Book Description
This extraordinary historical novel, set in Medieval Paris under the twin towers of its greatest structure and supreme symbol, the cathedral of Notre-Dame, is the haunting drama of Quasimodo, the hunchback; Esmeralda, the gypsy dancer; and Claude Frollo, the priest tortured by the specter of his own damnation. Shaped by a profound sense of tragic irony, it is a work that gives full play to Victor Hugo's brilliant historical imagination and his remarkable powers of description.
Customer Reviews:
A classic.......2007-09-18
This book brings the reader into Paris, late 1400s. For such a good classic book it is under-rated. There is a good plot, a love story, and characters that seem to come alive as you keep reading. Victor Hugo gives details that even make the architecture stand out. It is like a page turning adventure- can't stop until the book is finished.
Classic checked off my list.......2007-06-13
Okay, so I read it. It was long and pretty much depressing. Maybe it just went right over my head. The character Quasimodo was fascinating. I definitely enjoyed that aspect of the book.
Romaticism at its best!.......2007-03-26
Victor Hugo, the French poet and writer, who wished to change how novels were written and read, wrote The Hunchback of Notra-Dame in the beginning of his career. In contrast to Les Miserables, which is his more celebrated work, and was written several decades after the Notra-dame novel, the present piece is not only laced with more humor and romance but also stands out as a piece where the young poet in Hugo pours out a ravishing range of similes. Just for the pure magic of his metaphors and similes that make all his descriptions so poetic, so powerful Notra-Dame is worth reading.
The story itself reads like a fanciful movie, an ugly hunchback, Quasimodo is brought up by a Priest Frollo, the archdeacon of Notradame. The hunchback is hence attached like a dog to his master to him. The English title of Hunchback of Notra-dame is a misnomer, for the original is called Notra-dame de Paris, and English title lets us assume that it is the story of Hunchback as hero, while the original title asserts it is story set in Notradame and has charaters who reside in it, or live in its shadows. The Priest Calude Frollo, leaving his pursuit of science and philosophy meanders to a path of unrelenting lust for the gypsy dancer, Esmeralda. A writer, Pierre Grigorne, gets into a set of bizarre circumstances, where a token marriage attaches him to the gypsy. Phoebus, captain of King's Archers is the object of the affection of Esmeralda herself.
Besides these characters, there is a madwoman who lives in confinement, pining for her lost child, who was carried off by gypsies, and hates Esmeralda. There is the goat Djali, who performs tricks with Esmeralda, Jehan who is Claude Frollo's irreligious brother, King Louis IV - who interacts with Claude on issues of science, and the most important character, who lurks like an existence all though, is the Notra-Dame itself. The romances criss cross through a series of interesting episodes and drama, and that forms the crux of the story that I won't divulge here. Readers will benefit by discovering surprises and mystery for themselves, in process getting enchanted by a story that has been a popular read for centuries now.
What makes this novel a masterpiece, besides the poetic descriptions, is
Hugo's description of the cathedral of Notra-dame and the city of Paris, and his discussion of how the arrival of printing press signaled an end to the importance as architecture as the expressive art of intellectuals. The views of the author expressed in these pages and pages of delightful reading provide the reader not only with historical and architectural prespective on the buildings in Paris, but also gives us a word image of buildings, roofs, rooms, carvings, modernism, and more. In his commentaries and comparisons between writing and printing as form of expression in contrast to architecture, Hugo unmasks a wide array of issues that arrival of every new media (TV, Cinema, Internet, Digital Photography) bring. How existing precepts and concepts are revised, how adaptations occur, how each age has its own expression through any of these means- and all Hugo says so passionately about architecture or literature allows us to feel the essence of why we make monuments of stones or words in the first place.
Victor Hugo had great skill in developing characters, and describing their lives over an extended period of time, capturing how situations and people led to certain choices, behavioral changes and thought process of each. His ability of doing this, in a very detached manner, where narrative is like a camera floating into a room, and staying long enough for a distant observer to watch and identify traits of every person present there, makes him a great novelist. The novel, like all classic reads, looks formidable in size, but can be read at a formidable pace, especially after the first half of the novel is over.
Besides the merits of the novelist, and the beauty of his wordplay, the story itself is a charming one, and has been brought to screen versions many times. Reading Hugo's two major works allows one to get the same keen insight into French society of the respective times, as does Thackeray and Dickens novels for England and Tolstoy in Russia. Reading any of these masters takes time, but trust me, it is worth the patience and the effort. Recommended highly.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame.......2006-06-16
All said about classics, this was one of the best classics ever written. It fills you with emotion, an extremely thought provoking book that talks of love and unloved, loyalty and betrayal, gratitude and unrelenting coldness. Reading this book is like going back in time to the 15th century, we can see masquerades roaming the streets of France. A lonely bell ringer with a hunched back ringing bells, longing to see his beloved girl. The archdeacon, who, by nature may not be evil, But the endless temptation made him an absolute devil. An absurd love triangle that was almost funny, and yet resulted only in tragedy. A gypsy prostitute filled with remorse and anger, and yet..... yet everything turned to nothing......
The famous Quisimodo is probably the ultimate symbol of an ugly face with a kind heart. He is one of the bravest protagonists I've ever encountered. He has a heart of gold. And yet he received nothing, that, was Hugo's tragedy at his best.
Besides an extremely well-written book, the main thing about this book is that it's heart wrenching and thought provoking. One of the best tragedies ever written, if you like to shed some tears while reading, then this is the right book for you.
Breathtaking action and true love (and anti-love) mixed with extraordinarily long, dry sections.......2006-03-07
Hugo's classic is the ultimate un-love story. It presents at least three central characters brimming with unrequited love and another couple of central characters who don't seem to know how to love. Amongst the unrequited "loves," one case is pure lust mistaken for love and another is complete infatuation mistaken for love. The book also reads as a case study in the potential ramifications of bitterness. Hugo also draws wonderful characters: the archdeacon of Notre Dame is one of the scariest villains I've seen, and the spineless poet Gringoire is attractive though unreliable. The story is fascinating and heart-rending.
But the book also feels schizophrenic: Hugo delivers suspense-filled scenes, engaging dialogue, intriguing characters, breathtaking action...and then interrupts it with pages and pages of the history of Parisian architecture or the relative benefits of astrology versus alchemy. It's reminiscent of Moby Dick in that way: excitement interspersed with mind-numbing boredom. But the reflections on the heart are worth it: just don't be afraid to skip a few pages.
I read (or listened to, actually), the Lowell Bair translation, which had some interesting and clever phrasing that I didn't find in other translations I examined. On Amazon, that translation is only available abridged (maybe not a bad idea) as a Bantam Classic, so the unabridged version may be out of print. That said, other translations (such as this) may have other strengths (hence their still being in print).
Average customer rating:
- My favorite book as a kid!
- Lovely illustrations, good for girls
- Intriguing and Beautiful
- Its very cute.
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Minou
Mindy Bingham
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Picasso and Minou
ASIN: 0911655360 |
Customer Reviews:
My favorite book as a kid!.......2005-01-24
This book was first published when I was 6 years old and smack dab in the middle of its target readership. I read it over and over again to my younger sister and we would stare for what seemed like hours at the incredible pictures. We loved the cat, the inspiring story, and the fascinating pictures of Paris. Now that I have a child of my own, I'm so happy to find this book still available. I don't think it is only for girls -- I believe my son can learn a lesson from the story and appreciate the artwork as well as any girl. (He loves cats; I don't know why people think of cats as a "girly" animal.)
Lovely illustrations, good for girls.......2002-07-14
In a world where all too many girls' books are subtly anti-feminist, Minou is a parable for girls, both pre-reading and early reading age, that teaches the joys and pride of self sufficiency.
Girls readily identify with cats, dancers, artists, horses, and fairy tale heroines, and Minou is readily the first and the last -- but without the saccharine "Prince Charming" and his sweeping away to "Ever After" Land. Every girl I have read this book to, or read with has identified easily with Minou, and agreed that self sufficiency is far superior to dependency.
Maeno's illustrations are gorgeous, and as the "mother" of a small siamese, incredibly accurate in description and depiction.
The ending is not, as a previous reviewer stated, perfect, but it is an independent happy ending, and that alone makes this worth 4 stars.
Intriguing and Beautiful.......2000-11-09
All three of my children, ages 2, 6, and 8, huddled around to hear this entire story! (How often does THAT happen?) The illustrations are simply beautiful, and in fact inspired my 6-year-old to experiment with more shades of color in his drawings, "like an artist." The story is intriguing, keeping my savvy 8-year-old interested to the end. We live in Paris now, so there was heightened interest to see familiar sights pictured in the story. Minou learns a valuable lesson. At the end of the story, however, I felt the message was somewhat forced. Still, I plan to give this book as Christmas gifts to all the cousins back in the U.S.A!
Its very cute........1999-10-29
Mindy Bingham
Minou
THIS BOOK IS VERY CUTE. i REALLY WISH i COULD HAVE I SO I COULD READ MORE TIMES. THIS BOOK IS A BOOK THAT A TEACHER RECCOMENDED TO ME IF IT WOULDNT BEEN BY THAT TEACHER I WOULDNT BE DOING THIS REVIEW. READ IT !
Customer Reviews:
You feel like you really are in Paris.......2007-10-02
The book is brilliant. The caracthers are complex, except for that La Esmeralda, the city of Paris is beautiful describe and the chapter about architecture and litetarute is fascinating. Victor Hugo's style of writing is elegant and his sense of humour, sometimes really ironic, is unique.
The only low point of the book is La Esmeralda caracther. She is shallow, the typical "please rescue me" heroine and i kept asking myself praticatly the whole time i was reading it: HOW CAN SOMEONE BE SO STUPID???????? And by the end of the book, every time she said "my phoebus" i felt like slaping her. And i didn't think her love for "my phoebus" was bliding her so she couldn't see what he was really about. I think she was that dumb and stupid to not see what was right in front of her. Love isn't blind. Love is the opposite. That's why Quasimodo's love for her is so great. He is aware she doesn't love him, she doesn't even like him, she just keep on thinking about "my phoebus", he sees all that and still he loves her. That's love. What she felt was due to her stupidity.
When la esmeralda, hiding from the people who wants to hang her, hears phoebus' voice and yells "my phoebus" (it seemed that the only sentence she could say most of the book), and is found out, i thought: "she deserves to be hung, how can someone be so dumb??????".
I 'don't give 5 stars because of her.
Notre Cher Notre Dame.......2007-06-21
Forget singing hunchbacks and chivalrous captains, dancing on rooftops and merry parades, and embrace the real Notre Dame of Paris. Poor, deaf Quasimodo, doggedly loyal to his vicious and stern master, delighting in his pealing bells and as flawed as every other character in the book makes a frightful counterpoint to the beautifully innocent La Esmeralda. The tale does not begin with them but events spiral around these two in a vortex of complicated plots and duplicitious people, drawing closer and closer to finally end with the two unfortunate souls. It is a single-sided Romeo and Juliet, a daisy chain of ill-conceived romance and misbegotten loves that ensanare everyone they touch. Every character has a story, from Gringoire the poet of the streets to Claude Frollo, the very model of severe ecclesiastical virtue and his miscreant brother, and even the city itself is described in occasionally agonizingly minute detail. They are at times loveable, at times odious, and forever utterly enthalling.
Romaticism at its best!.......2007-03-26
Victor Hugo, the French poet and writer, who wished to change how novels were written and read, wrote The Hunchback of Notre-Dame in the beginning of his career. In contrast to Les Miserables, which is his more celebrated work, and was written several decades after the Notre-dame novel, the present piece is not only laced with more humor and romance but also stands out as a piece where the young poet in Hugo pours out a ravishing range of similes. Just for the pure magic of his metaphors and similes that make all his descriptions so poetic, so powerful Notre-Dame is worth reading.
The story itself reads like a fanciful movie, an ugly hunchback, Quasimodo is brought up by a Priest Frollo, the archdeacon of Notre-dame. The hunchback is hence attached like a dog to his master to him. The English title of Hunchback of Notre-dame is a misnomer, for the original is called Notre-dame de Paris, and English title lets us assume that it is the story of Hunchback as hero, while the original title asserts it is story set in Notre-dame and has characters who reside in it, or live in its shadows. The Priest Calude Frollo, leaving his pursuit of science and philosophy meanders to a path of unrelenting lust for the gypsy dancer, Esmeralda. A writer, Pierre Grigorne, gets into a set of bizarre circumstances, where a token marriage attaches him to the gypsy. Phoebus, captain of King's Archers is the object of the affection of Esmeralda herself.
Besides these characters, there is a madwoman who lives in confinement, pining for her lost child, who was carried off by gypsies, and hates Esmeralda. There is the goat Djali, who performs tricks with Esmeralda, Jehan who is Claude Frollo's irreligious brother, King Louis IV - who interacts with Claude on issues of science, and the most important character, who lurks like an existence all though, is the Notre-Dame itself. The romances criss cross through a series of interesting episodes and drama, and that forms the crux of the story that I won't divulge here. Readers will benefit by discovering surprises and mystery for themselves, in process getting enchanted by a story that has been a popular read for centuries now.
What makes this novel a masterpiece, besides the poetic descriptions, is
Hugo's description of the cathedral of Notre-dame and the city of Paris, and his discussion of how the arrival of printing press signaled an end to the importance as architecture as the expressive art of intellectuals. The views of the author expressed in these pages and pages of delightful reading provide the reader not only with historical and architectural perspective on the buildings in Paris, but also gives us a word image of buildings, roofs, rooms, carvings, modernism, and more. In his commentaries and comparisons between writing and printing as form of expression in contrast to architecture, Hugo unmasks a wide array of issues that arrival of every new media (TV, Cinema, Internet, Digital Photography) bring. How existing precepts and concepts are revised, how adaptations occur, how each age has its own expression through any of these means- and all Hugo says so passionately about architecture or literature allows us to feel the essence of why we make monuments of stones or words in the first place.
Victor Hugo had great skill in developing characters, and describing their lives over an extended period of time, capturing how situations and people led to certain choices, behavioral changes and thought process of each. His ability of doing this, in a very detached manner, where narrative is like a camera floating into a room, and staying long enough for a distant observer to watch and identify traits of every person present there, makes him a great novelist. The novel, like all classic reads, looks formidable in size, but can be read at a formidable pace, especially after the first half of the novel is over.
Besides the merits of the novelist, and the beauty of his wordplay, the story itself is a charming one, and has been brought to screen versions many times. Reading Hugo's two major works allows one to get the same keen insight into French society of the respective times, as does Thackeray and Dickens novels for England and Tolstoy in Russia. Reading any of these masters takes time, but trust me, it is worth the patience and the effort. Recommended highly.
Just look through the reviews........2007-03-18
If you peruse through all the reviews of this book, you will notice that not one review is less than five stars. There is a reason for that. This is a phenomal book. As many have pointed out, to call it "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is a fallcy; Quasimodo is NOT the main character; he is barely even a secondary character and I might even go as far as to call him a tertiary character. Esmerelda is really the main character. Hugo wrote the book to attempt to get Paris to restore Notre Dame cathederal and, as many reviewers have already pointed out, the cathedral really is the focal point. But the story is phenomenal. So dark and terribly sad. Hollywood has tended to butcher this story. Not one version tells the story as Hugo intended. Forget all the movie versions and just read the book. The experience is MUCH richer and MUCH more rewarding intellectually than any of them.
Overdramatized, but Incredibly Powerful.......2006-05-08
Victor Hugo never did anything by halves. His NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS begins as a tour of Gothic Paris and ends as a monumental and melodramatic Grand Guignol. Needless to say, all the film versions focus on the wrong character: Quasimodo is by no means the main focus of the novel, and the novel certainly is misnamed when called THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. The hero, if there is one, is the cathedral itself, brooding over Renaissance Paris like a horror from another age.
The only character who is not not overdramatized appears only once in an unforgettable vignette at the very end: Louis XI, King of France, who has been called by the historian Philippe de Commynes "The Universal Spider." Louis; his grasping barber, Olivier le Daim; and his grim hatchet man, Tristan l'Hermite are unforgettable and more sharply drawn than any other Hugo characters I can recall.
John Sturrock's translation is well done except for his occasional inclusion of an archaic term without footnote or any other comment. Most notable are two items of apparel I still cannot visualize, namely bycokets and actons. Yet every Latin phrase, and there are many spoken by Pierre Gringoire and the student Jehan Frollo, is faithfully translated.
Also useful would have been a map of Louis XI's Paris. I was frequently confused about where the action was taking place, because most if not all of the place names were later superseded by others.
I would venture to say that no one reading this novel will ever forget it. I first read it more than twenty years ago, and it still sprang into my mind as sharply-etched as before.
This edition is unabridged. Although Hugo sometimes tended to go off on tangents, I could not think of a single chapter I would axe. Even where it does not add to the plot, it adds to the atmosphere of a city in which life and love were cheap, and no infraction was ever left unpunished by the most dire means possible.
Customer Reviews:
ATTRACTIVE PRINTING OF LITERARY CLASSIC WITH BONUS DVD FEATURE FILM .......2006-12-20
In 2005 Signet Classics released five books with a companion DVD featuring a vintage film version of the novel. The book/movie combo is a nice idea and the books are quite attractive, standard softcover book size with a photo cover from the film version. The bad news is the film versions, like the novels themselves, are now all public domain so the quality of the prints may not be great. Worse, some of the film versions were stinkeroos; THE SCARLET LETTER features the ill-conceived Colleen Moore low-budget talking version from 1934 and OLIVER TWIST features the notoriously bad "B" movie adaption from 1933 starring Dickie Moore.
Perhaps the happiest merger of book and novel in the series is THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME which features the legendary silent version of the film starring Lon Chaney and Patsy Ruth Miller. The print quality of the silent is quite good, not perfect of course but then again this is a film that is now almost 85 years old and very few films from the period survive at all and those that do survive are seldom in flawless shape.
I have one MAJOR complaint with this DVD, it includes a brief discussion of the book, film, and author Victor Hugo by one Susannah Gora and when Ms. Gora informs us the film differs from the book in it's ending SHE THEN TELLS US THE ENDINGS TO EACH WORK!!! As someone who had never read the book I am FURIOUS and I cannot believe the powers at Signet allowed this, it's like giving away the ending on the cover blurb or back-cover description. So whatever you do, DON'T watch the commentary introduction before reading the book AND watching the movie. (PS - To locate the other entries in the series type Signet Classics DVD under "Books").
An Excellent Book & The Classic Movie Version Available Together For The First Time Ever. Looking Forward To More Like This One .......2005-11-09
Signet Classics and Chamberlain Bros. present the best novels together with the classic film adaptations together for the very first time. Looking forward to "Dracula," "Dr. Zhivago" (to name a few from a long wish list for future editions) and more publications like this one.
The Book.
Written in 1832,"Notre-Dame De Paris" (its original title in French) was an overnight success for Victor Hugo, already a successful playwright ("Ruy Blas," etc) and its popularity has been kept alive by numerous stage and film reworkings, most notably the rock opera "Les Miz" and the 1923 film version starring Lon Chaney aka "The Man Of A Thousand Faces" (a reputation well-earned through his exuberant performance in this movie, as the afterword explains) which accopanies this book. However, it would rival what many consider to be Hugo's greatest masterpiece, "Les Miseables" (see my review on both versions: the Director's Cut [unabridged edition, which runs 1,200 pages and was translated by C.E. Wilbour a few months after it was first published in 1862] and the theatrical release [abridged edition, which is 829 pages, published by Barnes & Noble Classics]). Read it BEFORE viewing the movie. Special features include the original theatrical trailer (preface), an afterword by screenwriter, producer and winnner (of an award which I can't remember) Graham Robb and discussion points (useful to students; I recommend that teachers have students answer them before viewing the movie). Rated PG-13 for intense thematic elements, mild violence, some disturbing images and brief sensuality/nudity.
The Movie (1923 version).
The movie which launched Lon (Leonidas) Chaney into stardom has enormous production values, as the afterword thoroughly explains. The son of deaf parents, Chaney drew on this period in his life for his portrayal of the deaf (and almost mute) bellringer of Notre-Dame. Though Chaney was very faithful in recreating Hugo's deformed and tormented character to the tiniest detail (hence his well-earned reputation as "The Man Of A Thousand Faces"), the filmmakers were less so to the author's storyline. The movie takes a lot of liberties with the plot, but retains the central element: the heart of a creature more beautiful on the inside than on the outside. When Quasimodo, during the pillory scene, cries, "I thirst," you empathize with him and from the first moment he appears on screen all the way to the film's conclusion, you feel sorry for a man whom love "Forswore me in my mother's womb." Sadly, Chaney would die in 1930, having cemented his star in Hollywood five years earlier in 1925 with "The Phantom Of The Opera;" but he left his mark on cinema for all eternity. He not only relied on the makeup and prosthetics, but threw himself wholeheartedly into every performance. Excellent acting make this film version of one of Hugo's most enduring works a classic to be watched and reseen over and over again. Then, once you've seen it, talk about the liberties taken with the plot and whether it made a difference to the outcome of the movie. Granted, everyone will have differing opinions, but for me, this film version is the best (I'll have to see the others in order to have a more thorough knowledge of the matter). The DVD also includes
"Classics On Film," hosted by critic and classics expert Sussanah Gora. Silent. Not Rated.
Book Description
Set in medieval Paris, Victor Hugo’s powerful historical romance The Hunchback of Notre-Dame has resonated with succeeding generations ever since its publication in 1837. It tells the story of the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda, condemned as a witch by the tormented archdeacon Claude Frollo, who lusts after her. Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer of Notre-Dame Cathedral, having fallen in love with the kindhearted Esmeralda, tries to save her by hiding her in the cathedral’s tower. When a crowd of Parisian peasants, misunderstanding Quasimodo’s motives, attacks the church in an attempt to liberate her, the story ends in tragedy.
Customer Reviews:
Qausimodo's Marriage.......2006-06-13
I was anxious to read some more Hugo after venturing into Les Miserables. Reading the latter, I was amazed at Hugo's top-notch prose and character development. In Hunchback there were more characters key to the story, fewer pages, but just as much care and consideration in perfecting the story.
His musings on writing compared to architecture, and building and history of Paris, France in the 15th century were definitely the slowest points of the book, but were also some of the deepest. It should come to no amazement that 6 of the 7 years it took to write this book were spent in exact research.
When I picked up the book, it fell upon the Table Of Contents pages, and my eager eyes fell upon the ambiguous title of the last chapter, Quausimodo's Marriage, I immediately shut my eyes to avoid any more accidental hints towards the book's finish. In the end I was glad that I had that only anti-hint of the conclusion in the back of my brain, even though it was a bear to make it through the first half of the book, 'knowing' how the book ends.
I loved this story.......2005-12-07
I would have to say it has everything, and is highly readable, which I think is an important recommendation to give potential readers of classic fiction. It is beautiful, simple, filled with humor and compassion. I particularly liked the way Hugo pokes fun at the absurdities of anti-Gypsy prejudice and other social bigotry. Esmerelda's suitor, however, is a terrible selfish jerk in this story, which is far funnier and more believable than the selfless sap he plays in the Disney movie. Altogether an unforgettable read, and an unforgettable character in the Hunchback, who Hugo paints with considerable humanity.
An Amazing Read.......2005-11-05
Now I have to be completely honest with you, when I first started to read this book, I really did not like it. The book just did not really grab my interest, and I felt as if the things Victor Hugo wrote about were completely pointless. However, as I continued to read The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, I got really into the book. It just captivated my interests, and I could not wait to read about the end results of the love triangle/square between La Esmeralda, Claude Frollo, Quasimodo, and Captain Phoebus.
I also found this book comical at times, because of the actions of the characters. Like just some of the things they did or said, I just found funny. They might or might not have been meant to be humorous, but to me they were. An example would be when Claude Frollo is trying to kiss La Esmeralda, and she exclaims, "Help! Help! -A vampire! A vampire!" I don't know why, but that just made me laugh, because if that happened to me, I wouldn't yell about a vampire. I would have probably yell, "Help! I'm being molested!" or something close to that.
My Humble Opinion.......2005-10-19
Victor Hugo Does a magnificent job in put the reader in paris,1482 . But in my opinion Phoebus should be hangea & quartered. Clearly he was not worthy of La Esmeralda's love. Diseney's version did an improper justice to the book. But I must say, it is depressing, how she finds her mother and ,less than an hour later, is hanged.I think that anybody who reads this will really like this book.
Larger than Life?.......2005-09-26
Victor Hugo was, among other accomplishments, a dramatist. It shows in this book. He knows how to take his time, how to create background and setting, how to build tension and anticipation. Yet, when the denouement occurs (as several mini-climaxes do before the final one), it does so with shocking or stunning detail, effect, and speed. For all the meandering Hugo does before a climax, he is quite economical when he gets to the end. "Notre Dame" is, despite its length, a nail-biting, page-turning read.
But the dramatist also is evident in another way: dialogue. As has been mentioned by others, the dialogue seems stagey, two-dimensional, over the top (or under the bottom, if you wish). This, apparently, was typical of stage productions in Hugo's day. Claude Frollo, for example, in his last conversation with Esmeralda, is practically unbelievable. But he is not alone: Esmeralda herself stretches our credulity. (For one thing, we are never told why she seemed so sympathetic to Quasimodo on the pillory but repulsed by him in the cathedral.) She immediately falls in love with Phoebus, whom she only meets once briefly, and never changes her feelings, which is to say that she never learns, never grows, never seems aware. And this leads to the oft-repeated, central complaint about this book: the main players are not people; they are symbols, constant and unchanging.
For example, at one point, in describing Quisimodo and Esmeralda, Hugo writes, ". . . there was someting touching about the protection offered by a creature so deformed to one so unfortunate -- one condemned to death saved by Quasimodo. Here were the two extremes of physical and social wretchedness meeting and assisting each other." (Walter J. Cobb translation)
But that, in turn, may be why this long, 19th-century melodrama continues to mesmerize us today. There is something sweeping, larger than life about the story -- and the characters.
Yes, the book is melodramatic. Yes, the main characters tend to be mechanically unswerving, almost frustratingly so. Yes, the dialogue makes you occasionally wince or shake your head. And yet you keep reading -- avidly. At least I did. Why? Partly I read to find out what would happen next. As I said, Hugo has created a genuine cliff-hanger (no pun intended, Frollo). But there is something more. Hugo made me care. How did he do that? How did he make me care about two-dimensional characters?
That may be, ultimately, an unanswerable question. But part of the answer, I think, is that, as with all good larger-than-life stories, myths, or epics, the issues are central to us all. Therefore, we care not just about the characters, but about the issues they represent. When Frollo keeps falling (in more ways than one), we fall (or fear falling) with him. When Esmaralda keeps not seeing, we think of our own blindness, too. When Quasimodo is rejected, we remember the sting we have known or want forever to avoid. And when the king (most believable of all in the book) is heartless, we think of the indifference (instututional, bureaucratic, political, or otherwise) that is all around us still.
And this last observation raises an intriguing question. Why is the king so believable -- and believable in his cold, casual, indifference? Could this question point to a core irony? After all, the melodramatically-unchanging elements in the story reflect one central issue: Fate. Hugo says he wrote this book after finding a single word inscribed on a wall in the cathedral of Notre Dame: "ananke," which is Greek for "fate" (or "necessity"). It is that same word that is inscribed on the wall in Frollo's "secret room" in the cathedral. Are Hugo's characters wooden-like because they are the faces of fate: inevitable, unalterable, and trapped? Could that be why, despite the passion in the plot itself, the tone of the narrator's voice in the story is almost light and detached? Is Hugo saying, "Rage all you want against injustice, but nothing will change because we are all victims of fate"?
As I read, I kept thinking of at least three other authors. I thought of Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, not because of style or mood, but simply because of a similar plot ingredient: a hypocritical clergy person who leaves a woman in the lurch alone. (And Hugo's woman, unlike Hawthorne's, is entirely innocent! [Perhaps too innocent?]) Some things never change. I also thought of Melville who, in Moby Dick, would offer the reader lengthy asides about whales and whale sperm and such. Hugo does the same with architecture and history. But in both cases, you go along with the detour, happily, because there is something in the energy and relish of the author for the subject that draws you in. And both stories lead to an inevitable but nontheless shocking end. And, finally, I thought of Dickens who is infamous for his highly improbable coincidences of plot. Both Hugo and Dickens have plot elements and characters intersect and reconnect in the most unlikely -- yet satisfying! -- ways, time and again. Their books are like jigsaw puzzles, puzzles which, when completed, create an improbably satisfying picture. In "Notre Dame," for example, we learn more than the movies ever tell about who Quasimodo is and about who Esmarelda is. The connection between the two may be unlikely, but, oh!, how it makes you smile with wonder when you read it. Yet, in "Notre Dame," unlike in so many of Dickens' books, the plot does not resolve pleasantly. Injustice? Or Fate . . . cruel Fate?
Average customer rating:
- A great book on a great building.
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Notre-Dame De Paris (Abradale)
Alain Erlande-Brandenburg
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Chartres Cathedral
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Seven Ages of Paris
ASIN: 0810981793 |
Amazon.com
If you're going to Paris, chances are you'll drop by Notre-Dame. And if you're going to Notre-Dame, your experience can be significantly enriched by spending a while with Alain Erlande-Brandenburg's Notre-Dame de Paris and Caroline Rose's photography. Get comfortable, pour yourself a glass of wine, and settle into the history, design, and interior of one of man's greatest monuments to God. From the 4th-century cathedral to the exquisite iconography of the western facade's portrayal of the Last Judgment, it's a structure deeply deserving of the loving treatment Erlande- Brandenburg and Rose bestow. And when you're there in the flesh, you'll appreciate the flying buttresses and stained-glass windows better for every picture detail and insightful note you studied before you left. --Stephanie Gold
Customer Reviews:
A great book on a great building........1998-12-18
Forever locked between the two great arms of the Seine,sits one of,if not the greatest,of man's acheivements;Notre-Dame.In a truly beautiful account of the behemoth's history,the author takes time to tell the human stories of joy,sorrow,death and intrigue.He also includes stunnnning photos showing the true beauty of Notre-Dame.Own this true masterpiece.
Book Description
A world-famous classic novel is the basis for this brand-new, dramatically illustrated book. Transformed from Victor Hugo's original text into a graphic novel, this, like other Graphic Classics editions, makes a good introduction for young readers to the imaginative riches of literature. These books contain many extra features, including brief biographies of their authors, a list of each author's important works, a glossary, and an index. Suitable for classroom use as introductions to literature for junior and senior high school students, these graphic novels entertain young readers while introducing them to the works of renowned literary artists. Full-color illustrations throughout. Retold here is the tragic story of Quasimodo, the hunchback bell tender of Paris's Notre Dame cathedral, and his struggle to save Esmerelda, a girl falsely accused of a crime she did not commit.
Book Description
A world-famous classic novel is the basis for this brand-new, dramatically illustrated book. Transformed from Victor Hugo's original text into a graphic novel, this, like other Graphic Classics editions, makes a good introduction for young readers to the imaginative riches of literature. These books contain many extra features, including brief biographies of their authors, a list of each author's important works, a glossary, and an index. Suitable for classroom use as introductions to literature for junior and senior high school students, these graphic novels entertain young readers while introducing them to the works of renowned literary artists. Full-color illustrations throughout. Retold here is the tragic story of Quasimodo, the hunchback bell tender of Paris's Notre Dame cathedral, and his struggle to save Esmerelda, a girl falsely accused of a crime she did not commit.
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