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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 out of 5 stars for the Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.
My parents took me to Paris on a European vacation when I was in high school so when this book came up as a group read in Catching Up on Classics group on GoodReads, I was immediately interested. Notre Dame is a beautiful cathedral and I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was definitely a cool experience and something I will remember for the rest of my life.
Hunchback is primarily a story of lust and obsession, and it has plenty of memorable characters. I really liked the characters Gringoire and Claude Frollo the most, but the main characters, Quasimodo (the "Hunchback"), and Esmerelda (and her goat, Jolly) were good characters too.
Hugo did a good job with the setting in the city of Paris and Notre Dame Cathedral, but he did get too detailed with it at times, which made the pacing of the novel drag at times. There were also some plot points that didn't seem to help the flow of the storyline, and I kept thinking to myself "what does this have to do with the plot?" For these reasons, I knocked of 1.5 stars. It may be actually closer to a 3, but I liked the ending so that added back a half point for me.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is definitely worth the time. It is fairly long, and does get bogged down in history and architecture lessons, but it has some good action scenes, (especially toward the end), and it is very well written.
A quick note on the narrator - this unabridged version of the audiobook (cd's) by Tantor Media was read by David Case. He was very entertaining which made this probably the best audiobook I've ever done.
P.S. This is my first Victor Hugo reading experience and I will give Les Mis' a try now that I kind of know what to expect.
My parents took me to Paris on a European vacation when I was in high school so when this book came up as a group read in Catching Up on Classics group on GoodReads, I was immediately interested. Notre Dame is a beautiful cathedral and I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was definitely a cool experience and something I will remember for the rest of my life.
Hunchback is primarily a story of lust and obsession, and it has plenty of memorable characters. I really liked the characters Gringoire and Claude Frollo the most, but the main characters, Quasimodo (the "Hunchback"), and Esmerelda (and her goat, Jolly) were good characters too.
Hugo did a good job with the setting in the city of Paris and Notre Dame Cathedral, but he did get too detailed with it at times, which made the pacing of the novel drag at times. There were also some plot points that didn't seem to help the flow of the storyline, and I kept thinking to myself "what does this have to do with the plot?" For these reasons, I knocked of 1.5 stars. It may be actually closer to a 3, but I liked the ending so that added back a half point for me.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is definitely worth the time. It is fairly long, and does get bogged down in history and architecture lessons, but it has some good action scenes, (especially toward the end), and it is very well written.
A quick note on the narrator - this unabridged version of the audiobook (cd's) by Tantor Media was read by David Case. He was very entertaining which made this probably the best audiobook I've ever done.
P.S. This is my first Victor Hugo reading experience and I will give Les Mis' a try now that I kind of know what to expect.
dark
sad
slow-paced
This book has some amazing writing and great (but very strange) characters, but wow the end of the book is incredibly dark and depressing. Felt really off tone with the rest of it.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This may be the oldest soap opera in existence. I enjoyed much of the story but Hugo had this way of taking one scene or description and turning into this extraordinarily long-winded multi-page scene or description that was exhausting. I tuned the cathedral architecture out so completely that I was suddenly like "Oh! People are talking! How long has that been happening?" Those parts kind of drove me crazy. And the "I love you" confession of Esmeralda's enemy felt like it took five pages. The first time. We got that treat a few times.
But I did really enjoy the writing outside of those moments. I enjoyed most of the story and I enjoyed seeing the origins of The Phantom of the Opera. Especially since the Gerard Butler/Emmy Rossum movie is one of my all time favorites. There's much to enjoy here.
But I did really enjoy the writing outside of those moments. I enjoyed most of the story and I enjoyed seeing the origins of The Phantom of the Opera. Especially since the Gerard Butler/Emmy Rossum movie is one of my all time favorites. There's much to enjoy here.
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Victor Hugo … who hurt you?
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a sad story about love, life, betrayal and death.
Quasimodo is a broken man. Broken in body and in spirit. He loves his adoptive father and he loves La Esmeralda and finds himself stuck in the middle.
You will read a lot about Gothic architecture as Hugo has endless pages dedicated to the cathedral.
The cathedral, is viewed as both a sanctuary and a cursed place.
At one point both Esmeralda and Quasimodo feel safe in the cathedral, this is where Quasimodo was raised and this is where Quasimodo hid Esmeralda when Phoebus is looking for her.
But at the same time, as Frollo, the archdeacon of the cathedral, is responsible for Esmeralda's downfall and inevitably Quasimodos heartbreak, this can also be viewed as the location that sets their lives on it's damned course
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a fascinating Gothic take on power, corruption, and xenophobia. Once you make it through the first 60 pages, you really settle into the bones of the story. It's only fair to warn you that this is basically to the Disney movie what the Little Mermaid fairytale is to its Disney counterpart.