I've read an abridged version of Hunchback and watched the musical of Les Mis but I haven't read full versions of either.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (original title Notre Dame de Paris)
Les Miserables
I've read an abridged version of Hunchback and watched the musical of Les Mis but I haven't read full versions of either.
I have read both (almost, last 150 pages of The Hunchback), unabridged in French now.
My definite favorite is Les Misérables because it is clearly more mature and more thought about than The Hunchback. You can see Hugo was younger when he wrote the latter. By moments it is very good, but Les Misérables's style is jut so much better and there is much more to find under the surface.
One has to laugh before being happy, because otherwise one risks to die before having laughed.
"Je crains [...] que l'âme ne se vide à ces passe-temps vains, et que le fin du fin ne soit la fin des fins." (Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac, Acte III, Scène VII)
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