The Dusty Bookshelf discussion

So this is my first dusty book. Hunchback has more action than Les Mis did, but Hugo is sure a fan of LONG lists. And very complicated sentences that need like road maps or something. I haven't gotten into the flow of the language yet, but it'll come. He's very good at painting a picture and making you feel like you're really in mediaeval france.

When we chose classics in my English class last year, one of my friend picked Hunchback. She really, really loved it, so I'm thinking of trying to find my own copy sometime and reading it, too. (: Though probably not in time to read it with the rest of you, unfortunately! Best of luck guys. (:

I'm a little bogged down on, what appears to be, an entire chapter of Who's Who and what they are wearing ??? When do the gargoyles start singing?! What, this isn't the Disney version? *sigh*

LOL What chapter is the who's who one? It gets kind of like the Disney version. so far the similarities are that Esmerelda has a cute goat.

Hunchback? Author, please...excuse my ignorance...have never heard of it.

Hi.
I actually just read this toward the end of last year.
Djali the goat was just about my favorite character!
Trust me, this ain't no Disney story.
I won't spoil it for you but expect some serious darkness.

Adrianne wrote: "Hunchback? Author, please...excuse my ignorance...have never heard of it."

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo

I absolutely adored The Hunchback. So true about the long sentences and descriptions, but once you persevere with that it is such an amazing read.
I much preferred this to Les Mis!

Oh...(groan)! Have "we" decided this is the book to read? Now that I know which book we're speaking of...thank you!

Lucy wrote: "I absolutely adored The Hunchback. So true about the long sentences and descriptions, but once you persevere with that it is such an amazing read.
I much preferred this to Les Mis!"

I am starting to prefer it over Les Mis, too!

I liked Les Miserables much better.
It actually made me cry. I connected with the characters.

Hunchback, on the other hand, made me tear my hair out and throw things.
Not sure if it's just that I'm at a different time in my life, but I really think Les Miserable has much more appealing characters and a believable story.

Anyway.....Different strokes and all that!

Just something general and related - Notre Dame was mentioned on the news just now - they're replacing the bells in the North tower with newer ones that would be more of a match to the originals. The bells that they're replacing were put in 150 years ago and didn't make the rigth notes due to the amount of lead in the bronze. The bell, Emmanuelle, in the South tower will be joined by a new replacement of Marie (which was taken down and melted during the Revolution).

The news reporter even said that this means, once all the bells are up, that you'll hear something closer to what Quasimodo was deafened by when you go to Paris.

This may be an excuse for anyone to go over there to really get a feel for the book ;D

The original French title is "Notre Dame de Paris", meaning that it's really about the Cathedral not so much about the Hunchback.
I definitely felt that the setting stole the show. I didn't really find any of the characters sympathetic (but I was cheering for the goat, as none of the unfortunate choices/actions made by the human characters were her fault!)

Hayley - That is SO cool! When I went to Paris, I had no idea that Notre Dame even had bells! I read in Wiki that they stopped ringing the bells because it vibrated the whole building and they were worried about the structure. Do you know if they still ring the bells?

Gaijinmama - It's true that the setting so far is much more important than the characters. Hugo spends a lot of time describing medieval France and it's really interesting. :)