Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

This is the non spoiler thread for the 2nd Quarter 2016 Long Read.

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo

Notre Dame de Paris



I thought we needed a picture to get us started.

Official Site of Notre Dame de Paris

And if you are working on your Bingo Challenge, this book is a French Romantic/Gothic Novel. So would count towards O2.

It was also published in 1831 and is set in France during the reign of Louis XI (1461-1483).

Who is in for the read?

I'm looking forward to it.

I'm in as well, and looking forward to the discussion too!

I'm in! Got the audio book, but have to finish Villette first.

I'll be joining in as soon as I finish one of the books in my stack. (I've got about 50pp. to go.) I'm really looking forward to this one!

I'm in! I'll be starting this one later today b

I look forward to this, since I loved LesMis.

I have visited Notre Dame and also the little "fake" one...or at least we thought first it was the Notre Dame. But we had driven with subway to the wrong station and there was this other one conveniently and very look alike but smaller. But we didn´t know the scale so we happily took pictures from this one. Well, we did find out about it and also visited the right one :)

I am really hoping to be able to join in this group read eventually! I won't be able to start until later in April at the earliest, but I will be anxious to catch up to the rest of you. :-)

I'm eager to read this one too!
But I know The Idiot is going to be a long, difficult book, and I probably ought to read that one first since it's a monthly read and this is a quarterly.

I'm hoping to read this one, but it will probably next month before I start it.

Great to have so many of us in for the read. I am with the others who are going to try to read The Idiot this month too.

Too bad The Idiot wasn't the long read - I hope I will be able to get it done this month.

Bat-Cat wrote: "Too bad The Idiot wasn't the long read - I hope I will be able to get it done this month."

Remember the threads stay open, so you can take as long as you like for the read.

I'm definitely reading this, but I'm not sure when I'll start. Maybe not until May.

I'll listen to eAudio from the library.

I listened to Les Mis and really liked it.

I will not be in on the reading of "The Idiot" as some of you are.

Im in but I am glad we have a quarter. Les Mis took me a month in high school.

I'm in. I'll be visiting Paris for the first time this summer, so I have a stack of Paris-related reads to tackle before then, and Hunchback is not to be missed. I will be slowly working my way through this one throughout the second quarter.

Kristen wrote: "I'm in. I'll be visiting Paris for the first time this summer, so I have a stack of Paris-related reads to tackle before then, and Hunchback is not to be missed. I will be slowly working my way thr..."

Okay that is so cool. I've never been to Paris.

Is there a preferred translation of this (or other Hugo works)?
I know there's mention of the Idiot because of it being the monthly read and most of Dostoyevsky/Tolstoy books tend to have the Pevear and Volokhonsky translations regarded as the best. Was curious if there was a similar "best" translation here, too.
Thanks!

James wrote: "Is there a preferred translation of this (or other Hugo works)?
I know there's mention of the Idiot because of it being the monthly read and most of Dostoyevsky/Tolstoy books tend to have the Pevea..."

Here is a blog that might give you some answers: http://just-classic-lit-things.tumblr...

I happen to have a copy of the Walter Cobb translation, Signet Classics: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. I am tempted to get a copy of the Modern Library Classic: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame translated by Catherine Liu because one review stated, "She restores some of Hugo's more erotic, disturbing, and heretical language that the older translations try to cover up. "

I was taken aback when I started cause I just been reading so many Alexandre Dumas and they read like lightning. So far I enjoy the vividness of the world described, especially la Cour des Miracles.

I've been meaning to read this for years.
We were fortunate enough to travel to Paris in 2011 We joined a tour of Notre Dame which was led by a volunteer from the church's women's society. It was amazing, a true highlight of the trip.

I so want to read this, but can't start it right now.

I have a kindle edition of this, cause it seems that it's not in the library. And I'm just so cheap, that I won't be ordering it from another city. Mainly, cause I live in the area, where's like 3 cities libraries under one card.

(oh.. they have 1 book, and it's occupied.. If I don't understand anything from my english kindle version, I can try to loan this from library..)

The Disney Movie was one of my favourites.. Right after Lion King and Aladdin.. That's really all that I know about the story, so it will be interesting. I read somewhere that the movie is very different than the book itself.

Annina wrote: "The Disney Movie was one of my favourites.. Right after Lion King and Aladdin.. That's really all that I know about the story, so it will be interesting. I read somewhere that the movie is very different than the book itself. ..."

Disney movies almost never have much in common with the source materials they're based on.

Emerson wrote: "I was taken aback when I started cause I just been reading so many Alexandre Dumas and they read like lightning. So far I enjoy the vividness of the world described, especially la Cou..."

Yes Dumas reads so much faster than Hugo. But both are enjoyable.

I just noticed this long read classic in this part of CUWC and will start reading it. It has been on my reading list for a long time.

Interestingly, I've always found Dumas harder to get into than Hugo. Maybe it's just a matter of personal taste? Although I haven't read anything by Dumas in years, I should probably reread a few things. And I need to tackle Count of Monte Cristo soon.

Anyway, I'm not rereading Hunchback this quarter, much as I loved it, but I'm super curious to see what everyone thinks of it! Some of my favorite bits of Hugo's writing come at the beginning of this book, when he's setting up all his characters, before the action picks up speed. Enjoy everyone!

Gary wrote: "I just noticed this long read classic in this part of CUWC and will start reading it. It has been on my reading list for a long time."

Welcome to the read, Gary. Glad to help you clear off your dusty list.

Jennifer wrote: "Interestingly, I've always found Dumas harder to get into than Hugo. Maybe it's just a matter of personal taste? Although I haven't read anything by Dumas in years, I should probably reread a few t..."

Personally I thought The Count of Monte Cristo was the best I have read of Dumas -- I haven't read everything by him by a long shot.

Melanti wrote: "Annina wrote: "The Disney Movie was one of my favourites.. Right after Lion King and Aladdin.. That's really all that I know about the story, so it will be interesting. I read somewhere that the mo..."

Disney movies are awesome, I always loved them. I don't remember this one though, so I might watch it again in order to compare it to master Hugo's story. Sounds like a fun thing to do :)

Jackie wrote: "Melanti wrote: "Annina wrote: "The Disney Movie was one of my favourites.. Right after Lion King and Aladdin.. That's really all that I know about the story, so it will be interesting. I read somew..."

I loved this Disney movie and if anything, good did come of it for me because it triggered an interest in France and French lit. I ended up studying it in school as well but then again it was a choice between that and Spanish which I had spent years learning at that point in a Spanish speaking country.

I just found a French edition of the book and I'm working on getting a good English translation since the book is older. I'm hoping to plot through them side by side over this quarter read and finally cross it off my to-read list after all these years.

Great idea, Luella. I don't read French so not an option for me.

Jennifer wrote: "Interestingly, I've always found Dumas harder to get into than Hugo. Maybe it's just a matter of personal taste? Although I haven't read anything by Dumas in years, I should probably reread a few t..." Hi Jennifer, I like your tastes in world class literature. I read The Count of Monte Cristo years ago, and it was my all time favorite for years until Germinal and Don Quixote came along. I thought once Dumas got going it turned in to a page turner for me. Plot, Character and scenes represented the best of the best in Classic novel writing for me. It was a thrill to read and I finished in a short time. I'm looking for another great in Hugo's HBOND. I'm always willing to delve in a hundred pages or so to see if I get hooked on a great book. Right now David Cooperfield is drudgery so on with something else. Happy reading!

Gary, am I to understand that you...like Don Quixote?

Gary wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Interestingly, I've always found Dumas harder to get into than Hugo. Maybe it's just a matter of personal taste? Although I haven't read anything by Dumas in years, I should probab..."

Great to hear that Count of Monte Cristo is pretty fast-paced, despite its size! It's been on my to-read list forever, and I have a paperback copy just waiting to be picked up, so hopefully soon I'll get started. I think you'll like Hunchback, it gets pretty riveting a third of the way in and doesn't let you go!

Interesting to hear that Don Quixote is a favorite of yours, as that's another book I've had sitting on my shelf gathering dust for a while. Maybe this will be the year of finally reading all those extremely long classics I have?

I *loved* The Count, I *despised* Don Quixote. I'm about 22% into Hunchback and I'm enjoying it, the details of how the buildings are made gets a bit tedious (and I'm never sure what building is actually being described), but it's still enjoyable.

One always seems to get a history lesson along with the story when you read Victor Hugo. I know that in Les Misérables I did get bored with parts of the history lesson.

This is my non spoiler alert version of my review of Don Quixote

I copied and added my own paragraphs to an excellent review I found in a set of book reviews called "Master Plots" I found that Don Quixote has all the elements of eloquent and forceful writing for all ages. To date this is my favorite.

This is one of the best novels I've ever read. Every chapter has a new interesting tale to tell about the invincible Quixote, the man of La Mancha. Long but enjoyable!


It is a time piece with a twist that may be the source of something called strum stress- a feature of Bertold Brecht's alienation effect, developed on Sturm an Dang- a late 18th century German literary movement characterized by works containing rousing action and high emotionalism that often deal with the individual's revolt against society. This book may have been a source for Brechtian theory and the very beginning of Social Realism that pervades all of TV, Movies, and Print these days. If you like to be entertained by all means delve in to this book. No long history lessons and the plot is classic.

Gary wrote: "This is my non spoiler alert version of my review of Don Quixote

I copied and added my own paragraphs to an excellent review I found in a set of book reviews called "Master Plots" I fo..."


We have Don Quixote threads. You might post here to generate some interest in that past read.

My copy finally arrived from the library today, so I will definitely be joining as soon as I finish with The Secret Garden.

This will be my first Victor Hugo read as well.

Glad to have you, Maggie! Plenty of time to read this one.

I'm jealous that you had the chance to visit.

I have not started this one yet. I keep thinking that it is fairly short for a long read so I should have plenty of time to get it read. I'm thinking I had better start it instead of keep putting it off.

Cool information!

It is May. Anyone joining us for the read this month? We still have 2 months for the discussion, so you have plenty of time to read with us.

Who has finished & who is still reading?

I'm listening to the eAudio.

I have to say Esmeralda seems rather idiotic when listening to this novel.

I haven't had a chance to start it yet, but I'm hoping to do so before the end of this month.

I've been working on it. I should have it finished by June. Outstanding Read so far. Description, Plot and Drama are this tomb's key to excellence. It's a world class classic for sure.