Spoiler below:

Esmeralda is a stupid teenager.
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thechapterhouse's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 0%

Listened to this for several hours (4ish?)--it is Simon Vance, after all, and I'll do a lot to listen to Simon!--and finally hit the DNF button; I was just so bored.
adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

"Todos los ojos se habían levantado hasta la cima de la iglesia. Lo que vieron fue extraordinario. En la parte superior de la galería más alta, más alta que la roseta central, había una gran llama que se elevaba entre los dos campanarios con remolinos de chispas, una gran llama desordenada y furiosa cuyo viento a veces llevaba una solapa en el humo".

En 1831, Víctor Hugo reinventó la Edad Media y erigió un monumento literario tan perdurable como la piedra que lo inspiró. Nuestra señora de Paris o El jorobado de Notre-Dame de Paris, como comúnmente la conocemos es el producto de una inspiración de un vocablo que el autor vio en una resquebrajada en la catedral, donde entre sus paredes estaba grabado la palabra ANÁΓKH, que deriva del griego y significa «fatalidad».
Dejando a un lado lo que empujo a Hugo a escribir este texto, muchos se han dado a la tarea de criticar al texto por su mala construcción, obviando estos críticos que es un escritor en potencia, la cual explota y alcanza la plenitud de su estilo con Los Miserables, publicado en 1862. Pero aun más, verlo en su momento por la mezcla de varios géneros literarios dentro de la obra. Ante los dos polos críticos que se han dando en el análisis del texto tenemos, por un lado están los que propagan la dualidad estructural de la obra, y la describen como un novela, pero por otra lado están los que la ven como una nueva epopeya.
Notre-Dame de Paris cuenta la historia de la gitana Esmeralda, quien en compañía de su cabra Djalí toca la pandereta y baila en las calles de París para subsistir hasta que es acusada del asesinato de Phoebus, su amado, y condenada a la horca. Sin embargo, dentro del texto hay otros personajes, que es quizá el que mayormente se conoce por todas las publicidades que se ha hecho de él, es el jorobado Quasimodo, campanero de Notre Dame, que tras su deformidad, siempre oculto a las miradas y burlas de los ciudadanos, esconde un corazón sensible y sediento de amor, lucha a toda costa para salvar a la gitana.

Es un excelente texto en el cual Víctor Hugo hizo de la catedral su personaje principal, así como lo hizo con Quasimodo, Esmeralda y Frollo. Que sin lugar a duda uno de los objetivos del novelista era rehabilitar un monumento que había caído en decadencia escribiendo panfletos en pro de arquitectura gótica mas resistente en la capital francesa. Un texto que disparó las ventas en Amazon al producirse el terrible incendio la tarde del 15 de abril de 2019 que destruyó parcialmente la catedral.

Tengo muchas imágenes de lo narrado y de las muchas descripciones que en el hay, y una de esta es cuando en la cúspide de la catedral nos comienza a describir el Paris arcaico, todo lo que queda de un lado a otro, con largas contemplaciones sobre la construcción social de la Edad Media. Las contemplaciones creativas y filosóficas. Vayan al libro, y dejen aun lado a Disney.
challenging dark slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Oh my golly gosh, what an absolute chore of a book to read!! It's really written for it's time, so many references to things not relevant now, and the constant talk about Gothic architecture was so unbelievably boring. 

I had to skip large sections, even whole chapters (which were so inconsistent! Some chapters were super short while others were insanely long) because it was legit just talking about architecture or religion or philosophy...but mainly architecture and Paris in the 1400s. 

I get that the book was written by the author to actually save Notre Dame which was in danger of being demolished, and he was extremely successful in saving Notre Dame, but my god, what a bore of a book. The plot only really got going by book eight, which is insanely late. (Total 11 books in the novel). 

I honestly would just rather watch the Disney film, it's the same kinda thing but obviously with some wise changes. What's frustrating is that when Hugo wants to, he can write really darn well. There were some passaged that were really lovely in the book, but they were so few and far between. 

Disappointed with the book but still glad I read it in a way. But NEVER again. 
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
dark emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The review that simply said “I am sad.” perfectly sums up of my feels directly after ending this book. Omg. I read the e-book version, and enjoyed most of it but was absolutely enthralled the last half of this lengthy book. It helps knowing it was originally written as an effort to bring love and attention to the Notre Dame cathedral, and the action and characters were the side pieces of this book. There is about 100 (?) pages straight just waxing poetic about the architecture and history of Paris and I will fully admit my mind drifted as a skimmed through the pages. 
 
The book really picks up when Esmeralda catches everyone’s eye, to her great misfortune. There are no likable characters in the book, except for Djali the little goat of course so sweet, and yet it was not hard to want to follow along their entertaining plots and storylines. I was frequently shocked, and there was 20 straight minutes at one point that my mouth was fully gaped open as I read. I loved Les Miserables, and while this writing is not as refined and mature (he was in his 20’s when this book was published!), the writing is still wonderful. 
 
This book published in 1831, was written as a historical fiction of the 1600s. Really enjoyed the author’s imagination of what was happening at that time in the city he loves so much. The archdeacon succeeded in enraging me more than any other villain I can remember in a while. Such trash, and all the more enraging because even now, hundreds of years later, I’ve seen it happen in today’s society. 

This is more of a love story to Paris and Notre Dame than it is about Quasimodo and Esmeralda. It's so descriptive of the city and church that it's like I am there again. The story that deals with Quasimodo is good, and it had a perfect yet tragic end. There was a point when I said "Really?" but thankfully it wasn't a total cheese fest at the end.

I much prefer Les Miserables to this book by Victor Hugo.
adventurous challenging slow-paced