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Summary: Review of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"
Review: "The Three Musketeers", "Frankenstein", "Around the world in 80 days", all those samples of nineteenth century literature have become true icons of popular culture in our time. Acknowledging that, I decided to read the literary works that originated some of those cultural concepts, in order to better understand their true meaning. That's how I decide to read "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". This little review is based on my impressions on this great piece from Victor Hugo. Since the high quality of "Hunchback" is universally accepted, a text intended to prove that Hugo's work is a good book would be truly pointless. Rather. this review is meant to comment on why it would be interesting for readers going beyond the popular imagery generally surrounding this important piece of literature and actually reading it.Though I've read an English version of the book, I know the original French title reads just "Notre Dame". That's probably because the focus of the story is not really Quasimodo, the deaf and deformed hunchback in charge of ringing the bells of Notre Dame. The true main character in the book is the cathedral itself. In the story, this edifice is in the center of a series of plots that help to portray medieval Paris. In fact, one could approach "Hunchback" as a true history treaty, due to extensive descriptions of the medieval city and explanations on medieval culture that the scholar Victor Hugo included on his work. However, in Hugo's romanticized portrait of a Paris of times gone by, it's possible to list some characters that stand out as true key figures in the drama. Those most outstanding in the book's plot are the aforementioned Quasimodo; Dom Claude Frolo, the taciturn Archdeacon of notre Dame and Quasimodo's foster parent; La Esmeralda, the gypsy girl, who seems to enchant all around her with her charm; Gringoire a foolish and impoverished poet and Captain Phoebus, a selfish and feeble spirited nobleman who holds a position of military officer. Another misleading notion about "Hunchback" is the belief that it's some sort of gothic version of "Beauty and the Beast", staring the bestial Quasimodo and beautiful La Esmeralda. Quasimodo indeed falls deeply and thoroughly in love with the pretty gypsy, yet, the only feelings her beloved can offer in return are pity, gratitude and tenderness. Despite that, the lady never quite overcomes a deep feeling of disgust towards the bell ringer's hideous figure. Contrary to what many might think, this book is not some mild hearted fable about love and kindness overcoming exterior appearance. In addition to being a historical study about medieval Paris, this piece of literature is an amazing essay on human wickedness. The book is a powerful portrait of several manifestations of evil in the hearts of people. Because of some twists and turns in the story, all those samples of human cruelty portrayed end up being channeled against poor la Esmeralda, causing the complete undoing of she who is the only truly good hearted character in the whole book. Among the examples of how evil can manifest in human's hearts present in the piece's pages, there is the case of Dom Claude who, torn between celibacy and lustful feelings for the gypsy girl, nourishes a love for La Esmertalda stained by mortal hate towards her. There are the towns people who, while charmed at the little gypsy who make dancing performances on the streets to collect some spare change, also despise her for being a vagabond and supposedly a sorceress. There are the officials of law who ruthlessly and mercilessly ensue penalties of torture and deaf under the most improbable accusations. We also see Phoebus, a petty and vulgar man used to taking advantage of women for the sake of his own sexual satisfaction, who, although does not perform any evil toward others, is responsible for the most tragic events just for omitting himself in face of the distress of others. This huge gallery of malefice conspires to bring La Esmeralda her doom, and the only one who comes forth to protect her against such a dark state of affairs is the crippled hunchback Quasimodo. This book conveys a rich yet dark portrait o human psique. Therefore it is truly not advisable to draw from its story a script for some light hearted animated movie for children. As a final remark, it's important to reinforce that though one might think that is well acquainted with the concept of the popular icon "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", the piece of literature that has given rise to it can prove to be much richer than any preconceived notions we might have about it. The purpose of this tiny review is to provide a very brief idea of what one can expect to find by actually reading this great book.
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Summary: SANCTUARY!!!!
Review: I am an avid fan of the monster books. Hunchback, Dracula, Invisible Man, et ali. This is another one of those classics that allows you to enter a different world which is never really seen. Of course this is a classic, so no one will be reading this anyway, but if you are undecided, don't be stupid. Get this and read it!
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Summary: An Amazing Book
Review: I don't really know what I can say about this book, but I'm sure I'll find the words... Nevermind, I have them. If you pick it up and expect the Disney movie, you're in for one of the biggest surprises of your life. At the beginning it seems to start out slowly because some of the characters introduced weren't in the Disney movie at all, so you're like... "oookay, who are these people?" However, this book was so great. It was very sad and depressing, but it had it's happy moments, which is always nice.
It was amazing, and one of the best books I have ever read. Disney is a butcher of good stories!!! Arg! (This, however, is just my opinion. If you're a fan of Disney and I have offended you, I do apologize.)
I loved his writing style, with how descriptive he is with the setting and the characters. Victor Hugo does it so well that you feel like you are actually in Paris in the 15th century, and that you actually know the characters. They were portrayed so much differently in the book. My favorite character was Dom Claude Frollo, and I thought that I would have hated him, especially since he causes virtually all of the horrible suffering in the story. Weird, huh? I also liked Quasimodo for his kindness despite how unfortunate he is. He's constantly ill-treated, but he still keeps his good-natured soul.
I'm sure I'll be picking up copies of some of Victor Hugo's other books soon as well. The ending of this book brought me to tears, but I don't know about anybody else, since nobody I've talked to has read it.
I'm the sort of person who cries easily, and I became very attached to the characters. This book is filled with death, but some of it made me smile. I loved the ending even though it was tragic, but I won't spoil it. Go read it yourself. Not all stories can end happily.
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Summary: Not like the Disney movie
Review: I read many of his books, all of them reflect hate to arabic religion. This man is not afraid of the god and shadinda allah mashta ehonte. No good, he will pay to mikahi dyumi in full. Don't buy his books, don't support this man.
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Summary: Shouldn't a writer know how to write?
Review: I stopped reading on page three. This poorly rewritten story contained numerous incomplete sentences, going against everything I am trying to teach my kids (9 and 5). Children deserve to have proper modeling of sentence structure, and this book doesn't cut it. Yes, this book by Tim Wynne-Jones might have a great story, but it's overshadowed by the author's sloppy attempts in the retelling. Don't your children deserve more? I would instead recommend Jimmy Symonds' version of this story by Eyewitness Classics. Mr. Symonds excellently condensed this marvelous story, and we enjoyed the sidebars giving additional information into the time the story was written. The quality of the book was carried through to ALL aspects of the book--including grammar. Don't underestimate your kids.
Rating:
Summary: Shouldn't a writer know how to write?
Review: I stopped reading on page three. This poorly rewritten story contained numerous incomplete sentences, going against everything I am trying to teach my kids (9 and 5). Children deserve to have proper modeling of sentence structure, and this book doesn't cut it. Yes, this book by Tim Wynne-Jones might have a great story, but it's overshadowed by the author's sloppy attempts in the retelling. Don't your children deserve more? I would instead recommend Jimmy Symonds' version of this story by Eyewitness Classics. Mr. Symonds excellently condensed this marvelous story, and we enjoyed the sidebars giving additional information into the time the story was written. The quality of the book was carried through to ALL aspects of the book--including grammar. Don't underestimate your kids.
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Summary: A Masterpiece!!!
Review: It broke my heart to see anyone compare this masterpiece to a Disney film or a modern work of art. There is NO comparison. I first read this book 17 years ago and was so captivated that I could not put it down. I often wonder why Hollywood tried to reproduce this book at all, since not one single movie has ever come close to giving us a glimpse of all this book has to offer. The ties and the love and the betrayal, the architectual detail alone, all of it make for one of the most profound works of literature ever written. Please do not be spoiled by the quick reads that one is most aquainted with today. Take the time to reaquaint yourself with this extraordinary work that will leave you heartbroken and amazed by the end.
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Summary: The Genius of Victor Hugo
Review: Quasimodo, Esmerelda, Claude Frollo, the "Sack Woman", Gringoire, Captain Phoebus, Djali. What signifies these characters to linger in the reader's concscience long after they have read Victor Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris (or Hunchback of Notre Dame)are their humanitarian qualities that reflects so much raw passion, life, and such exquisite Gothic images within their characteristic interior. Quasimodo, Esmerelda, and Claude Frollo are the most familiar names in this book, as well as in literary culture. And Djali is in fact one of the most famous animal characters in literature. The Notre Dame catherdral, the streets, the people, and the sounds of Medieval Paris also signifies Victor Hugo's genius and utmost respect for describing the Paris of the past to compliment the Paris of today (or at least at his time). How Victor Hugo has carefully and so perfectly arranged so many plots filled with humor, depth, emotion, darkness, redemption, obsession, lost, hate, regret, and love in each character, as well as so magnificently described Paris so fluently with as much detail as possible, is just undeniably spectacular. Like Les Miserables (which to me personally is one of the most definitive epics of human life that i have ever read), Victor Hugo brings out these common, lost, neglected, misunderstood, and strange characters from the dark and expresses their human qualities of love, hate, fate, revenge, and devotion in the light. When i think of the Disney movie version of this classic novel, the more i feel that Disney obviously didn't read or follow the concept of this novel. For kids, sure it makes sense that a theme out of this is that evil falls, and that people will love you no matter how deformed your face looks. But i believe if they really read this book, they would realize that a story like this isn't for children. The story is not nice at the end (it's the most haunting and tragic part of the whole novel). The story isn't about the love of Quasimodo and Esmerelda. The story isn't even about Quasimodo. It's about a mixture of important and random characters that creates a chain of plots and emotions that intertwines with one another to create a whole story where everybody in the novel has had some influence or some importance to the whole story. And that's the problem with a majority of movies based on classic novels like Hunchback, Jane Eyre, etc. Movies take away the poetry and aesthetic quality of the story, while taking away so many minor characters, and plots. And through my observation, it seems to always soften up the original tale instead of bearing the true dark images that the original novels portray (such as A Farewell To Arms,where there was actually more dialogue in the movie than the book itself, and so much more emotion at the end which didn't even happen in the book. If you want to check that out, read the book first, i recommend that as well). To me it's a waste of such a wonderful classic that deserves to be read rather than seen through celluloid. If you saw the laughable and extremely make believe and rewritten version of Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, or saw any other movie version, then you definitely must read the book. I believe it will be more worthwhile and more understanding, it will definitely make you laugh, cry, smile, and think, very much.
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Summary: for when you have time on your hands
Review: The Hunckback of Notre Dame, under the original title Notre Dame de Paris (because the plot really centers around the cathedral, not Quasimodo) is like a twisted Romeo & Juliet story sans star-crossed lovers. The *real* protagonist (in my opinion) is Esmerelda, the 16 year old gypsy dancer. She falls in love with the chauvanistic peacock Captain Pheobus who takes advantage of her love, meanwhile courting a rich young noblewoman. Quasimodo the deaf bell-ringer, and Claude Frollo, the fanatical archdeacon of Notre Dame, are the ones who fall for the gypsy. So natually things get quite chaotic when the gypsy girl is sentanced to death for "murdering" the Captain. The action is spectacular, especially the siege of Notre Dame, and hopefully I don't give anything away when I say that there's a lot of dying going on... This book does have its long, slow parts too...such as the beginning. and unless you are an ardent scholar of mideival architecture, go ahead and skim chapters with the titles "Notre Dame" and "A Birds Eye View of Paris". My favorite parts: Poet Pierre Gringoire's "marriage" to Esmerelda (whom Captain Phoebus calls "similar" because he can never remember her name), and also P.G.'s unhealthy obsession with Djahli the goat.
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Summary: Read this great classic!
Review: This epic tragedy pits a beautiful, earthbound angel against a venal, earthbound devil, and is set amid the squalor of Medieval Paris. Our protagonists alternately dance and skulk through the chapters, leading to a desperate and heart-wrenching conclusion. Could our angel be a witch; could our devil redeem himself? We desperately hope for any outcome other than the one we fear, and we cannot believe that Hugo would taunt us with such elemental beauty, and then destroy it before our eyes. My only complaint is not with Hugo, but with the translation of the title. Why couldn't we anglophones be trusted with "Notre Dame of Paris?" The book is less about Quasimodo than about the conflict between Medieval Paris's lofty aspirations for man and the depredations of daily life.
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