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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
certainly a book. if you’re looking for lots of references that assume you know your Rembrandts or extremely detailed description of Parisian geography and city planning in the 1400s then look no further I guess. bit gobsmacked that they all just die at the end. was fuming when they almost sacrificed the goat and not in a good ‘I’m invested in this book’ way, just in a ‘thats fucked up’ way. required reading once you’re hit that 2 year french duolingo streak though ig. musical is better.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Here's a classic I've owned for years and never gotten around to reading. And unlike most people I talked to, I never saw the Disney version of this, so I really didn't know what to expect. I only knew of the existence of who I thought were the two main characters: Quasimodo, the deformed and "ugly" hunchback bell ringer, and Esmeralda, the beautiful girl -- who I assumed he loved, and she didn't love him back at first until she gets to know his inner beauty, and then they end up together in the end because that's how Disney movies work. Beauty and the Beast, you know.
Of course, the book is nothing like this. While Quasimodo is important, I almost think his guardian, Claude Frollo, is more of the main character.
Overall - I actually liked the plot of the story and can see why it became a classic novel. However, I'd say the plot and moving forward with it made up only about a third of the book, if that. I was very frustrated when I was more than halfway through a ~460 page book and felt like I was still reading the introduction, meeting the characters, not much had moved forward yet. Not to mention the two longest chapters by that point had no plot at all, but were (to me at least) exceedingly boring descriptions of the history and layout of Paris, and the history and architecture of Notre-Dame respectively. I'll admit to having skimmed much of those chapters. But in the second half of the book, the plot moves a lot more, although still very, very slowly by modern standards.
I give it 3* - but probably had I been a reader in the 1800s I'd give it a full 5. But as a modern reader, while it was interesting, it just didn't keep me coming back for more.
Of course, the book is nothing like this. While Quasimodo is important, I almost think his guardian, Claude Frollo, is more of the main character.
Overall - I actually liked the plot of the story and can see why it became a classic novel. However, I'd say the plot and moving forward with it made up only about a third of the book, if that. I was very frustrated when I was more than halfway through a ~460 page book and felt like I was still reading the introduction, meeting the characters, not much had moved forward yet. Not to mention the two longest chapters by that point had no plot at all, but were (to me at least) exceedingly boring descriptions of the history and layout of Paris, and the history and architecture of Notre-Dame respectively. I'll admit to having skimmed much of those chapters. But in the second half of the book, the plot moves a lot more, although still very, very slowly by modern standards.
I give it 3* - but probably had I been a reader in the 1800s I'd give it a full 5. But as a modern reader, while it was interesting, it just didn't keep me coming back for more.
The ending was completely ridiculous, but the rest of it was wonderful
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I remember my dad reading me this book when I was very young and I remembered the characters, but not the plot. On a second read it seems that the reason for that is that there was minimal plot, and very little intentional movement. However, the writing was nonetheless completely engaging and the translation used linguistic choices that helped the story along.