The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Illustrated
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a novel by Victor Hugo first published in 1831. The title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered.
The story begins on Epiphany (6 January), 1482, the day of the Feast of Fools in Paris, France. Quasimodo, a deformed hunchback who is the bell-ringer of Notre Dame, is introduced by his crowning as the Pope of Fools.
This book is not just about an ugly hunchback that stalks the dark towers of Notre Dame. It is more, much more.
It is about the Cathedral of Notre Dame and how the lives of some random strangers are connected together in an intricate web of love, hate and despair. It is about the curse of love and how it comes to consume us and destroy us and elevate us and beautify us. It is about the power of the printed word and the transformation of human communication and expression. It is, as all books most certainly are in some small way, about life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Children who have had a taste of Hugo's 18th-century epic through the animated film may find this version, with its absence of song, rather sobering. Wynne-Jones (Some of the Kinder Planets) makes no attempt to soften the harsh story of the hideously deformed, big-hearted Quasimodo, who escapes ridicule only in the sanctuary of the cathedral. Although the narrative is fluent and conversational, children may need guidance through some of the more challenging vocabulary and occasional wordy passages. The irony in Hugo's novel is preserved here, as when Wynne-Jones draws a delicious parallel between church and state: Quasimodo is deaf because "the bells of the church had made him that way"; the judge who sentences the deformed man to a flogging "is as deaf as Quasimodo. The court had made him that way." Still, the deeper implications of the story will likely be lost on children. Dramatically framing the text are Slavin's (Extra! Extra! The Who, What, Where, When and Why of Newspapers) subtly hued, skillfully composed paintings. His mastery of detail, especially in period dress and architecture, makes turbulent medieval Paris appear real--sometimes frighteningly so. This polished, thoughtful collaboration may serve as an authentic preview to Hugo's classic, but may be best appreciated with an adult standing by. Ages 5-8.
