Notre-Dame de Paris (Oxford World's Classics)
by Victor Hugo
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Book Summary Information
Author: Victor HugoTranslator: Alban Krailsheimer
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-12-02
ISBN: 019283701X
Number of pages: 592
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of Notre-Dame de Paris (Oxford World's Classics)
Book Review: "Asylum! . . . Asylum!"
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the second time I've read Notre-Dame de Paris (the first time was with a different translator, but I don't see any real difference with the writing), and I certainly have a better understanding of the story. The book's main character is Notre-Dame, and the supporting characters are Claude Frollo, La Esmeralda, and Quasimodo. Frollo is the Archdeacon who lusts after La Esmeralda. Quasimodo is the hunchbacked bell-ringer of Notre-Dame. La Esmeralda is a 16-year old gypsy girl who is the target of witchcraft by the Parisians. What happens in the novel is sophisticated: basically Claude Frollo & Quasimodo fight for the love of Esmeralda, and it doesn't turn pretty as Esmeralda has fallen in love with Phoebus de Chateaupers, one of the King's captains.
One of the things I particularly enjoyed was Hugo's descriptions of the gothic cathedral itself. The chapter entitled "A Bird's-Eye View of Paris" is a pleasure to read. Another thing is the switching of POV's in every chapter; Hugo made a brilliant execution of this. Despite a few flaws here and there (such as Book Ten/Chapter Four interrupting the very important assault on Notre-Dame), "Notre-Dame de Paris" is of course a classic in the world of literature. And it's almost sad that most people recognize the book with only the english title "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Almost sad, because Quasimodo is not the central character. I hope more and more people will understand that the cathedral itself is the actual central character (even though it's not human).
Summary of Notre-Dame de Paris (Oxford World's Classics)
At the center of Hugo's classic novel are three extraordinary characters caught in a web of fatal obsession. The grotesque hunchback Quasimodo, bell-ringer of Notre-Dame, owes his life to the austere archdeacon, Claude Frollo, who in turn is bound by a hopeless passion to the gypsy dancer Esmeralda. She, meanwhile, is bewitched by a handsome, empty-headed officer, but by an unthinking act of kindness wins Quasimodo's selfless devotion. Behind the central figures moves a pageant of picturesque characters, including the underworld of beggars and petty criminals whose assault on the cathedral is one of the most spectacular set-pieces of Romantic literature.Alban Kraisheimer's new translation offers a fresh approach to this monumental work by France's most celebrated Romantic authors.
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