1:00:44--"Okay, so in this chapter, we have Gwynplaine realizing that Dea . . . might be hot." I KNOW, RIGHT?! I'm visually impaired, have been since birth, and I identify with and feel so much for Dea. She and Gwynplaine are my favorite fictional couple, but at this point in the story, I get so damn frustrated with him: "Gwynplaine, dude, you and Dea are crazy about each other, and you're both man and woman like any others. Make love already!" Also, as a Wiccan, I LOVE all the Pagan imagery and symbolism woven into the story, which are summed up in Dea's name: "Goddess". To have the character who represents the divine be not only a woman but a blind woman at that, in a book that was written in 1869 when people with disabilities are terribly underrepresented in fiction to this day, is freaking awesome. It's so wonderful to see more people discovering this book. "The Man Who Laughs" is my favorite Victor Hugo novel. I'm writing a stage play adaptation of it and have had your reading of the book on in the background as I work on my edits. These videos have been an absolute treat, and you have a wonderful reading voice. I can't wait to check out your reaction to the rest of the story! On to Part 10!
Hugo is SUCH a good writer, even when we're getting lost in the architecture or in the history of [fill in the blank]. Gwynplaine and Dea are written with unexpected depth. It would have been so easy for Hugo to typecast them into specific roles and leave them there to thrive, but he doesn't! He has both of them growing and figuring out the horrors and wonders of life and takes us with them. *chef's kiss* That's so amazing that you're writing a stage play adaptation! This would be so fitting on stage and, from the sound of it, you're handling it all with so much care and will make it awesome. Happy you found this tiny corner of TH-cam and enjoying the storytelling
@@StorytimeWithMooog Hugo's writing is absolutely amazing, even when he's going on and on about the exposition that we need to get to the plot. Gwynplaine and Dea are indeed wonderfully deep characters. A lesser author, especially of the time, would've written them as just flat stereotypes. But Hugo didn't, and that's fantastic. Granted, there are a few things that seem stereotypical about Dea, but that's more coming from my insider knowledge as a visually impaired person and "This book was written in the 1860s, so of course parts of it will be outdated by today's standards," rather than a full-on criticism. Overall, Dea's characterization is excellent. Working on the stage play has been so much fun. I've been at it for several years, but I think this draft of the script will be THE one. I'd be happy to share it with you once I've finished if you're interested. So happy I found this little corner of TH-cam, too! :)
1:00:44--"Okay, so in this chapter, we have Gwynplaine realizing that Dea . . . might be hot."
I KNOW, RIGHT?! I'm visually impaired, have been since birth, and I identify with and feel so much for Dea. She and Gwynplaine are my favorite fictional couple, but at this point in the story, I get so damn frustrated with him: "Gwynplaine, dude, you and Dea are crazy about each other, and you're both man and woman like any others. Make love already!"
Also, as a Wiccan, I LOVE all the Pagan imagery and symbolism woven into the story, which are summed up in Dea's name: "Goddess". To have the character who represents the divine be not only a woman but a blind woman at that, in a book that was written in 1869 when people with disabilities are terribly underrepresented in fiction to this day, is freaking awesome.
It's so wonderful to see more people discovering this book. "The Man Who Laughs" is my favorite Victor Hugo novel. I'm writing a stage play adaptation of it and have had your reading of the book on in the background as I work on my edits. These videos have been an absolute treat, and you have a wonderful reading voice. I can't wait to check out your reaction to the rest of the story! On to Part 10!
Hugo is SUCH a good writer, even when we're getting lost in the architecture or in the history of [fill in the blank].
Gwynplaine and Dea are written with unexpected depth. It would have been so easy for Hugo to typecast them into specific roles and leave them there to thrive, but he doesn't! He has both of them growing and figuring out the horrors and wonders of life and takes us with them. *chef's kiss*
That's so amazing that you're writing a stage play adaptation! This would be so fitting on stage and, from the sound of it, you're handling it all with so much care and will make it awesome.
Happy you found this tiny corner of TH-cam and enjoying the storytelling
@@StorytimeWithMooog Hugo's writing is absolutely amazing, even when he's going on and on about the exposition that we need to get to the plot.
Gwynplaine and Dea are indeed wonderfully deep characters. A lesser author, especially of the time, would've written them as just flat stereotypes. But Hugo didn't, and that's fantastic. Granted, there are a few things that seem stereotypical about Dea, but that's more coming from my insider knowledge as a visually impaired person and "This book was written in the 1860s, so of course parts of it will be outdated by today's standards," rather than a full-on criticism. Overall, Dea's characterization is excellent.
Working on the stage play has been so much fun. I've been at it for several years, but I think this draft of the script will be THE one. I'd be happy to share it with you once I've finished if you're interested. So happy I found this little corner of TH-cam, too! :)