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  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame

  • By: Victor Hugo
  • Narrated by: Bill Homewood
  • Length: 22 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (153 ratings)
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The Hunchback of Notre Dame cover art

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

By: Victor Hugo
Narrated by: Bill Homewood
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Summary

In the grotesque bell-ringer Quasimodo, Victor Hugo created one of the most vivid characters in classic fiction. Quasimodo's doomed love for the beautiful gypsy girl Esmeralda is an example of the traditional love theme of beauty and the beast. Yet, set against the massive background of Notre Dame de Paris and interwoven with the sacred and secular life of medieval France, it takes on a larger perspective. The characters come to life: the poet, Gringoire; the tormented priest, Claude Frollo; the fun-loving captain, Phoebus; and, above all, Quasimodo and Esmeralda themselves. It is a tale peppered with humor but fueled by the anguish that unfolds beneath the bells of the great cathedral of Paris.

Public Domain (P)2014 Naxos AudioBooks

What listeners say about The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

amazing and thorough

like Don Quiote it is a very thorough book, by the end you have lived this story and have a deep understanding of how and why it all happens, I enjoyed this book more and more as it progressed I was entranced more.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

beautiful classic everybody should listen to

If you could sum up The Hunchback of Notre Dame in three words, what would they be?

Enchanting, moving, thought-provoking

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Hunchback of Notre Dame?

Esmeralda's death and Quasimodo's reaction to it.

Have you listened to any of Bill Homewood’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I had not this pleasure, but I'm looking forward to listening to other books read by Mr Homewood.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book is rather dark. The brief moments of happiness any of the characters has are quickly ruined. There is cruelty and betrayal one feels passionately about and some deeply sad moments, where your heart is breaking. I listened to the end of the book while driving home and stayed in the car until it finished playing and for about half an hour after. I need time to process.

Any additional comments?

It's a timeless masterpiece anybody aspiring to be called well-read should familiarize themselves with. At times one can get lost in the maze of different characters, but in time it becomes clear who is who, and what motivations stand behind each of the characters. It's a romance in its Gothic variation, without a happy ending, filled with pain, rejection and youthful dreams being crushed. Yet, deeply moving as one will certainly find a character he or she will root for through their ups and downs towards a bitter resolution.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A masterpiece

Beautifully written, a little slow about a third in but when it takes off there is no way to stop. The characters, the language, the story...all just amazing.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Morbid Curiocity

What would have made The Hunchback of Notre Dame better?

Discard two thirds of it! Seriously; Victor Hugo could have written the plot in a fraction of the space and included a supplementary book to explain his love of architecture without boring the audience to death. He would never get published today.

Would you ever listen to anything by Victor Hugo again?

No. I only wanted to understand the story of Quasimodo from its original roots given that I like the Disney movie so much. Given what I got; I couldn't survive another of his books!

Would you listen to another book narrated by Bill Homewood?

Depends on what he's narrated. I don't doubt he's a good narrator, but this book bored me to death.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It's clear that Victory Hugo is passionate about architecture and wants us to understand as much as can be understood about his story, setting and characters. Quasimodo is interesting and well developed once we get to know him, and Frollo is a more tragic figure than he is in the Disney film. Mr Hugo also belongs to a tragically lost period of writers that prefers their poetic prose, giving his text a unique flavour. The issue is there's WAY too much of it!

Any additional comments?

Listen only if you have a love of architecture, multi-lingual expressions of poetic prose, are interested in the origin story of the movie adaptations, and a LOT of patience.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

I gave up listening to this because the highly eccentric and mannered reading was getting between me and the story.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Too much description of Paris (nearly 4 hours)

The narrator was engaging as was the story. Once passed the first few chapters, the story really takes hold of you.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A masterpiece

A fantastic book brilliantly narrated and with one of my favourite endings in literature.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not the story I thought it was

Not the story I thought it was. For every 20mins of actual story there are 40mins of discription of this street or that building.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Victor Hugo don’t arf go on at times but . . .

The narrator was perfect and a pleasure to listen to and to my untutored ear sounded like he really knew his French (and Greek, Latin what might have been Hebrew and perhaps some Alchameic runic). He sounded like he loved reading this and neither his stamina nor his enthusiasm waned even whilst reading Louis II’s turgid shopping list. Alas, unlike the narrator, I nodded off during some of the lengthy digressions into Medieval French architecture. My wife assured me they were very evocative. When Victor H returns from Gothic architecture to Gothic horror the results are captivating, moving and, well, horrific! The denouement is powerful, haunting stuff! Next up I am keen to hear this excellent narrator present The Three Musketeers.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A classic

Loved this! Bill Homewood really brings the story to life. It's a tale that leaves you sad at the end, but, there's so much humour dotted throughout.

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