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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really liked the plot overall, but not a fan of the Phoebus character or how Esmeralda behaved for his affection. Also there were MANY parts of the story I skipped because Hugo just spent several paragraphs describing a specific building or character to where many of the chapters I found pointless. Loved the ending with the "marriage" of Quasimodo.
dark
emotional
sad
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:
Yes
It shouldn't have taken me almost 4 months to complete this, but I'm glad I did. The Disney movie has always been a favorite of mine and I'm glad to have been able to read the original story. Obviously there are some key differences from the iconic 90s movie, but that's fine. Yes it is long and dark, but the tragedy does a great job at showing humanity and its relationship with compassion and cruelty. Not to also mention its relationship with other things like religion and race, especially in a place like Paris/France.
The next time I read this book, I will seek out podcast or group of others with whom to read along.
Of course, Hugo's writing is excellent.. I was quite unprepared for the storyline.
Of course, Hugo's writing is excellent.. I was quite unprepared for the storyline.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
đ Les classiques, ça passe ou... ça casse.
đ J'ai trouvĂ© ça... un peu... chiant Ă lire, en route honnĂȘtetĂ©. Je sais pas si ĂȘtre entourĂ©e de plein de vie autour a rendu une lecture concentrĂ©e et consciencieuse difficile (vacances de NoĂ«l en famille oblige), mais j'ai survolĂ© de nombreux passages. J'ai tenu les 400 premiĂšres pages car je suis partie avec ce seul livre et que j'ai souvent du mal Ă abandonner une lecture. 400 pages dans l'ensemble chiantes Ă lire pour 232 pages Ă la fin plus ou moins ok.
Autre chose qui m'a fait tenir : j'ai aimĂ© avoir la bande-son de la comĂ©die musicale en tĂȘte, je me rends compte Ă quel point cette adaptation est de qualitĂ© et pointue et Ă quel point les paroles sont ciselĂ©es et collĂ©es au texte de Hugo.
J'ai trouvĂ© ça chiant Ă lire, avec beaucoup de scĂšnes d'exposition et finalement trĂšs peu de scĂšnes d'action. Les descriptions sont nombreuses et longues et probablement fournies mais elles ne m'Ă©voquent rien (dâordinaire jâaime les descriptions, indĂ©pendamment de leur longueur), ne construisent aucune image. J'entends juste l'ombre de l'auteur en les lisant. Le poseur qui s'fait plez' mais je suis mĂȘme pas certaine que lui-mĂȘme voyait ce qu'il dĂ©crivait. La lecture des MisĂ©rables m'avait fait la mĂȘme impression, peut-ĂȘtre en encore plus pĂ©nible.
đ«„ PĂȘle-mĂȘle, je n'aime pas Hugo, il me laisse indiffĂ©rente sinon lĂ©gĂšrement Ă©nervĂ©e.
đŒïž J'ai bien aimĂ© l'Ă©dition dans laquelle j'ai lu le livre, il s'agit de l'Ă©dition de 2009 Folio Classique et prĂ©facĂ©e par Adrien Goetz. La prĂ©face est un peu intĂ©ressante, et surtout des illustrations contemporaines d'Hugo Ă©taient glissĂ©es ça et lĂ Ă l'intĂ©rieur du livre. Il s'agissait de gravures qui ont ornĂ© les premiĂšres Ă©ditions du livre dans les annĂ©es 1830-1840.
đ J'ai trouvĂ© ça... un peu... chiant Ă lire, en route honnĂȘtetĂ©. Je sais pas si ĂȘtre entourĂ©e de plein de vie autour a rendu une lecture concentrĂ©e et consciencieuse difficile (vacances de NoĂ«l en famille oblige), mais j'ai survolĂ© de nombreux passages. J'ai tenu les 400 premiĂšres pages car je suis partie avec ce seul livre et que j'ai souvent du mal Ă abandonner une lecture. 400 pages dans l'ensemble chiantes Ă lire pour 232 pages Ă la fin plus ou moins ok.
Autre chose qui m'a fait tenir : j'ai aimĂ© avoir la bande-son de la comĂ©die musicale en tĂȘte, je me rends compte Ă quel point cette adaptation est de qualitĂ© et pointue et Ă quel point les paroles sont ciselĂ©es et collĂ©es au texte de Hugo.
J'ai trouvĂ© ça chiant Ă lire, avec beaucoup de scĂšnes d'exposition et finalement trĂšs peu de scĂšnes d'action. Les descriptions sont nombreuses et longues et probablement fournies mais elles ne m'Ă©voquent rien (dâordinaire jâaime les descriptions, indĂ©pendamment de leur longueur), ne construisent aucune image. J'entends juste l'ombre de l'auteur en les lisant. Le poseur qui s'fait plez' mais je suis mĂȘme pas certaine que lui-mĂȘme voyait ce qu'il dĂ©crivait. La lecture des MisĂ©rables m'avait fait la mĂȘme impression, peut-ĂȘtre en encore plus pĂ©nible.
đ«„ PĂȘle-mĂȘle, je n'aime pas Hugo, il me laisse indiffĂ©rente sinon lĂ©gĂšrement Ă©nervĂ©e.
đŒïž J'ai bien aimĂ© l'Ă©dition dans laquelle j'ai lu le livre, il s'agit de l'Ă©dition de 2009 Folio Classique et prĂ©facĂ©e par Adrien Goetz. La prĂ©face est un peu intĂ©ressante, et surtout des illustrations contemporaines d'Hugo Ă©taient glissĂ©es ça et lĂ Ă l'intĂ©rieur du livre. Il s'agissait de gravures qui ont ornĂ© les premiĂšres Ă©ditions du livre dans les annĂ©es 1830-1840.
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Libro infinito ma bella fine
Definitely a 4.5/5
This was the first time Iâve read a classic without it being Portuguese. As every student in the world, Iâve had to read the classics of my own country, mostly for school, but when it comes to read classics from other countries, it can be terrifying because it can either go right or go terribly wrong. I donât particularly think that every classic is overrated but I do believe that a lot of the classic books are not that special or are overrated because it looks âcoolâ to like those books because theyâre considered classics.
I decided to choose âThe Hunchback of Notre-Dameâ as my first try at the classic books for two simple reasons: first, and the most important, I love the animation movie made by Disney and, even though I knew that the book was going to be very different from the movie, I was still super interested and intrigued about how different it would be and, being already familiar with some of the main characters and [part of] the story, I knew there would be a higher chance of me ending up enjoying the book than disliking it; the second reason was because I was always intrigued about Victor Hugoâs work and how this book completely changed History and prevented the Cathedral of Notre-Dame of being demolished.
Now, talking about the book itself. Being a 19th century book, the writing was very complex. Even though I didnât have much difficulty in reading as I initially thought, it is a writing and usage of certain words that I was definitely not used to â which resulted in me Googling every once in a while what a certain word meant. However, it wasnât discouraging at all because, like I said, the writing and certain usage of words mightâve been complex but it still was a easy read for most of the time.
Victor Hugo puts a lot of detail into this book. And I mean, A LOT of detail. Reading this book, you will know exactly how Paris and the surrounding areas looked like during his time (19th century) and the time period of the story (17th century). Victor Hugo also puts a lot of detail in history, architecture, art and philosophy â some chapters are completely dedicated to those areas. It doesnât really slow the book down but it was in those chapters that I found myself putting more effort into understand what he mean than just reading through smoothly â mostly because of the writing style and the usage of a vocabulary that Iâm not used to.
The story follows a lot of characters throughout the book, changing smoothly between them. Some of the chapters are meant to describe the character and to give it more background, sort of to establish some depth to the character. A lot of the information given at the beginning might seem unimportant but soon the reader discovers that the information they considered irrelevant was certainly of most relevance.
Without giving spoilers, it is obvious that the story presented by Victor Hugo is extremely different from the one presented by Disney in its animation movie. However, it is important to say that, while reading the book, I could totally perceive what Disney decided to take from the book and what Disney decided to change from it. Disney definitely made âThe Hunchback of Notre-Dameâ friendlier to children and it gave certain characters completely new personalities; so different from the original that it shocked me how much difference there is between them. Even though some of my favourite characters in the Disney version were definitely not my favourite in Victor Hugoâs work, I adored the way he gave so many flaws to every single character and how you could both feel pity and angry at the same time. Nonetheless, you get grasped into the story told by Victor Hugo and you always want to find out more and more. Itâs definitely not a read in which I advise to read fast, this book is meant to be read without rush, every word meant to be absorbed by the reader.
The way Victor Hugo describes everything â from characters to the events of the book to the streets of Paris â it is beautiful to read. It is definitely a classic worthy of the title and Iâm more than content to have it as the first classic Iâve read.
This was the first time Iâve read a classic without it being Portuguese. As every student in the world, Iâve had to read the classics of my own country, mostly for school, but when it comes to read classics from other countries, it can be terrifying because it can either go right or go terribly wrong. I donât particularly think that every classic is overrated but I do believe that a lot of the classic books are not that special or are overrated because it looks âcoolâ to like those books because theyâre considered classics.
I decided to choose âThe Hunchback of Notre-Dameâ as my first try at the classic books for two simple reasons: first, and the most important, I love the animation movie made by Disney and, even though I knew that the book was going to be very different from the movie, I was still super interested and intrigued about how different it would be and, being already familiar with some of the main characters and [part of] the story, I knew there would be a higher chance of me ending up enjoying the book than disliking it; the second reason was because I was always intrigued about Victor Hugoâs work and how this book completely changed History and prevented the Cathedral of Notre-Dame of being demolished.
Now, talking about the book itself. Being a 19th century book, the writing was very complex. Even though I didnât have much difficulty in reading as I initially thought, it is a writing and usage of certain words that I was definitely not used to â which resulted in me Googling every once in a while what a certain word meant. However, it wasnât discouraging at all because, like I said, the writing and certain usage of words mightâve been complex but it still was a easy read for most of the time.
Victor Hugo puts a lot of detail into this book. And I mean, A LOT of detail. Reading this book, you will know exactly how Paris and the surrounding areas looked like during his time (19th century) and the time period of the story (17th century). Victor Hugo also puts a lot of detail in history, architecture, art and philosophy â some chapters are completely dedicated to those areas. It doesnât really slow the book down but it was in those chapters that I found myself putting more effort into understand what he mean than just reading through smoothly â mostly because of the writing style and the usage of a vocabulary that Iâm not used to.
The story follows a lot of characters throughout the book, changing smoothly between them. Some of the chapters are meant to describe the character and to give it more background, sort of to establish some depth to the character. A lot of the information given at the beginning might seem unimportant but soon the reader discovers that the information they considered irrelevant was certainly of most relevance.
Without giving spoilers, it is obvious that the story presented by Victor Hugo is extremely different from the one presented by Disney in its animation movie. However, it is important to say that, while reading the book, I could totally perceive what Disney decided to take from the book and what Disney decided to change from it. Disney definitely made âThe Hunchback of Notre-Dameâ friendlier to children and it gave certain characters completely new personalities; so different from the original that it shocked me how much difference there is between them. Even though some of my favourite characters in the Disney version were definitely not my favourite in Victor Hugoâs work, I adored the way he gave so many flaws to every single character and how you could both feel pity and angry at the same time. Nonetheless, you get grasped into the story told by Victor Hugo and you always want to find out more and more. Itâs definitely not a read in which I advise to read fast, this book is meant to be read without rush, every word meant to be absorbed by the reader.
The way Victor Hugo describes everything â from characters to the events of the book to the streets of Paris â it is beautiful to read. It is definitely a classic worthy of the title and Iâm more than content to have it as the first classic Iâve read.
Hugo is amazing at writing stories that make me feel really depressed at the end. I knew the basic story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame before I started reading this but really only that everyone dies in the end (like Les Mis).
This book took forever to get started (about 200 pages or 45%) but once it did focus on the plot and the characters it completely took off. I love how Victor Hugo connects all of his characters to each other e.g. Chateaupers to Jehan to Frollo, Frollo to Coictier to King Louis XI, Louis XI to Pierre Gringoire to Esmeralda, Esmeralda to Chantefleurie to Quasimodo, etc. Each character feels deliberate and purposeful, though at the beginning I did wonder what some of their purposes were.
Though Quasimodo is the titular character, Esmeralda is the real main character and we donât see a lot of Quasimodo until the ending chapters when Esmeralda is about to be hanged (the first time) and he saves her by stealing her away to Notre Dame aka sanctuary.
The Sack Woman and Esmeraldaâs relationship was pretty obvious (Esmeralda is the Sack Womanâs daughter who was stolen away by gypsies as a baby), but it was written really well. The emotional impact when they finally realize their connection remains strong and brought tears to my eyes, especially knowing that Louis XIâs soldiers are about to hang Esmeralda in front of her newfound mother.
The last chapters were really depressing: Esmeralda dies and her mother dies trying to prevent her from being hanged. Quasimodo disappears after killing Frollo and watching Esmeraldaâs death from the tower of Notre Dame. After their deaths, Quasimodo has no one left to live for and dies embracing Esmeraldaâs body.
A couple things that I didnât like: that it took 200 pages for the story to get going. This book could totally have been half as long but similar emotional impact. Second, Esmeralda is really stupid. She couldâve avoided her own and her motherâs death if she wasnât stupid and called out to Chateaupers from her hiding spot. She is hopelessly in love with the captain and wonât be convinced that he doesnât actually love her. After Sack Woman learns Esmeralda is her child, she tries to hide her from the guards in her cell. They succeed, but upon hearing Chateaupersâ voice, Esmeralda immediately calls out to him and he doesnât even notice her. By calling out to him she sentences herself to death and itâs just so stupid.
Though there are things I didnât like about this book, the story itself and the emotional impact make it 5 stars for me because I donât cry a lot for books.
This book took forever to get started (about 200 pages or 45%) but once it did focus on the plot and the characters it completely took off. I love how Victor Hugo connects all of his characters to each other e.g. Chateaupers to Jehan to Frollo, Frollo to Coictier to King Louis XI, Louis XI to Pierre Gringoire to Esmeralda, Esmeralda to Chantefleurie to Quasimodo, etc. Each character feels deliberate and purposeful, though at the beginning I did wonder what some of their purposes were.
Though Quasimodo is the titular character, Esmeralda is the real main character and we donât see a lot of Quasimodo until the ending chapters when Esmeralda is about to be hanged (the first time) and he saves her by stealing her away to Notre Dame aka sanctuary.
The Sack Woman and Esmeraldaâs relationship was pretty obvious (Esmeralda is the Sack Womanâs daughter who was stolen away by gypsies as a baby), but it was written really well. The emotional impact when they finally realize their connection remains strong and brought tears to my eyes, especially knowing that Louis XIâs soldiers are about to hang Esmeralda in front of her newfound mother.
The last chapters were really depressing: Esmeralda dies and her mother dies trying to prevent her from being hanged. Quasimodo disappears after killing Frollo and watching Esmeraldaâs death from the tower of Notre Dame. After their deaths, Quasimodo has no one left to live for and dies embracing Esmeraldaâs body.
A couple things that I didnât like: that it took 200 pages for the story to get going. This book could totally have been half as long but similar emotional impact. Second, Esmeralda is really stupid. She couldâve avoided her own and her motherâs death if she wasnât stupid and called out to Chateaupers from her hiding spot. She is hopelessly in love with the captain and wonât be convinced that he doesnât actually love her. After Sack Woman learns Esmeralda is her child, she tries to hide her from the guards in her cell. They succeed, but upon hearing Chateaupersâ voice, Esmeralda immediately calls out to him and he doesnât even notice her. By calling out to him she sentences herself to death and itâs just so stupid.
Though there are things I didnât like about this book, the story itself and the emotional impact make it 5 stars for me because I donât cry a lot for books.
At first, I thought that this book was going to be pretty boring. It started off a little slow, but once it got to Quasimodo, that's when my ears perked up, so I pressed on. Once I finished, I realized something: "Why the heck did they call it 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'?" The story wasn't fully about Quasimodo, but rather about Esmeralda. Still, I loved this book once I got to know it, and I would definitely read it again. Although, I would change its name to something more like: "The Gypsy, The Hunchback, and The Crazy Psycho Priest." But that title is not quite as romantic and fancy, so I think I'll leave it be.