Perhaps the most heart-rending moment for me, though, was Esmeralda crying 'No! No! I don't want to die!' before being executed. Though she is not my favorite heroine in literature, I could blame her naivity on her age; she's only a little girl. And she was hated for crimes she did not commit or didn't even exist, as were alot of people of that time; by being beautiful, a preist falls in love with her and blames her for his damnation; by teaching a goat tricks, she is accused of witchcraft; by being a gypsy, the recluse wants to see her hanged, not knowing that the girl is actually the daughter she has been mourning fifteen years for. (This concept only strengthened my despair for Esmeralda; she finally found her mother, only to watch her die a few hours later and be hanged herself). Near the end of the story I was coming up with a million ways to give it a happy ending, or atleast to save Esmeralda, some of them impossible. My earliest solution was if Quasimodo had not been deaf, he would've known that the Truands had come to rescue the gypsy girl and she would've been saved. But then, if he hadn't been deaf he wouldn't have gotten such a brutal punishment at court at the beginning of the book, and Esmeralda wouldn't have needed to show him pity. Thus, he wouldn't have saved her.
Quasimodo is another interesting character in the story; alot uglier than the cartoon Quasi, described more like an animal than a man, and impassive about most of the things that went on around him. He does not yearn to leave Notre-Dame. Rather he despises humanity that despises him, and he keeps to the cathedral and its bells; he was the very soul of it, as Hugo says. Although he is not the main character of the book, he is an example of *man's inhumanity to man; only by being handicapped, he is looked upon by society as a monstor. The chapter entitled Immanis Pecoris Custos Immanior Ipse was one of my favorites. Hugo did it wonderfully. There are some authors who think they can write, authors that can write, and authors whom it is impossible not to recognize by their style of elaborate and excellent writing. Victor Hugo is strictly in the latter form.

Some of my other favorite chapters:
-The Story of a Cake
-Concerning the Danger of Confiding One's Secret to a Goat
-Deaf
-Earthenware and Crystal
-The Little Shoe(less)

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Aug 28, 2008

Grania O' Malley rated it

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm ALMOST done with it. Wow, it's SO amazing!!!! But Phoebus makes me so ANGRY! Poor Fleur-de-lys! Esmeralda makes me angry too...I know I should feel sorry for her, and I really do, but...she's so mean to Quasimodo! EVERYONE'S mean to Quasi! But now I'm mad at Quasi for killing Jehan! But he thought Jehan was attacking...I don't want Clopin to die...I don't want Gringoire to die...I'm afraid Claude is going to die...I kind of want Phoebus to die, but NO I don't! I want him to marry Fleur! She ...more

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May 16, 2007

Amy rated it

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Shelves: own

When I was in middle school, I'd watched and enjoyed the Disney animated version of the story, totally oblivious to how absolutely horribly Disney had "cleaned it up" for the children. Then one day, on the word of the day mailing list I'm subscribed to, one of the words had an example on its use pulled from the book. Just that one except was enough to totally floor me, I knew Disney really frelled with things, but I never remembered it being so extreme before. I had for some reason ass...more

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Mar 23, 2009

Tyler rated it

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Amazing book! Loved the author's view on things. I really felt like I was getting glimpses of a great mind by reading this book. You might want to read it with a highlighter for good quotes. I'm reading Les Miserable right now and again I really like Victor Hugo's writing. There are times where he really goes into depth about history, or something and it is hard to read but if you can get past those parts you will thank yourself because he has some great writing.

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Nov 08, 2007

Robert rated it

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Recommends it for: one and all.

Someone else review it almost as perfectly as you could have. He'd seen the Disney adaptation, and decided that Disney did what Disney does, and cut out a lot of important details. Fortunately I read the book first, and couldn't bear the Disney version, partially cause I was tipsy at the time.

The only part of the book that was extremely difficult to make it through was the 30 page description of Paris. I took about 2 weeks to get through those, and flew through the rest.

...more

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Jul 19, 2007

Jill rated it

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Recommends it for: Anyone

I was thinking about this book, because I recently looked at my pictures of my trip to Paris and the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Hugo does get a little bit too detail oriented in the beginning of the book, describing Paris and its architecture down to very minute details. However, if you hang in there, it is a well written tale about outsiders, the hunchback who lives in the cathedral and rings the bells, and Esmerelda, the gypsy who takes refuge there (essentially, if one had committed or been a...more

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Oct 05, 2011

Ioana rated it

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Shelves: college-reads, read-in-2011

I am actually surprised I liked this book. I once tried to read "Les Miserables". That didn't work out. But this? I liked. Minus the history parts or heavy passages of architecture. I really liked, of course, the subtle sarcasm.
A five star in my book.

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May 10, 2011

Sonia rated it

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Parti I-II

Mi sono persa nella festa, troppa gente che urlava, troppe persone che spingevano per vedere, ognuno che diceva di guardare là, dall'altra parte, che correva e urlava...

oddio l'ingresso nel romanzo per me è stato traumatico! Non ci capisco nulla: chi parla chi ride chi urla...

E a questo punto mi sono detta: ma chi me lo fa fare di restare in questa storia? L'ho evitata al liceo (linguistico, e Hugo era sempre richiesto!!!) l'ho evitato in seguito, perchè ora devo stare qui???

Chi è ques...more

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Dec 09, 2008

Bettie rated it

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Shelves: classic

Alex Bulmer's dramatisation of Victor Hugo's novel, in which a Gypsy girl captures the heart of Quasimodo, who lives hidden away in the bell towers of Notre Dame. The tale of love, betrayal and bravery is produced in a collaboration between BBC Radio Drama and Graeae, a disabled-led theatre company.

From The Radio Times

The 1939 film version of Victor Hugo's gothic tale of love and betrayal turned deformed, deaf bell-ringer Quasimodo (played by Charles Laughton) into somet...more

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Jul 27, 2011

Karen rated it

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Shelves: classics

it takes a lot of stubbornness and boredom (for why else would one sit through boring literature?) to get through the first 150 pages or so, as these are filled with intricate descriptions of things - varying from paris to notre dame as well as long rambles and meditations, such as the one wherein hugo claims that architecture is literature and is dying, if i understood him correctly.

however, nearly everything that we have been presented with has proved its worth and usefulness later on.

as an ad...more

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Jul 04, 2011

Cinzia rated it

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Shelves: ottocento

Sono rimasta molto molto sorpresa dal finale. Non avendo mai visto film e sceneggiati, non avevo idea di come potesse finire, avevo una mia idea in mente, ma Hugo è andato oltre la mia immaginazione!
Nonostante l'inizio molto lento e difficoltoso, il romanzo prende il volo nel momento in cui si iniziano a delineare i rapporti tra i personaggi. Tutto ruota attorno all'egoismo e alla superficialità, a dispetto dell'ingenuità e della purezza (di Quasimodo ed Esmeralda). Hugo aggiunge anche supe...moreSono rimasta molto molto sorpresa dal finale. Non avendo mai visto film e sceneggiati, non avevo idea di come potesse finire, avevo una mia idea in mente, ma Hugo è andato oltre la mia immaginazione!
Nonostante l'inizio molto lento e difficoltoso, il romanzo prende il volo nel momento in cui si iniziano a delineare i rapporti tra i personaggi. Tutto ruota attorno all'egoismo e alla superficialità, a dispetto dell'ingenuità e della purezza (di Quasimodo ed Esmeralda). Hugo aggiunge anche superstizione e ignoranza per completare il quadro di un medioevo, ormai agli sgoccioli, gretto e miserabile. Il popolo è dipinto come una massa informe governata dal pettegolezzo e dal sospetto, una sorta di onda che si muove sospinta dalle dicerie e dall'ignoranza. Gli uomini di cultura (Frollo, Gringoire, ma anche i vari funzionari) sono egoisti e superficiali, e non esitano a calpestare tutto e tutti in virtù del proprio tornaconto, qualsiasi esso sia. Gli uomini, nel complesso, fanno una pessima figura. Frollo è indescrivibile, definirlo pazzo equivarrebbe a privarlo di parte delle sue responsabilità. Gringoire è ignavo, scivola da una parte all'altra senza lasciare traccia nel totale disinteresse per il prossimo. Phoebus è un idiota. :D L'unico uomo con un animo nobile è Quasimodo che agli occhi di tutti non è nemmeno un essere umano.
Tra le donne, a parte Esmeralda e l'insaccata, spiccano solo le quattro (o erano tre?) popolane che appunto sono fedelissime allo stereotipo a cui appartengono.
In generale, comunque, i personaggi sono un po' tutti stereotipati e si comportano tutti in modo abbastanza prevedibile; forse questo è dovuto alla giovane età di Hugo e alla sua mancanza di esperienza riconducibile al periodo in cui scrisse il romanzo.
I difetti di questo romanzo sono i soliti di Hugo: prolissità e lungaggine nelle descrizioni ambientali e nella narrazione di eventi che costituiscono il substrato su cui poggiare la storia. Ci sono dei capitoli in cui ci si trova dinnanzi a un elenco di nomi e di cariche senza che se ne comprenda il reale scopo, oppure a interminabili descrizioni architettoniche che risultano contorte e difficili da seguire.

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May 02, 2011

Wally rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classic, cities, french, historical, doorway-character, doorway-plot, doorway-language, doorway-setting

I suffered through Victor Hugo's Les Miserables in high school French, but I thought I'd take this on the airplane on my way to Paris, and I wasn't disappointed at all. The plot begins by following a somewhat minor character (who keeps popping up at crucial points and becomes something more major to the plot and theme), a poet who writes a morality play, fails utterly to perform it and get paid for it, and falls in with a crowd to thieves and vagabonds. On his descent, he encounters the innoce...more

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Apr 11, 2011

Hannah rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I decided to read this book after having my interest in the Disney version revived after many years. I love the Disney movie-- the music, the setting, the story, the characters-- everything was great. So, naturally, I sought to experience the source of that greatness. And, I was not disappointed.

You could see how everything in the movie was inspired by something in the book. Although the individual plots were extremely diverse, you could definitely tell they belonged together.
...moreI decided to read this book after having my interest in the Disney version revived after many years. I love the Disney movie-- the music, the setting, the story, the characters-- everything was great. So, naturally, I sought to experience the source of that greatness. And, I was not disappointed.

You could see how everything in the movie was inspired by something in the book. Although the individual plots were extremely diverse, you could definitely tell they belonged together.

In this book, I found the first one hundred pages or so to be a bit slow. The introduction seemed too long, but I didn't find myself absolutely hating it.

The writing itself was amazing. It may have been dated, but that's what helped make it so original. You actually felt like you were in 14th century France. I love the writing; I thought it flowered. It was very descriptive.

I loved the story; it was original and it demonstrates how... corrupt we people can be.

Most of the characters were developed, but I still feel like holes were present. I wanted to know more. I wanted to see and experience their personalities more vividly. Out of all the characters, I felt the poet and Frollo were the most developed. However, I was surprised at the lack of attention given to Quasi, for whom this book is named. He only appeared a few times, and he actually wasn't that developed. Why did he try to kidnap Esmeralda at the beginning of the book? When did he first see her? How does he feel at being locked in a tower? I feel that movie did a much better job at describing the complex emotions of a ambitious yet frightened man. A man wanting freedom yet terrified of experiencing it. Of course, there were moments in this novel that were pure emotional genius, moments in which I could feel the hunchback's pain. But, there wasn't enough of those moments. Anyways, whatever happened to the poet? That character's conclusion was completely random in every conceivable way. What happened to that jerk Phoebus? There were also a lot of minor characters that appeared and disappeared without a trace. They seemed to have a major part, play a purpose but then they were never spoken of again.

I did have a major problem with Esmeralda. In the movie, she was a strong, inspiring women who gave everyone a chance, no matter their looks. She was a caring, motivational leader who fought against the authority of an evil, oppressive rule. In the book, she was a whinny, dependent loser whose dialogue consisted of, "Oh, my Phoebus." At points, I liked her. But, for the majority, I didn't. Maybe the author had a pessimistic attitude towards women and their effect on men, maybe he sought to convey the immaturity of a 16-year-old. I don't know Hugo's intentions, but I am aware of my intense dislike for Esmeralda as a character. Every second, I was rooting for her to grow a backbone and do something to save herself. Every second, I thought she would. But, even in the conclusion, she failed to deliver.

What made this book worth wild, though, was the amazing ending. Oh, my word, I never expected it to end as it did. The Disney movie pretty much put an expectation in my mind, and that expectation was a happy ending. As I read the last words, I was chilled. It left me with a very haunting feeling. I loved it! Never before has an ending hit me from left field so hard.

In conclusion, yes, it was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but there were some flaws that needed fixing. It was completely different from the Disney movie, but I can appreciate the beauty of both. I recommend it.(less)

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Oct 04, 2010

Evelyn rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: children, literature

Obviously the original gets 5 stars and is superb in all ways. My review here is more for the Great Illustrated Classics series in general. If you are looking for good children's adaptations of classic works, these are a pretty good place to start. They keep to the original storyline, as much as possible (not all children's adaptations do...in which case, why not let them watch the disney version and be done with it?) They also have a picture on every page (or nearly in some of them) which m...more

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Sep 15, 2010

Mohammed rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Mohammed by: لا أحد

اهش رواية قرأتها على الأطلاق وكأنها قصه للأطفال , لا ادري ما هي أسباب نجاحها , ولكني لم أستطع رؤية هذه الأسباب.
لم أفهم كيف تمكن الكاهن من كسر الباب وطعن فوبوس ولم يحسوا به ؟! ولم أفهم كيف تحبس امرأة (( حبيسة برج رولان )) نفسها 15 سنة تصلي ؟! ولم أفهم كيف تقام محكمة لعقاب قاتل فوبوس وهو حي دون طلب شهادته ؟! أو كيف فلور دي ليه (( خطيبة فوبوس )) تعيش في نفس البلدة التي تمت فيها المحكمة ولم تعرف شيئاً.
نفس الشيئ حصل في محاكمة الأحدب من القاضي الاصم حيث أعتقد أن الأحدب جاوب اسئلته ؟! هل كا...more

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Aug 09, 2010

Ita rated it

· review of another edition

Si Cantik dari Notre Dame
Oleh Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
Penerjemah Sunaryono Basuki K.S.
Penerbit Serambi
Cetakan pertama Juli 2010
569 halaman

Karya klasik ini sungguh cantik meski berakhir tragik. Kekuatan buku ini terletak pada keterampilan berbahasa yang sungguh berbakat, pengetahuan kosa kata yang berlimpah dan kekayaan referensi yang luas, serta ketekunan yang luar biasa ketika menuliskannya. Daya khayal pengarang tentang karakter manusia ditumpa...more

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Apr 15, 2010

Pj rated it

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"A Classic".... I hate when I see this title attached to a book, it makes me think there's something wrong with me if I don't like it. Victor Hugo is a great author but I'm convinced he was paid by the word and very hungry when he wrote this. I had to drag myself through 3 chapters (in different places) that had practically no purpose. They didn't further the story or give background to an important character (or even a minor character) I'm not sure why Hugo felt it necessary to de...more

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Dec 24, 2009

Linds rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 1500-s, adventure, classic, europe, historical-fiction, movies, oppression, physical-disablities, unrequited-love, medieval, france

I need some more time to process this book, it's all very epic, very grand.

The only background I have of this is the Disney film, and as you can imagine there are huge differences.

The first is that while Quasimodo the hunchback is in the book, he is more of a supporting character and a catalyst for the action.

The story is set in medieval Paris. It is the story of three men and their relationship to a beautiful (on the outside and the inside) Esmeralda.
...more

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Jan 22, 2009

Rebecca rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: the-classics, books-i-own

Not Hugo's best work in my opinion. It focuses heavily on the cathedral itself and some of the matters of Claude Frollo's interests in alchemy do little to advance the plot. However it has its occasional flashes of absolute brilliance, but it fails to compare to Hugo's best known work Les Miserables. However still worth reading, my favourite character was Djali the goat, which perhaps says something about the rest of the characters; the goat is by far the most interesting/entertaining.

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