• The Hunchback of Notre Dame

  • By: Victor Hugo
  • Narrated by: George Guidall
  • Length: 22 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (513 ratings)

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame  By  cover art

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

By: Victor Hugo
Narrated by: George Guidall
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Editorial reviews

Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame tells the sad-yet-hopeful story of Quasimodo who loved kind Esmeralda to death. This classic example of French gothic literature has inspired numerous adaptations because of its enchanting story and beloved characters. George Guidall gives a performance deserving of Hugo's masterpiece. He effortlessly handles characters' French accents and engages the listener's imagination with well-placed pauses. This audiobook is a cathartic meditation on love and loyalty, enjoyable for every moment of its 22 hours.

Publisher's summary

Quasimodo was born disfigured, hunchbacked and lame, and years spent ringing the bells of the Cathedral of Notre Dame have left him deaf, but also spared him the taunts of the cruel mobs of Paris. Now Quasimodo has fallen in love with the lovely Gypsy girl Esmeralda, the only person who ever showed pity on him - but she faces a death sentence, and only Quasimodo's pure spirit can save her. Or can he?

Translated by Catherine Liu.

Public Domain (P)1991 Recorded Books

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What listeners say about The Hunchback of Notre Dame

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

Overwhelmingly sad

George Guidall is the perfect choice to narrate this sad tale: he brings a gravity to the story that adds to the pathos but does not drag down the narrative.

If you're not familiar with the story, or know it only from the sanitized film versions, be forewarned: there is little here but heartbreak. Quasimodo's fate is more closely tied to Esmeralda's than you might imagine, and Phoebus and Pierre Gringoire are both unmitigated scoundrels. The famous attack on Notre Dame, beaten back by Quasimodo, is not a heroic action but the result of a tragic misunderstanding. It's not a kid's story, maybe not even one for sensitive adolescents.

The novel has some weaknesses. I've read it several times, and I still get annoyed by the long essay on Paris architecture that Hugo drops into the middle of the story. I know his digressions have fans, but I'm not one of them. If the audiobook were organized by chapters, I would suggest skipping over these, especially if this is your first time reading it; but unfortunately it's organized by CD.

All that aside, though - the digressions, the overwhelming sadness of the story - it really is a masterpiece, and in Guidall's hands it retains both its pace and its power. A drop of water and a little pity, says Quasimodo. That's what it was all about.

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40 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Tragic endings in Paris of 1482

The story of the hunchback is not as well known as that of Les Miserables. There are fewer movies and no Broadway play. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is facinating and horrifying and tragic. I felt immersed in Victor Hugo's Paris of 1482, with its gallows at every crossroads and its levels of local justice. I wept at the end and even felt pity for the evil Arch Deacon. The narrator is excellent although the sound quality, converted from type 1 to type 2, is marginal. The recording should be restored/reconverted properly.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Good book, bad quality

While this is a great book the sound quality makes it really difficult to listen to in the car! I find myself cranking up the volume all the way and still having a hard time hearing it.

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12 people found this helpful

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

Mistake in Publisher's Summary section

This audio book is based on book of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Dover Thrift Editions)" translated by A. L. Alger, not by Catherine Liu.

Amazon link as follow
http://www.amazon.com/Hunchback-Notre-Thrift-Editions-ebook/dp/B007X0TZ0G/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1369418082&sr=1-3

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Amazing

The reader does a wonderful job- accents and pronounciations are superb. The story is fascinating, though I see why Disney wanted to rewrite the tragic ending. A bit of the description of Paris is rambling, without a map to help envision the locational references the author makes. Sound quality could be better, but it's not bad. A must read classic- highly recommended.

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9 people found this helpful

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

Guidall is excellent

I wasn’t a great fan of the story. Even if you’ve only seen the Disney iteration, you have an idea of what you’re in for.
Guidall is a fantastic narrator. He handles the voices and languages with superb skill.

The con: my major complaint with this recording is that at times the audio becomes muffled as though the narrator was at times distant from the mic. I only noticed this in the last few chapters, but it is bothersome.

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4 people found this helpful

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

First rate narrator. disappointed by story.

i feel somewhat uncouth being critical of such a towering classic of literature but this story didn't move me. there were some breathtakingly beautiful passages - in particular when we get our first detailed descriptions of Quasimodo and Frollo. but Victor Hugo seems like he used up all of his personality budget for the male characters and had nothing left for poor Esmerelda. we know she was young, beautiful, and chaste (the chaste bit is essential of course). Other than that, she's a blank canvas for men to project their feelings of love, lust, devotion etc - ranging from creepy, to sinister, to psychotic. By the end, I felt hollowed out. I never saw the Disney version, but I can't fathom why anyone would have thought that a story of pathological sexual obsession would be suitable for a musical children's adaptation?!?!

The narrator George Guidall is a marvel. not only did he provide unique and convincing voices to the characters, but he also breathed life into the detailed architectural descriptions. I've also listened to his masterful reading of Don Quixote which I highly recommend.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Some chapters were longer than need be.

I loved it because I skipped the couple of parts where Victor Hugo pauses the story to make love to the city of Paris. I understand the sentiment, and even agree to some extent... but damn is he long-winded! Also, the chapters don't line up with the recording segments, which was confusing and sometimes frustrating.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Beautiful classic

Full disclosure I am a huge fan of the classics. This book provides a wonderful visual description of France 1500s so beautifully written that you feel as though you are there. The narrator’s voice is silky smooth and almost meditating. Will listen to more than once. Audible 20 review sweepstakes entry

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2 people found this helpful

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

just amazing

Get past the first 5 or so hours and you wont be able to put it down. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is all that it should be. Tragic love, gothic beauty and horror and the straddling of the knife's edge between dichotomies that Victor Hugo is so well known for.

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2 people found this helpful