Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame came out in 1996 and I was in fifth grade. I wanted to see the movie but it was easier to buy the book at the Book Fair. I've always liked reading more than watching movies, especially since my reading level has always been higher than my social skills. I thought Esmeralda was pretty and I liked her clothes.
Classics don't sell so well in elementary schools, I suppose. The book was only five dollars; the librarian scolded me for handing her a folded bill, because other bills might be folded inside it. "Always unfold your bills," she said, and I silently thought it was stupid since I knew I didn't have more than five dollars anyways.
So I took the book home, and read the first fifteen pages. This was a book way beyond my comprehension. I don't know what I was expecting; I had never encountered a book I couldn't handle, before.
Then in maybe grade eight? nine? the school drama team performed Les Miserables. I enjoyed it but didn't have a good idea of what was going on, so I slept over at my friend's house and we watched the movie. This made a little more sense but I wasn't inclined to read more.
Most people know of Victor Hugo's writing, but even if you stumbled through it like I did, you might not know he is, also, visually creative. I didn't, until recently. Victor Hugo just keeps surprising me! In that way, he's very inspiring. I would like to try some of his techniques, described here
He uses lace and ink to make beautiful decorative elements, not unlike Beatriz Milhazes, who I was talking about a few days ago.
