Hunchback of Notre Dame

[GoVanGogh]

We will be going to Notre Dame this fall so I wanted to read this book now and watch the movie. Let me say first of all - a month ago, I knew nothing about the book, plot, movie.

 

The book:

I bought an unabridged edition on-line , which I quickly realized would be too much for DS. I then went to a local bookstore to look at different editions in person. They only had two - unabridged and Classic Starts/abridged. I bought the abridged copy. This is the first CS/abridged book I have read and it was awful, but now I know why I prefer unabridged books. :tongue_smilie:

I just finished reading the abridged version to DS tonight. We neither one liked the ending. Really? That is it? :001_huh:

(Spoiler alert!)

 

She dies???

I am going to read the unabridged version myself to see if the ending makes more sense than it did in this abridged one.

 

 

Which movie:

I really want to watch the movie, but hate to see a Disney version. Is there an 'adult' one that isn't too much for a 4th grader? (I'm worried a bit about the content and story line, given I haven't actually read the unabridged book yet.)

Our library has two in their adult section --

RKO Pictures, produced by Berman, 1996

and

Universal Pictures, 2003 remake of 1923

 

 

Thanks!

[Guest submarines]

Even the Disney version is too much for my sensitive 9yo.

 

There are summaries of the Hugo's novel on-line, as well as of the movies.

[Mom in High Heels]

Yeah, the book isn't exactly happy go lucky. As for movies, I know there was a version with Anthony Hopkins as Quasimodo that's really good, but I haven't seen it in ages and don't know how it would be for a 4th grader.

 

BTW, if you want to go up the towers (it's a long walk up a lot of stairs), give yourself plenty of time. Indy and I went to Paris for the weekend in June and just the line to go up was almost 2 hours long. You can stay up as long as you want, but they only let 10 people up every 20 minutes (presumably to keep the stairs, which are tight, from being too crowded). Indy and I didn't go up, but I've been up before and the views are beautiful. Getting into the church itself is free, but there's always a line. It moves quickly though. There's also a museum underground (the entrance is at the front part of the square), but it's closed on Monday.

[regentrude]

I just finished reading the abridged version to DS tonight. We neither one liked the ending. Really? That is it? :001_huh:

(Spoiler alert!)

 

She dies???

I am going to read the unabridged version myself to see if the ending makes more sense than it did in this abridged one.

 

 

 

Actually, this is one of the most dramatic scenes in the whole book and a great (albeit unhappy) ending. I don't know to what extent they have shortened it in the abridged version.

 

More spoiler alert - but in case you want to know:

 

The old hermit woman who lives down by the church first accuses her of being one of the gypsies who abducted her daughter and holds her, but then she recognizes her to BE that daughter by her shoe and fights desperately to save her from the soldiers.

So, it is very dramatic and sad, and I can not imagine a children's version doing it full justice.

The actual end is that Quasimodo pushes the archeacon off the tower and vanishes... years later, a deformed skeleton is found in the burial vault, embracing the skeleton of a young girl...

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Yeah, don't watch the Disney movie. I don't know about other movie versions. I've never seen any.

 

Being a French major, I had to read the book in French, of course. How I would have loved an abridged version! I think I skipped over 200 pages of description in the beginning of the book! I'd already been to the cathedral, so I didn't need the blow by blow of how each stone was placed. :tongue_smilie:

 

I did end up loving the book, even though it is desperately sad.

[athena1277]

I have yet to understand why Disney made that into a "kid's" movie. There is nothing in the book for kids. My kids won't see the movie. The book we'll save for high school.

[pqr]

Try to find an audiobook. For some of the more difficult tomes we find audiobooks most useful.

Edited August 6, 2011 by pqr

[GoVanGogh]

I don't know to what extent they have shortened it in the abridged version.

 

More spoiler alert - but in case you want to know:

 

The old hermit woman who lives down by the church first accuses her of being one of the gypsies who abducted her daughter and holds her, but then she recognizes her to BE that daughter by her shoe and fights desperately to save her from the soldiers.

So, it is very dramatic and sad, and I can not imagine a children's version doing it full justice.

The actual end is that Quasimodo pushes the archdeacon off the tower and vanishes... years later, a deformed skeleton is found in the burial vault, embracing the skeleton of a young girl...

The abridged version ends with the old lady and the gypsy realizing they are mother/daughter, then the daughter runs out after the soldier and she dies. The writing is horrible in this version, basically "She died. She fell from the horse and hit her head on the cobblestone." Then there is one final chapter about Quasimodo being too late, which doesn't add anything to the story and is just 'flat.' It doesn't say anything about the burial vault.

I am anxious to read the unabridged now, as this abridged version was simply terrible!

 

I have yet to understand why Disney made that into a "kid's" movie.

 

That is what I am now wondering! :tongue_smilie: I wanted to see an older, non-cartoon version so we could look at the scenery, but I'm thinking now we won't.

This is one of those books I have always heard about and known of, but didn't know the slightest thing about. Now I do and :001_huh:

 

BTW, if you want to go up the towers (it's a long walk up a lot of stairs), give yourself plenty of time. Indy and I went to Paris for the weekend in June and just the line to go up was almost 2 hours long. You can stay up as long as you want, but they only let 10 people up every 20 minutes (presumably to keep the stairs, which are tight, from being too crowded). Indy and I didn't go up, but I've been up before and the views are beautiful. Getting into the church itself is free, but there's always a line. It moves quickly though. There's also a museum underground (the entrance is at the front part of the square), but it's closed on Monday.

Thank you very much for the info. We are going in October and I am hopeful the lines aren't so bad.

[regentrude]

The abridged version ends with the old lady and the gypsy realizing they are mother/daughter, then the daughter runs out after the soldier and she dies. The writing is horrible in this version, basically "She died. She fell from the horse and hit her head on the cobblestone."

 

There is no way to make a palatable children's version of this book - and they certainly did a very bad job. What they wrote makes absolutely no sense (why would she run after the soldiers???)

 

She is dragged away from her mother and HANGED.

The priest is watching the execution from the tower and laughs; this is when Quasimodo pushes him off the tower.

 

It is not possible to sugarcoat this into a children's book.

[GoVanGogh]

She is dragged away from her mother and HANGED.

The priest is watching the execution from the tower and laughs; this is when Quasimodo pushes him off the tower.

 

No way!?

Wow.

As I said, I had no clue what the story was about. I was just thinking, "Hey, we are going to Notre Dame. We should read that book." :tongue_smilie: Guess the Disney connection made me think it *could* be made into a children's book/movie. :001_huh: Guess not.

But that makes me realize why DS and I both said, "Huh? That's it? That's the end of the book?" It didn't make sense at all. Actually, there were several things throughout the abridged version that didn't make sense - just too many holes in the story. Which makes me wonder -- why would "Classic Starts" even attempt to do an abridged version? It's not a book like, say, The Secret Garden that could be brought down to a younger child's level while maintaining the story.

[regentrude]

Which makes me wonder -- why would "Classic Starts" even attempt to do an abridged version? It's not a book like, say, The Secret Garden that could be brought down to a younger child's level while maintaining the story.

 

No idea - there is not a single thematic element in the book that I would consider appropriate for an average elementary school child. But for an adult, it is a GREAT book.