chriswoody94 's review for:

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo

4.0

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Jesus H. Christ, this is one of the most depressing things I have ever read. But, it is also a very good, very deep read, once you get past the tangents, tirades, anecdotes, and long monologues about Hugo’s philosophy of architecture, which he discusses ad nauseum. The story follows the beautiful young gypsy Esmarelda, who falls for the drunk, raucous, brash, womanizing uberdouche Phoebus, but is punished for catching the eye of the creepy, brooding, sneering, horny priest Dom Frollo, and is also adored by the “half formed” bell ringer of Notre Dame, Quasimodo, who has a heart of gold and a face not even his mother loved, apparently. All of this leads to a very well-written, but very heavy, tragic romance by Hugo, who knows how to really tug at the heart strings. I hope that those who go to read the original are not even kind of expecting the happy, sing-songy, feel-good version of Hunchback that Disney released – though don’t get me wrong, that is probably one of my favorite Disney movies. This is much more of a Gothic tragedy than a feel good story, but it is definitely worth the work and pains. It’s my fist exposure to Victor Hugo, but most certainly not my last.