Okay. I think my main problem with this book is that I read it in English. Maybe I could give it a better rating if I read it as a translated novel in my own native language.

Man, it was such labor to finish this book. It's not that Victor Hugo writes poorly. He's just... having this tendency to talk about A LOT of things, and not just stick to the essential characters. He takes a lot of time to write and explain ARCHITECTURE, and I think he also talked about printing? Or books. Whatever.

However, Quasimodo's and Esmeralda's tale is truly unfortunate.
This book is way too old for us to be really giving away spoilers, so I'll just say it: I kinda hoped they could get a happy ending. Especially Quasimodo. No one should be deserving that kind of life.
challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

     Eu achei o livro, na verdade, bem deprimente e isso não faz com que eu não queira ter lido. Eu acho que me agregou alguma coisa, mas não é das minhas preferências de leitura.
     O Corcunda de Notre-Dame é um livro que realmente deixa a desejar, porque é complicado dizer que os personagens são diversos, porque na verdade eles são muito caricatos, apesar de terem funções e vidas diferentes. E isso forma um grupo, uma dinâmica muito fechada e que não agrada muito a um leitor mais voraz. Por outro lado, o livro é muito bem escrito e ele tem o típico ar que os clássicos trazem, de enxergar algo pelos olhos de outra pessoa que pode te agregar alguma coisa.
     O livro tem uma complicação em dizer também que o livro se trate das falhas do Corcunda de Notre-Dame porque se chama o CORCUNDA de Notre-Dame. Mas, ao mesmo tempo, o Corcunda é o menos problemático ali. E isso não tem qualquer senso de adequação social. E para outros livros, eu diria que isso é um critério para dizer que o personagem não tem habilidades às quais vamos tratar. Mas, nesse livro, acaba sendo o menor de todos os problemas, uma vez que seu mentor é mesquinho e punitivo de "falhas" que não são realmente falhas. A cigana é apresentada o tempo todo com uma alta sexualidade que destrói até o mais nobre dos homens por ser "coisa demoníaca", e o herói é um homem superficial que só está lá para cumprir o papel de salvar o dia.
    Só que são essas falhas que também nos mostram o quão valioso esse livro pode ser, tratado como uma completa alegoria à função da igreja, o papel do homem branco rico na época em que foi escrito o livro assim como eram vistos os outros povos retratados pelos ciganos apartados da sociedade e os homens "pobres e tolos" vistos no corcunda, que eram jogados de um lado para o outro conforme os desejos das grandes massas. Como eu disse antes, não é meu estilo de livro, é justamente por eu ver as qualidades nele eu posso dizer que realmente é um bom livro, já que normalmente eu evito esse tipo de obra.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Je ne pensais jamais passer au travers. L’espoir fait vivre.

A powerful older man obsesses about owning and sexually dominating a 15 year old girl. They both die, as does the person with a disability who due to his disability can not save her. How many people since this "classic" was written have said "this is right and I should act this way"?

Half the length and the self-importance would have really helped
adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Guys he's like really good at writing books.

The beauty in ugliness, the ugliness in beauty: this is the subject of Victor Hugo's sweeping, classic novel. Hugo describes the Cathedral of Notre Dame and, indeed, much of the architecture of Medieval Paris almost as if he were tracing the accretion of keloids on a healthy, attractive body. He draws parallels not only between the edifice and the nominally central character, Quasimodo, but generally between the architecture of the age and all of the characters he presents. Thus, even the beautiful Esmeralda, whose simple charm and lack of guile would seem to mark her as flawless, is betrayed by her own impulsiveness which, ultimately, leads to her downfall. The reader, thus, while cheering for the hapless gypsy, ultimately scorns her fatal gullibility. The flaws are more obvious in other characters: Frollo's repressed sexuality, turned inward to fester into evil, contrasts with the piety of his calling. Phoebus' callousness and superficiality contrasts with his exterior gallantry. Gringoire's capacity for eloquence and philosophical insight is set against his petty self-interest. And so it goes with all the other characters, but none so much as Quasimodo himself. Hideous to behold, but with a sensitive and discerning nature; physically impaired, but monstrously strong and nimble; cloistered, uneducated, and held down by Frollo, yet crafty and, when push comes to shove, highly intelligent and resourceful (illustrated by his defense of Notre Dame against the mob of Vagrants). To the extent that Hugo fulfills his stated intent by drawing these contrasts, this work is simply a masterpiece. Anyone who can read it without being moved, stirred, and touched surely lacks a human soul.
adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes