(no subject)
Hi all. I'm brand new to this wonderful book, and am currently about halfway through it in French (just finished Book VI). I was quite scared of it before I started - I read quite a lot of French but I'm definitely not fluent - but it's actually been a really enjoyable experience and I am loving it much more than I ever expected to. Alchemical priests and hot underage gypsies are always a winner as far as I'm concerned!
One of the reasons I started reading it is because I moved from eastern England to Paris at the beginning of the year, and I live pretty much right opposite Notre Dame now. The bells wake me up every morning. So I quite often get takeaway and sit in the square in front of it after work, when the sunset hits the front of the building. You can image my grins of recognition when I got to the bit where Hugo describes that exact time of day:
Dans ces jours de clarté, de chaleur et de sérénité, il y a une certaine heure, surtout, où le soleil, déjà incliné vers le couchant, regarde preque en face la cathédrale. Ses rayons, de plus en plus horizontaux, se retirent lentement du pavé de la place, et remontent le long de la façade à pic dont ils font saillir les mille rondes bosses sur leur ombre, tandis que la grande rose centrale flamboie comme un œil de cyclope enflammé des réverbérations de la forge.
Mmmm. And there's a kind of embedded reminder of the narrative here as well, because that word ‘bosse’ which is used here in its architectural sense is also the word Hugo uses for Quasimodo's hunch.
Anyway - the reason I am posting, apart from an excuse to write out nice bits of writing, is because I went over to Victor Hugo's house today, a very cute museum and, unlike most in Paris, one that's free. There are some interesting pictures there inspired by the various books and plays, including a whole room dedicated to portrayals from Notre Dame de Paris. The most popular scene to represent seemed to be the bit where Esmerelda brings Quasimodo a drink of water while he's on the pillory. There were also several versions of Esmerelda being snatched off by Quasimodo, appartently because it gave the painters a good excuse to show her clothes in various states of disarray.
You can also see the rooms Hugo lived in, which are pretty hideously decorated I thought. But still, a fascinating place which gave me lots of new ways to think about the book and its author. If you're in Paris you should check it out! And come say hi if I'm having my dinner by the cathedral!
One of the reasons I started reading it is because I moved from eastern England to Paris at the beginning of the year, and I live pretty much right opposite Notre Dame now. The bells wake me up every morning. So I quite often get takeaway and sit in the square in front of it after work, when the sunset hits the front of the building. You can image my grins of recognition when I got to the bit where Hugo describes that exact time of day:
Dans ces jours de clarté, de chaleur et de sérénité, il y a une certaine heure, surtout, où le soleil, déjà incliné vers le couchant, regarde preque en face la cathédrale. Ses rayons, de plus en plus horizontaux, se retirent lentement du pavé de la place, et remontent le long de la façade à pic dont ils font saillir les mille rondes bosses sur leur ombre, tandis que la grande rose centrale flamboie comme un œil de cyclope enflammé des réverbérations de la forge.
Mmmm. And there's a kind of embedded reminder of the narrative here as well, because that word ‘bosse’ which is used here in its architectural sense is also the word Hugo uses for Quasimodo's hunch.
Anyway - the reason I am posting, apart from an excuse to write out nice bits of writing, is because I went over to Victor Hugo's house today, a very cute museum and, unlike most in Paris, one that's free. There are some interesting pictures there inspired by the various books and plays, including a whole room dedicated to portrayals from Notre Dame de Paris. The most popular scene to represent seemed to be the bit where Esmerelda brings Quasimodo a drink of water while he's on the pillory. There were also several versions of Esmerelda being snatched off by Quasimodo, appartently because it gave the painters a good excuse to show her clothes in various states of disarray.
You can also see the rooms Hugo lived in, which are pretty hideously decorated I thought. But still, a fascinating place which gave me lots of new ways to think about the book and its author. If you're in Paris you should check it out! And come say hi if I'm having my dinner by the cathedral!