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bookishwendy 's review for:
Notre-Dame de Paris
by Victor Hugo
The Hunckback of Notre Dame, under the original title Notre Dame de Paris (because the plot really centers around the cathedral, not Quasimodo) is like a twisted Romeo & Juliet story sans star-crossed lovers. The *real* protagonist (in my opinion) is Esmerelda, the 16 year old gypsy dancer. She falls in love with the chauvinistic peacock Captain Pheobus who takes advantage of her love, meanwhile courting a rich young noblewoman. Quasimodo the deaf bell-ringer, and Claude Frollo, the fanatical archdeacon of Notre Dame, are the ones who fall for the gypsy. So naturally things get quite chaotic when the gypsy girl is sentenced to death for "murdering" the Captain.
The action is spectacular, especially the siege of Notre Dame, and hopefully I don't give anything away when I say that there's a lot of dying going on...
This book does have its long, slow parts too...such as the beginning. and unless you are an ardent scholar of medieval architecture, go ahead and skim chapters with the titles "Notre Dame" and "A Birds Eye View of Paris".
My favorite parts: Poet Pierre Gringoire's "marriage" to Esmerelda (whom Captain Phoebus calls "similar" because he can never remember her name), and also P.G.'s unhealthy obsession with Djahli the goat.
The action is spectacular, especially the siege of Notre Dame, and hopefully I don't give anything away when I say that there's a lot of dying going on...
This book does have its long, slow parts too...such as the beginning. and unless you are an ardent scholar of medieval architecture, go ahead and skim chapters with the titles "Notre Dame" and "A Birds Eye View of Paris".
My favorite parts: Poet Pierre Gringoire's "marriage" to Esmerelda (whom Captain Phoebus calls "similar" because he can never remember her name), and also P.G.'s unhealthy obsession with Djahli the goat.