The Hunchback of Notre Dame (the Victor Hugo version, not the Disney one)

Barb D · Sep 4, 2009

Have you read it? If so, how old were you? Was it a school assignment? What grade? Did you read it in French, English, or some other language?

I'm trying to determine how familiar the general population is with the original story.

Eldritch · Sep 4, 2009

I read it when I was in my late 30's. It wasn't an assignment; I just read it because I wanted to. It was in English.

Calla Lily · Sep 4, 2009

I read it in my late 20s, when I was reading Hugo and trying Dumas again. (In English, all.) Grim.

Willowmound · Sep 4, 2009

Barb, you should add a poll, otherwise only those who have read it will bother answer, and you'll get the impression "everyone" has.

I haven't.

wyntermoon · Sep 4, 2009

I read it on my own in my 20s, loved it. Beautiful, strange, heartbreaking.

MaryMumsy · Sep 4, 2009

I'm fairly certain I read it, but don't remember when or why. It would have been in English, my French isn't (and never was) that good. If it was for school, I probably chose it over something like Jane Eyre (I was never into girly books). I don't think I ever saw the Disney version, although I do remember a black and white movie from eons ago.

MM

Yasaibatake · Sep 4, 2009

I've read excerpts in French for class, back when I was 17 or 18. But I was also in advanced French classes taught by the local community college, so it was probably geared more towards people in their early 20s. I've always meant to go back and read the whole thing in either language, but I've never gotten around to it.

blacbird · Sep 4, 2009

First, to answer the question, I read it at some point in my undergrad days, just for pleasure. First Hugo novel I ever read.

As an aside, I guarantee this: Anyone who has enjoyed Hunchback will be equally enthralled by the much-less known Hugo novel The Man Who Laughs. Hard to find, but gooooogling will locate sources for it.

caw

Shakesbear · Sep 4, 2009

Haven't read it but have seen the stage play. In English.

alleycat · Sep 4, 2009

I have not read it, for the reason that I was already familiar with the story from numerous movies and TV specials.

For much the same reason I didn't read Moby Dick until I was older. I had a vision of that movie with Gregory Peck in my head, plus just about everyone knows the basic storyline of the obsessed captain hunting the whale, so I passed on reading the book. When I did finally read it, it was a pleasant surprise; it wasn't the totally gloomy tome I had expected.

Barb D · Sep 4, 2009

Willowmound said:
Barb, you should add a poll, otherwise only those who have read it will bother answer, and you'll get the impression "everyone" has.

I haven't.

Great idea. Poll added.

Nivarion · Sep 4, 2009

I read it last year, because I was curious. I found a lot of similarities between the real deal and the Disney one, but most of the reasons behind things had been changed in the movie, so it had lost its significance.

I thought it was very good, and quite sad.

AnonymousWriter · Sep 4, 2009

Never read it.

Aggy B. · Sep 4, 2009

I have never read it.

A friend told me that the Hunchback was sympathetic but not likeable. I think he said "insane and violent." At the time I had no desire to read anything involving insanity or violence. Life was bad enough.

Since then... well, I have other things on my must read list that I have to get through first.

Priene · Sep 4, 2009

I read it on a visit to Paris last year. It's a good adventure story with one classic comedy moment.

The Cathedral, on the other hand, was a disappointment.

MsGneiss · Sep 4, 2009

I read it in Russian at the age of 11, and in English, at the age of 16. I recall the English version to be much more engrossing and enjoyable, although I'm sure the fact that English is my strongest language had everything to do with that.

blacbird · Sep 4, 2009

Hugo's original French translates into English very well. Perhaps it had to do with his long sojourn in exile on the Isle of Jersey, but I'm not sure.

caw

blacbird · Sep 4, 2009

Priene said:
It's a good adventure story with one classic comedy moment.

You found this story a "good adventure" with "comedy"? Methinks maybe you missed something in there.

caw

jodiodi · Sep 6, 2009

I read it when I was around 10 or 11, in English. I spent my summers at Granny's house, sitting in the front-porch swing reading a couple of books a day. I'd go to the library every week and get a boatload of books and read them, then take them back the next week for more.

Wayne K · Sep 6, 2009

I don't remember, but I think so.

Matera the Mad · Sep 6, 2009

I don't remember my exact age, but I was in my late teens. I read a lot of classics back then.

Chase · Sep 6, 2009

My uncles loaned me the classics illustrated series, so I enjoyed the "comic" version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame at age 10 or 11.

In high school, our class watched the ‘39 Charles Laughton-O’Hara-Hardwicke film.

Reading material circulated in Vietnam, and the English book version wasn’t in high demand. However, to me, Quasimodo rang a bell (sorry), and I had lots of time to enjoy it again in my mid-twenties.

CatSlave · Sep 6, 2009

Chase said:
...In high school, our class watched the ‘39 Charles Laughton-O’Hara-Hardwicke film...

I think that was the B&W movie version I saw back in the '50's.
My brothers and I were totally into Dracula, Frankenstein, Vincent Price, any and every horror movie we could find.
There was a special Friday night television "Horror Show" at 11 pm that we were permitted to watch, if we didn't commit any infractions during the week or get in trouble at school.

I recall crying uncontrollably at the pathos of someone finding the two skeletons -somewhere- one grotesquely deformed skeleton holding a fragile skeleton in his arms.

The hunchback died holding the body of his beloved Esmerelda in his arms.

It still brings tears to my eyes.

Delhomeboy · Sep 7, 2009

CatSlave said:
I think that was the B&W movie version I saw back in the '50's.
My brothers and I were totally into Dracula, Frankenstein, Vincent Price, any and every horror movie we could find.
There was a special Friday night television "Horror Show" at 11 pm that we were permitted to watch, if we didn't commit any infractions during the week or get in trouble at school.

I recall crying uncontrollably at the pathos of someone finding the two skeletons -somewhere- one grotesquely deformed skeleton holding a fragile skeleton in his arms.

The hunchback died holding the body of his beloved Esmerelda in his arms.

It still brings tears to my eyes.

I know right? And the whole SPOILER ALERT battle scene at Notre Dame is amaaaaazing!!!!!!

TrickyFiction · Sep 7, 2009

I read it twice: once for my own amusement and again, years later, for a college project on the depiction of Romani people in literature. I adore that book.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (the Victor Hugo version, not the Disney one)

Have you read Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame?

Yes, as a high school assignment

Yes, as an undergrad assignment

Yes, as a grad school assignment

Yes, as a teenager, but not for a school assignment

Yes, as an adult, but not for a school assignment

No, never read it

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