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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
reflective
sad
tense
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
Really excellent and moving tragedy. I really could have used an entire less volume - I got nothing from the admittedly exquisite but IMO really not relevant at all to the story many, many pages long descriptions of the architecture of Paris.
Leaving all that aside however, the characters and central story are captivating and moving.
Leaving all that aside however, the characters and central story are captivating and moving.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
medium-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
dark
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
slow-paced
Mostly a meandering mess punctuated with some wonderful writing, although I cannot remember anything that truly stayed with me as it didnt command my attention for too long.
The tale of a cathedral and some injustices surrounding it.
A tragic tale, full of dark irony, all coming to a train wreck. What could have caused such a tragedy? One priest with more entitlement than self-awareness (and possibly his brother).
This book feels like one of the books that William Goldman was making fun of in The Princess Bride (the book) when he talks about the narrator's father skipping big sections of the book to get to the "good parts." Hugo writes extensively about the history of architecture, the history of Paris, and the history of the cathedral. This book was written to try to help drive reconstruction of the actual Notre Dame cathedral in the 19th century, with a catchy plot about some of the miniscule, antlike creatures (us, humans) who have drama as they surround it. The relative unimportance of the plots of us fragile humans kind of shows.
I tried to read the sections about buildings, buildings, and more buildings, but ehhhh...I skimmed. The parts about humans and a certain goat were better, if still brutal and heavy-handed on the irony and tragedy. But this is a Hugo novel, so that was about par for the course.
Recommend if you like architecture and tragedy. Don't expect a lot of cute.
A tragic tale, full of dark irony, all coming to a train wreck. What could have caused such a tragedy? One priest with more entitlement than self-awareness (and possibly his brother).
This book feels like one of the books that William Goldman was making fun of in The Princess Bride (the book) when he talks about the narrator's father skipping big sections of the book to get to the "good parts." Hugo writes extensively about the history of architecture, the history of Paris, and the history of the cathedral. This book was written to try to help drive reconstruction of the actual Notre Dame cathedral in the 19th century, with a catchy plot about some of the miniscule, antlike creatures (us, humans) who have drama as they surround it. The relative unimportance of the plots of us fragile humans kind of shows.
I tried to read the sections about buildings, buildings, and more buildings, but ehhhh...I skimmed. The parts about humans and a certain goat were better, if still brutal and heavy-handed on the irony and tragedy. But this is a Hugo novel, so that was about par for the course.
Recommend if you like architecture and tragedy. Don't expect a lot of cute.
In a nutshell, it’s boring. Twenty percent story and eighty percent rambling, irrelevant tangential dialogue. Half way through I was bored to tears. By page 300 I was losing the will to live.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
If you want a happier story, watch the Disney Version. This story was extremely tragic and sad, but also went on and on about the details of Gothic architecture, which is a turn off for reading. Though messy Relationships, Lust, Love, and Religion all play a wonderful role in this book, making the plot more amazing and tragic.