The Hunchback of Notre Dame

By: Victor Hugo

Narrated by: Bill Homewood

Length: 22 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's 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.

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Public Domain (P)2014 Naxos AudioBooks

Beautifully Tragic

Loved most of this story -- LOVED Bill Homewood's performance. He did such an amazing job at carrying this beautiful classic. I did find the story tedious at times given the long passages about architecture and items that didn't follow Frollo, Esmeralda or Quasimodo, but oh man! -- this was such a great masterfully written and narrated story. Definitely recommend!

Great classic.

Not having read this book in school, I did not know what to expect. The story started out a bit slow, with a lot of establishment, but became intensely interesting. The narration was fantastic and carried the story along. The narrator's accents and inflections were perfect and a pleasure to listen to. This was the second book I have listened to narrated by Bill Homewood (the other was The Count of Monte Cristo) and he is wonderful at the French accent and giving each of the characters their own voice. Now that I have listened to The Hunchback of Notre Dame I am interested in the theater production. Thank you for for an excellent audiobook.

definitely not a children's story

Pasque Dieu! Another worthy classic checked off of the list. Truly a great story with superb narration.

the devil's in the details

one of if not the saddest story I have ever heard and as with most classics it is incredibly long and detailed to the point of absurdity however the depth to which you get to meet each and every character is something that modern literature lacks and makes the long drawn-out details worth it

The reviews don't lie

Be ready to listen to Paris facts for 10 hours. then finally jump into continual story. Bashed my head against the wall for half the book but then enjoyed the story. Really made me like and dislike every character which I'd say is a sign of good story development.

Just who is the monster?

Here is another classic that we all think we know but that I, at least, hadn’t actually read before now. And it turns out that the story that I thought I knew was not quite the same as the one that Victor Hugo originally wrote. 

Yes, there is Quasimodo, the hunchback, who is the bell-ringer at the Notre Dame Cathedral and there is the one girl who pitied him and whom he fell in love with. But, this is far more than a love story. The book was published in 1831, but the setting of the book is 1482 in a Paris that is already ancient to his readers. Both Quasimodo appears at the very beginning, having just been elected “Pope of Fools” due to his grotesque appearance with an enormous hunched back, another protuberance coming from his chest, one eye completely covered by a huge wart, and arms and legs “strangely put together.” The crowd calls him cyclops. Esmerelda also appears and is feared for a different reason. She is a stunningly beautiful young girl who dances gracefully and has a pet goat who seems to understand basic questions. In an age when physical deformities were thought to be the work of the devil and the Roma (whom Esmerelda belonged to) where thought to practice witchcraft and magic as well as kidnap or eat children, Esmerelda was also feared as a different kind of monster. 

Through the story we discover that these two people are actually the only two people who are not “monsters.” They have their flaws, for certain, but in comparison with everyone around them, they come across looking quite good. Quasimodo desperately wants to be accepted and even to be loved but he also has a deep desire to do what is right. Esmerelda wears a kind of charm around her neck that is supposed to someday show her who her real mother is, that is, if she leads a pure life. And, in the very beginning of the book, we do know her mother and find that she is not Roma but had been kidnapped from her mother, a prostitute, who had grieved and locked herself up in a penitent cell to pray continually for her daughter.

There are many other archetypes of each of the characters. There is a dashing officer, Captain Phoebus, who is engaged to a wealthy young woman but is enthralled with Esmerelda. But for Captain Phoebus, she is an object of desire, not a possible wife. There is the abbot of the cathedral who originally rescued the abandoned Quasimodo as an infant due to the guilt he felt in seeing his brother descend into lasciviousness and drunkenness. He also pursues Esmerelda in secret. 

All of society persecutes Quasimodo and Esmerelda. She pities and shows kindness to Quasimodo, but cannot conceive of getting too close to him. He, in turn, saves her from a death sentence. But, this is not a story with a happy ending, unlike most of the movie versions. This is a story of real life, not a fairy tale or gothic romance. 

But, there is another character that is prominent in the book. The original title was simply “Notre Dame of Paris” and he spends several chapters describing the church in great detail. He speaks of its soaring arches raising your eyes to finely carved ceilings of gold, the dazzling light from its many windows their glazing in a thousand colors. He describes various rooms and secret passages and the giant bells in the soaring towers. He gives some focus to other Gothic structions in Paris, particularly the Palace of Justice, but it is the Cathedral that he rhapsodizes over. France of the early 1800s was in a time of great upheaval. The French Revolution resulted in the Catholic Church’s lands being taken over by the state and the church’s power greatly reduced. Many churches had fallen into disrepair or had been destroyed. The Cathedral of Notre Dame was looked on as a medieval relic that had no purpose and was rapidly deteriorating. There was talk of tearing it down. Hugo’s purpose in writing the book was to give the great building a personal history that even liberal republicans (neither “liberal” nor “republican” have the meaning that would come to mind to an American of today) could identify with. He saw the building as a great masterpiece that should be preserved at any cost and in that, he succeeded. Soon after, there was an effort to save it and other great structures of the past and a major restoration was undertaken in the 1840s. The desire to preserve these great Gothic buildings spread from Paris throughout Europe. 

So, here is another classic that I thought I knew. It is a story well-told and a history in story form.

A melodramatic, long-winded classic

I read Hunchback 20 years ago and remember enjoying it. Revisiting it, it just feels like a lot of over wrought florid rambling about a cast of characters that, while beautiful described, just aren't relatable or all that deep. It's Italian Opera. Maybe this is your jam. For me, it was a tiresome slog.

If you're coming to this after Les Mis, Hunchback offers a similar style and the same kind of seemingly endless tangents about geographic and historical details. But it lacks the historical weight and somehow none of the characters are the least bit likeable (except for the little goat)

The narration is stately and expressive, capturing both the stature of a respected classic and Hugo's snarky political/ethical stance.

If you're really into this kind of classic lit or generally determined to read Hunchback, you'll probably enjoy this rendition.

Victor Hugo is a relentless Master.

Amazing story. Masterfully read. Encapsulates all one needs to know about virtue and passion.

Excellent suspenseful ending

I wouldn't recommend the unabridged version for the casual reader. Great French history and character development.

spectacular performance!

Oft told story brought alive by the brilliant narrator. The unabridged version lasted through numerous morning commutes.