The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Tim Conrad

 

Summary:

 

Tim Conrad adapts Victor Hugo's classic romance about a beautiful gypsy girl, Esmeralda, who is framed for murder by the infatuated archdeacon of Notre Dame. Only Quasimodo, the hideously deformed bell ringer of the cathedral, can save her. Religious extremism, class distinction, fate, destiny, and sexual dynamics are played out in a rousing yarn of intrigue within the walls of the Parisian Cathedral of Notre Dame. This is Tim Conrad's first foray back into comics in twenty years. Beautifully illustrated. Packed with emotion. Not to be missed!

Summary & Photo taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 48 pages

Source: NetGalley ARC

Publication Date: July 18th 2012 by Dark Horse Comics

 

I suppose I should admit that my only experience with The Hunchback of Notre Dame is with the Disney film of the same name. I've been carting around the novel by Victor Hugo for the past 2 times that I've moved but still have not brought myself to read it. It's an intimidating novel, and since I've started blogging a lot of the longer novels on my TBR pile have fallen to the wayside. Which is why when I had the opportunity to request this one from NetGalley I was over the moon especially since Tim Conrad was illustrating it.

 

However all my hopes were dashed as soon as I started reading this graphic novel. I'd seen some of the artists other works and thought that they were utterly fantastic. When it came to his adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame I thought he really dropped the ball. The illustrations were to me, poorly drawn and horribly executed. His technique while it may appeal to some people it didn't for me.

 

I also didn't like how the classic novel was adapted to graphic novel. It fell very flat for me as you could tell MAJOR parts of the novel were not included. True, the graphic novel is only 48 pages long but it was as if the one liners were the only things being implemented and used as a story line so the flow of the story was broken up tremendously.

 

For those reasons, I had a difficult time wanting to stay reading this graphic novel. I would not recommend this to anyone except maybe kids to perhaps get them interested in the classics but even then I would be hard pressed to recommend it. If you do want to read it despite my misgivings (I encourage you to try it for yourself) then I would suggest you borrow it from your local library.

 

Not for me!
★

 

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The Princess and the Goblin (Princess Irene and Curdie #1) by George MacDonald

 

Summary:

 

Princess Irene's discovery of a secret stair to the top turret of the castle leads to a wonderful revelation. At the same time, the miner's son Curdle overhears a fiendish plot by the goblins who live below the mountain. It will take all of their wit and courage, plus the help of Irene's magic ring, to make sense of their separate knowledge and foil the goblins' schemes.

Summary & Photo taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 241 pages (Paperback)

Source: Kobo Freebie

Publication Date: 1872 by Strahan & Co.

 

When I was a wee little thing I happened to come across the 1994 animated film adaptation of this believed children's classic and fell in love with it. It wasn't until recently (this year) that I realized that it was based on a classic piece of children's literature so when I found out I did some investigating and downloaded the kobo e-book version onto my BlackBerry and before I knew it I was reading it every chance I got.

 

Right away though I noticed that there were of course some key differences. Since the movie I watched was a 1994 film there were some changes made to the story line. It was made to be more accessible to the modern audience but for what it was I enjoyed the book version as well.

 

The story was a fun one and normally I'm not one for the classics but this was a good one. It was enjoyable though I sometimes felt that the story lacked the flow of a more modern novel but that is in part due to the audience it was written for back in 1872.

 

For me, while my tastes are lean towards the more modern I did enjoy the book. I though Irene was a cute character. Her curiosity while it almost lead to her ruin was adorable to see play out on the pages, though I didn't like the demeaning way she treated Curdie the local boy who saved hers and her nursemaid's skin one night. Then again she was a princess and a very young one at that so I suppose I could excuse her attitude.

 

Curdie though had to be my favourite character because of how smart, self reliant and courageous manner. He was the main character for me because much of the book centered around his activities in finding the goblins, and figuring out their master plan.

 

The writing was good, it intrigued me but as I stated before the flow put me off a bit. I think that it was a lovely little children's classic and it deserves a spot on every kid's bookshelf because their a princess for the girls to admire and a hero for the boys.

 

Overall, I would recommend this book to everyone young and old. This would be a good book for a night time read aloud book for kids or to be read by teachers to their classes. I'm a strong believer that though a book is older it should not lose its place on out bookshelves. I plan on reading the sequel to this book in 2013.

 

Liked It!
★ ★ ★

 

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Bambi by Felix Salten

 

Summary:

 

The Prince of the Forest Bambi's life in the woods begins happily. There are forest animals to play with -- Friend Hare, the chattery squirrel, the noisy screech owl, and Bambi's twin cousins, frail Gobo and beautiful Faline.

But winter comes, and Bambi learns that the woods hold danger -- and things he doesn't understand. The first snowfall makes food hard to find. Bambi's father, a handsome stag, roams the forest, but leaves Bambi and his mother alone.

Then there is Man. He comes to the forest with weapons that can wound an animal. He does terrible things to Gobo, to Bambi's mother, and even to Bambi. But He can't keep Bambi from growing into a handsome stag himself, and becoming...the Prince of the Forest.

Summary & Photo taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 192 pages (Paperback)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Publication Date: 1923

 

Once again I had to find a book to read for a BOTM selection in one of  the online book groups I participate in on Goodreads  You'll love this one...!! A book club & more. The November BOTM was if we could not or did not want to read the two selected books we could read any other book that met the criteria for "Books to Movies". I originally had another book planned but seeing as though I just read Bambi yesterday there wasn't enough time for me to read my original choice of Tsotsi by Athol Fugard. However I do plan on working that on into my December reading plans.

 

Anyways, I decided to pick a book that I'm pretty sure I had rad to me by my Dad as a kid but it was one that I couldn't remember. That's not to say I was unfamiliar with the beloved little fawn but lately I've been getting rather nostalgic about my childhood and the books I read or should have read. I think it's because of the holidays but in any case I decided to pick the one book that was the bases of one of my favourite Disney movies as a kid. Bambi.

 

Since I've always had a soft spot for Bambi and his forest friends I was hoping I'd be in for a comical, light hearted read. Boy was I wrong. Then again I probably should have looked closer at the original publication date, and read that the book wasn't originally published in English. Usually I do my homework on my books but, obviously I was lazy so it was really surprising to find that the book wasn't at all as light, fluffy and carefree as I'd hoped. In fact Bambi was prone to being quite a spoiled little fawn with a bit of a streak where he placed himself above his animal friends.

 

While I did still find the book enjoyable, a lot of what I thought would be in the book just wasn't. Often, Bambi would just walk off in the middle of the other characters talking to him and I couldn't help but wish that he was more like the Bambi in the animated film classic. Unfortunately he wasn't and this was a major let down for me.

 

However, I do understand why he wasn't as loveable and carefree as we see him in the movies and that is because it was written almost 100 years ago and the books people enjoyed regardless of their age were much different back then. The writing is superb though and I fell in love with the authors story it was just the characterizations I had trouble with.

 

Still, I liked the book. I thought it was great for me to be able to read the original story and I did get swept up in that nostalgic feeling while I read it so I believe this will be one of the books added to the "Read to Spawn" list I've created if I ever have kids and I can't wait to read the sequel to this beloved children's classic so look out for my review!

 

 

Overall it was a good story, I think kids now may have a little difficulty with the harshness of Bambi's life but then again the book like the movie can be used as a good example as life and death for kids as a lesson. I also think that this is a good book for anyone to read regardless of their age because Bambi has been a movie icon for decades. Plus, this would be a great read aloud book for families with kids and/or teachers. While my rating may seem a little low I do believe that this book is an essential must have a on any young readers bookshelf.

 

Liked It!
★ ★ ★

 

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