Reviews - The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo

1.86k reviews for:

Super depressing tragedy, beautifully written. Except for the ridiculous chapter that is a written map of Paris. Hugo seems to love extraneous history-geek breaks from his compelling, epic, gorgeous narratives. Hence, no 5 stars.

Also. Why in the actual HECK would Disney EVER think this would make a good children's story? It is wretched, tragic, creepy, violent, and deeply disturbing. The only thing appropriate for kids is Djali, the sweet little goat.

Still, it's a classic for a reason. Powerful.

natalia_k44's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

erin8812's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

fr_eddie's review against another edition

3.0

3,75 un classico, una storia interessante, personaggi a tutto tondo, ma troppe descrizioni.

È stato uno dei libri che mi ha richiesto più tempo per essere finito (quasi un mese) sia per l'inizio della scuola, che ha sicuramente scombussolato il mio ritmo, sia per lo stile che Hugo decide di utilizzare per i primi capitoli: un sacco di descrizioni, pagine e pagine piene, senza che la storia avanzasse mi hanno fatto procedere molto più lentamente di quanto sperassi.

Ma, non contando alcune casualità un po' forzate (Phoebus che decide di tornare dalla promessa sposa proprio in quel giorno o il suo incontro con Esmeralda proprio il giorno in cui lui incontra Jehan) la storia mi è sembrata molto interessante, i personaggi ben fatti (soprattutto la mente malata di Frollino) e lo stile è andato a migliorare, diventando più scorrevole e veloce nella seconda metà.

Avrei voluto vedere di più del rapporto Frollo-Quasimodo, cosa più caratteristica del film, e lo stile non mi ha mai fatto davvero emozionare, non ci sono mai stati passaggi in cui piangevo, nonostante le tematiche deprimenti, ma nonostante questo è davvero un bel libro.

Lo consiglierei? Assolutamente, anche se l'inizio può risultare un po' ostico.

(E Gringoire come fai a preferire la capra ad Esmeralda io non ti capirò mai)

osed123's review against another edition

4.75

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

nic_fish's review against another edition

3.75

dark sad tense medium-paced

ethan0lsen's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

While a bit different from the Disney movie that introduced most of us to these characters, Victor Hugo’s tale provides a glance into a morally grey Paris of the late fifteenth century where beautify can be found on every corner and ugliness can lie within any person.

As is the common critique for Hugo, the man loves to ramble and provide additional depth and reality to his story with history lessons on the architecture of the city, backgrounds on characters, or discussions on general morals and thoughts of the time. Personally, I understand how this can lose some readers’ attention or confuse them on the plot, but it creates the feeling that you’ve just sat down with Victor and he’s telling you the story as he recalls it.

I’d recommend this one to those who enjoy a bit of history with their fiction, embrace characters who don’t fall very easily into moral categories, and want to get into classics. If you’re deciding which of Hugo’s greats to start with, I’d pick here before Les Mis - you’ll get a better feel for his style and characters before being tossed into the crowd there.