novels, comets, movies
Alban Krailsheimer once wrote that Christianity was oddly missing as a subject in Victor Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris (aka, The Hunchback of Notre Dame). And I agree: that novel can seem like a merely secular story about a Christian cathedral. Les Misérables, by contrast, opens immediately with Christianity as a subject: its entire first … Continue reading Les Misérables – atheism and faith
My blog is new, so I've never picked out favorite books for a year, but here we go. My ten faves for 2021, fiction and nonfiction, out of the 66 books I read: 1. New Testament -- the recent translation by David Bentley Hart 2. Notre Dame de Paris Translated by Alban Krailsheimer 3. Lonesome … Continue reading Favorite books of 2021 (and 2020)
Below I've made a listing of all the changes made to Victor Hugo’s novel in these movie adaptations. 1923 Quasimodo - Lon Chaney Esmeralda - Patsy Ruth Miller Frollo - Brandon Hurst https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh20p-GvCl0 1939 Quasimodo - Charles Laughton Esmeralda - Maureen O'Hara Frollo - Sir Cedric Hardwicke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_p8khzyK-E 1956 Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo Esmeralda - … Continue reading All Hunchback of Notre Dame movies
Lately this movie seems to be featured in a lot of YouTube videos describing it as surprisingly dark, or as Disney’s darkest animated movie. And it may well be those things. But I’m watching it after seeing a series of Hunchback adaptations that have been dark, grim and glum; and next to those, Disney’s version … Continue reading Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame
I recently saw an adaptation of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" set in the modern day. It's a French-language film, a black comedy/satire known as Quasimodo d’El Paris. It's set in 1999 or thereabouts in an unnamed place, in a city called El Paris. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy8KIUCGSAA&list=PLGuUJt6IB8_ET1gFct-hHQO62Dkqx90Lm&index=23 It is strange and over-the-top, but funny and charming. It … Continue reading Quasimodo d’El Paris
If you want to hear Victor Hugo's story in French, check out this version from 1956: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL178C3C3F3342FBB0 This is Gina Lollobrigida’s movie in many ways, but I like Anthony Quinn here. The one thing I don't like is the implication that Quasimodo is mentally impaired. But then again, that’s not entirely different from Hugo, who … Continue reading Anthony Quinn’s Hunchback
Below is the full text of the chapter "This Will Kill That" (Book V, Chapter 2), from "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame", with links and photographs added. When reading "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame," I found myself pausing for long periods to argue with the author, particularly around the middle of the book. Here Hugo has a … Continue reading This Will Kill That
Two freaks, Quasimodo and Hannibal Lecter, who have nothing in common, except that they have both been portrayed by Sir Anthony Hopkins. After reading “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” recently, I saw the 1982 television adaptation starring Hopkins as Quasimodo, Lesley-Ann Down as Esmeralda, Derek Jacobi as Claude Frollo, Robert Powell as Phoebus and John … Continue reading Quasimodo will be played today by Hannibal Lecter
I recently finished reading "Notre Dame de Paris," or as it's known in the English-speaking world, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." I was surprised to find that the book is all about architecture. I only knew anything about this novel from the movies, none of which speak two syllables about architecture. Hugo was passionate about … Continue reading Notre Dame de Paris
In my blog posts I've compared similar passages across different novels, and I've got several passages from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" that I want to link to other novels: "Moby-Dick," "Huckleberry Finn," "Tom Sawyer," "The Lord of the Rings," "Matilda," and one nonfiction book, Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot." Compare this declaration by King … Continue reading Esmeralda, cosmologist