You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-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
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
dark
emotional
sad
slow-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
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As with any Hugo novel, if you come to the book expecting it to be like its adaptations, you will be disappointed—the novel is much more interested in depicting a historical place and time than focusing on a particular character or storyline. The biggest surprise for me (who otherwise by and large knew what to expect from Hugo) was how morally ambiguous every character was. It's fascinating to compare with its adaptations and consider what goals and effects various changes had.
Also, there's not a specific content warning label for this but I think it's worth noting that this book contains a repeated accusation of blood libel.
Also, there's not a specific content warning label for this but I think it's worth noting that this book contains a repeated accusation of blood libel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment
Victor Hugo is so French, he’s prepared to tell the reader anything but the story.
He has theories (naturellement), particularly about architecture. He has a theory that man’s first way of telling stories and exploring complex ideas was through designing buildings whereas it is now through the onset of printed works that humanity talks to itself. He also has theories that gothic architecture is the pinnacle of all architecture and there are at least 100 pages of the book talking about it.
There are 28 pages where the view from the top of Notre-Dame is described. Unfortunately, this isn’t a vivid description of those buildings - it’s a list. Having listed buildings for 25 pages, it has the temerity to have a 3 page recap.
As such, for the first 250 pages, the book keeps threatening to be exciting and fails to carry out those threats. At that midway point, it’s unclear who the main characters are or what the main conflict is.
We mostly follow a poet called Gringoire; his play is a flop, he has wandered the streets and splashed with mud, he is nearly hanged by the Truands in the Court of Miracles and he marries Esmerelda but she is fixedly chaste.
Gringoire disappears and we learn about Claude Frollo, his deep love for his baby brother, Jehan and Quasimodo. We also learn a little about Quasimodo, who loves Claude Frollo like a dad and we learn of Captain Phoebus - and that he is a prick.
Finally the book kicks off (with only mild digression for King Louis XI to complain about his finances for 10 pages) with a raid on Notre-Dame cathedral. The truands seek to free Esmeralda, Quasimodo thinks they want to kill her so defends the building, and Frollo sneaks her out for his own purposes. However, this part is rushed - indeed, where great time is given to describing the exact dimensions of buildings, the big dramatic revenge moment was tossed off in a few paragraphs.
I did very much enjoy this story (when a story was to be had), the characters managed to be both mythic and detailed, and they were all fascinating and obsessed.
I might not have minded the digression had the writing been any good but my copy (the Wordsworth edition) is an ugly, clunky, hideous translation - with frequent spelling mistakes and confused and inconsistent translations for things.
He has theories (naturellement), particularly about architecture. He has a theory that man’s first way of telling stories and exploring complex ideas was through designing buildings whereas it is now through the onset of printed works that humanity talks to itself. He also has theories that gothic architecture is the pinnacle of all architecture and there are at least 100 pages of the book talking about it.
There are 28 pages where the view from the top of Notre-Dame is described. Unfortunately, this isn’t a vivid description of those buildings - it’s a list. Having listed buildings for 25 pages, it has the temerity to have a 3 page recap.
As such, for the first 250 pages, the book keeps threatening to be exciting and fails to carry out those threats. At that midway point, it’s unclear who the main characters are or what the main conflict is.
We mostly follow a poet called Gringoire; his play is a flop, he has wandered the streets and splashed with mud, he is nearly hanged by the Truands in the Court of Miracles and he marries Esmerelda but she is fixedly chaste.
Gringoire disappears and we learn about Claude Frollo, his deep love for his baby brother, Jehan and Quasimodo. We also learn a little about Quasimodo, who loves Claude Frollo like a dad and we learn of Captain Phoebus - and that he is a prick.
Finally the book kicks off (with only mild digression for King Louis XI to complain about his finances for 10 pages) with a raid on Notre-Dame cathedral. The truands seek to free Esmeralda, Quasimodo thinks they want to kill her so defends the building, and Frollo sneaks her out for his own purposes. However, this part is rushed - indeed, where great time is given to describing the exact dimensions of buildings, the big dramatic revenge moment was tossed off in a few paragraphs.
I did very much enjoy this story (when a story was to be had), the characters managed to be both mythic and detailed, and they were all fascinating and obsessed.
I might not have minded the digression had the writing been any good but my copy (the Wordsworth edition) is an ugly, clunky, hideous translation - with frequent spelling mistakes and confused and inconsistent translations for things.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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