The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 4/17/2019
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 4/17/2019 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I got this handsome Macmillan Collector's Library hardcover at Toadstool Books in Milford NH, to release in honor of the beloved cathedral that recently suffered a devastating fire. (See the History Blog post here for one perspective.) This edition pleased me because its cover features the classic view of Paris from the gargoyle-ornamented walkway on the tower; I own a wall tapestry featuring that image, all the more poignant now.
I read the novel years ago, and enjoyed it, in part for the many dark bits (and some hilarious ones) that seldom make it into the screen adaptations.
This story has, of course, been filmed many, many times, from the 1923 Lon Chaney classic of silent-film days to a Disney animated version. My sentimental favorite would be the 1939 version starring Charles Laughton, but I haven't seen all the other versions so there may be a better one out there somewhere. [Few of them use the novel's ending, though, and I haven't seen any of the ones that do; there's a 1956 French version that I may try to hunt up...]
The story's well-known, of course: deformed infant abandoned on church doorstep grows up to become Quasimodo, the hunchback who rings the great bells of Notre Dame - and who has been nearly deafened by them along the way. His patron, a stern priest, finds himself enthralled by a lovely Gypsy dancer, who is herself in love with a handsome but rather feckless guardsman. Oh, and there's an impoverished poet who also loves Esmeralda, but winds up a prisoner of the King of Beggars, and...
Um, did I say it's a big book? {grin} Lots of things going on, romance and social issues and corruption and bravery. [Did I mention the humor? Lots of that here too, starting with the chapter titles: "On the Danger of Confiding in a Goat", for example.]
[There's a TV Tropes page on the novel - and on many of its adaptations - with some entertaining tidbits.]
I read the novel years ago, and enjoyed it, in part for the many dark bits (and some hilarious ones) that seldom make it into the screen adaptations.
This story has, of course, been filmed many, many times, from the 1923 Lon Chaney classic of silent-film days to a Disney animated version. My sentimental favorite would be the 1939 version starring Charles Laughton, but I haven't seen all the other versions so there may be a better one out there somewhere. [Few of them use the novel's ending, though, and I haven't seen any of the ones that do; there's a 1956 French version that I may try to hunt up...]
The story's well-known, of course: deformed infant abandoned on church doorstep grows up to become Quasimodo, the hunchback who rings the great bells of Notre Dame - and who has been nearly deafened by them along the way. His patron, a stern priest, finds himself enthralled by a lovely Gypsy dancer, who is herself in love with a handsome but rather feckless guardsman. Oh, and there's an impoverished poet who also loves Esmeralda, but winds up a prisoner of the King of Beggars, and...
Um, did I say it's a big book? {grin} Lots of things going on, romance and social issues and corruption and bravery. [Did I mention the humor? Lots of that here too, starting with the chapter titles: "On the Danger of Confiding in a Goat", for example.]
[There's a TV Tropes page on the novel - and on many of its adaptations - with some entertaining tidbits.]
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Le Parc de Notre Renaissance Française in Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Friday, April 19, 2019
GoryDetails at Le Parc de Notre Renaissance Française in Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Friday, April 19, 2019
Released 5 yrs ago (4/19/2019 UTC) at Le Parc de Notre Renaissance Française in Nashua, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book, bagged against the elements, in this park dedicated to the French heritage of so many of the early settlers of the region. I hope someone enjoys the book! [See other recent releases in NH here.]
*** Released as homage to the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, which recently suffered a devastating fire. (The English-language challenge is here; the original German challenge thread is here.) ***
*** Released for the 2019 Movie release challenge. ***
