Historical · Drama
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
In medieval Paris, the bell-ringer Quasimodo, a dancer called Esmeralda and a tormented priest are bound by fate.
Five levels, about 80 languages
- A2ElementaryShort sentences and everyday words.
- B1IntermediateYou follow clear stories about familiar things.
- B2Upper intermediateLonger sentences, richer vocabulary.
- C1AdvancedClose to the original, lightly condensed.
- C2ProficientThe complete novel.
One purchase is one book, in one language, at one level: $4.99. Another level of a book you own is $1.99. Editions nobody has asked for yet are written on request: chapter 1 in a few minutes, the rest while you read. How the levels work.
About the book
Paris, 1482
On the Feast of Fools, the people of Paris elect a mock pope: the ugliest face in the city, Quasimodo, the deaf, half-blind bell-ringer of Notre-Dame. The same day, the crowd is enchanted by Esmeralda, a young street dancer with a performing goat, and she draws the attention of three very different men: the archdeacon Claude Frollo, who raised Quasimodo and is consumed by his own desires; Phoebus, a handsome, careless captain of archers; and Quasimodo himself. Victor Hugo published the novel in 1831 as Notre-Dame de Paris, and the cathedral is as much its subject as any of the people.
Why it works for learners
At its center is a melodrama with strong, simple lines: love, jealousy, cruelty, loyalty. That core survives retelling beautifully. Around it Hugo wrote long chapters on architecture, history and the view of Paris from the towers, which many readers in any language find slow. The vocabulary running through the novel is the city itself: street, square, bridge, crowd, bell, tower, church, prison, court. If you know the animated film, be prepared: Hugo’s novel is far darker.
Which level to start at
B1 is a good start; the plot is tight and the characters are vivid. B2 brings in more of Hugo’s Paris and his tragic irony. C1 keeps his voice and condenses the long digressions, which for many readers is the best version of all. C2 is the complete novel, every stone of the cathedral included.
Read next
- Les Misérables, Hugo’s other great novel of Paris
- The Phantom of the Opera, another outcast in the shadows of a great Paris building
- The Count of Monte Cristo, French Romantic storytelling at full speed