The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo [1]
“Come and see, gentlemen and ladies! They are going straightway to flog Master Quasimodo, the bell-ringer of my brother the archdeacon of Josas, a strange specimen of Oriental architecture, with a dome for his back and twisted columns for legs.” (page 219)
The people, particularly in the Middle Ages, were to society what the child is to a family. So long as they remain in their primitive condition of ignorance, of moral and intellectual nonage, it may be said of that as of a child,—
“It is an age without pity.”
(pages 220-221)
“A man must live; and the finest Alexandrine verses are not such good eating as a bit of Brie cheese.” (page 244)
The cathedral seemed somber, and given over to silence; for festivals and funerals there was still the simple tolling, dry and bare, such as the ritual required, and nothing more; of the double noise which a church sends forth, from its organ within and its bells without, only the organ remained. It seemed as if there were no musician left in the belfry towers. (pages 249-250)
Lovers’ talk is very commonplace. It is a perpetual “I love you.” A very bare and very insipid phrase to an indifferent ear, unless adorned with a few grace-notes; but Claude was not an indifferent listener. (page 283)
It was but too truly Esmeralda. Upon this last round of the ladder of opprobrium and misfortune she was still beautiful; her large black eyes looked larger than ever from the thinness of her cheeks; her livid profile was pure and sublime. (page 333)
“A drop of water and a little pity are more than my whole life can ever repay.” (page 357)
The heart of man cannot long remain at any extreme. (page 357)
“Fate has delivered us over to each other. Your life is in my hands; my soul rests in yours. Beyond this place and this night all is dark.”
(page 452)
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Victor Hugo first published Notre-Dame de Paris in 1831; the present anonymous translation was contemporaneous with the French edition.
Originally published in mass market format in 2004 by Barnes & Noble Classics with new Introduction, Notes, Biography, Chronology, Inspired By, Comments & Questions, and For Further Reading. This trade paperback edition published in 2008.
Introduction, Notes, and For Further Reading
Copyright © 2004 by Isabel Roche.
Note on The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The World of Victor Hugo
and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Inspired by The Hunchback of
Notre Dame, and Comments & Questions
Copyright © 2004 by Barnes & Noble, Inc.
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The Hunchback of Notre Dame
ISBN-13: 978-1-59308-140-9 ISBN-10: 1-59308-140-5
eISBN : 978-1-411-43235-2
LC Control Number 2007941529
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Victor Hugo
Novelist, poet, dramatist, essayist, idealist politician, and leader of the French Romantic movement from 1830 on, Victor-Marie Hugo was born the youngest of three sons in Besançon, France, on February 26, 1802. Victor’s early childhood was turbulent: His father, Joseph-Léopold, traveled frequently as a general in Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, forcing the family to move throughout France, Italy, and Spain. Weary of this upheaval, Hugo’s wife, Sophie, separated from her husband and settled with her three sons in Paris. Victor’s brilliance declared itself early in the form of illustrations, plays, and nationally recognized verse. Against his mother