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cdrini 's review for:
Notre-Dame de Paris
by Victor Hugo
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overall: beautiful story. I loved the pacing, excitement, and themes of the main story, the depth of most of the characters, and the historical context in which the story was created, which was in and of itself an interesting story. Some sections dragged, but I personally found that didn't take away from the overall worthwhile-ness of this read!
## On Story
The main story was extremely well written. Pacing was phenomenal, and so was the intricate web of the story and plot points. It was gripping to read, and when the action was in full swing it was an absolute page-turner. It was every genre. At times emotional, tragic, funny, romantic, hopeful, horrible, exciting. Incredibly romantic and pathos-filled. Although perhaps at times a touch melodramatic to the point of near absurdity.The conclusion to the main story was incredibly dramatic and romantic. Esmerelda's story with her mother, their reunion, and then her immediate death. Followed by the swift death of every one of the main characters of the novel! Definitely a tragic ending, but perhaps a little too tragic to the point of near absurdity!
The weakest part was the beginning, which dragged heavily without actually really starting the main story or introducing any characters which would be worth remembering. The historical essays on Medieval architecture also interfered with the story, but there weren't many of those. And in the context of the purpose of the work, they make sense.
The core themes seemed to be:
- Unrequited love:It seems like everyone here is in love with someone who doesn't love them back. Mainly everyone is in love with Esmerelda, but also Esmerelda being in love with Phoebus.
- The power of first love:Primarily with Frollo and Esmerelda we see the absolute blind power of first love. In Esmerelda we see a reasonable version of a young girl experiencing her first love, but even then it transitions into an insane infatuation. Wherein she's ready to throw away her core principles, and, in the absolutely mind-numbingly frustrating scene where she calls out his name when she's hiding in her mother's cell, her very life!! With Frollo, we see a more desperate representation of a man who basically never believed in love for the 36 years of his existence being confronted with having to throw away his oath to the church and, in considering so, throwing away all his morals in tow. Frollo becomes an absolute madman in his pursuit for Esmerelda. All the while riddled with a blind self-pity that keeps him from even remotely understanding her struggle and suffering, often the direct result of his own actions. With both of these characters, their infatuation effectively costs them their lives.
- Appearance vs reality:"There's a fellow whose soul is made like the other one's body!" (speaking of Frollo and Quasimodo). This is a core theme of a story like Quasimodo's. Wherein Frollo and Quasimodo are contrasted as one who is disfigured internally, and the other externally. Or with Esmerelda and Phoebus: " 'tis Phoebus whom I love, that 'tis Phoebus who is handsome ! you are old, priest ! you are ugly ! Begone !" Or the entire chapter of the "Earthenware and crystal vase", wherein Quasimodo tries to show Esmerelda that Phoebus, despite being beautiful, is flawed and cracked and would not be able to support her as he could. This recurring theme of effectively "beauty can be skin deep", and "sometimes beauty does not exist at the surface", also tie back into Hugo's core purpose, of trying to communicate the cathedral's beauty to an indifferent populace.
## On Characters
I love the way Hugo builds his characters. He took a break from the plot for a whole book to slowly let us "get to know" Quasimodo and Frollo. And then he chose a few choice moments in their lives, in their interactions with others, and in their upbringing, to paint you this really amazing well rounded picture of not just who they are now, but kind of how they got there and why they became that way. It creates so much sympathy, because you can no longer see them as e.g. "evil", but you have this extra colouring of the things they've suffered and why they felt the way they did and a sort of "I get it" for their actions. He did the same throughout Les Mis, and it's terrific!
That said, Esmerelda wasn't quite as well developed, and felt like more of a literary tool than a proper character, perhaps? Although she definitely had a backstory, she never got a "getting to know you" chapter like Quasimodo and Frollo.
## On Context
It's mind-blowing to me that the entire purpose of this story's existence was to help save the Notre-dame cathedral in Paris from demolition/further mutilation. It's almost ridiculous to think that when confronted with a problem like "they are considering destroying this cathedral which I think is beautiful", a solution as absurd as "I will write a 600 page epic story to save it!" would actually work! But it did! And it shows how you can transform an object into a beautiful one through story. Sometimes it takes someone who sees beauty in something to communicate that beauty before it can be seen as beautiful by others. It appears that that is what Hugo did in the 1830s with his publication of this novel.
## Conclusion
Overall, whether you're reading this as a gripping, romantic story; as a character novel; or as a historical piece embedded in a historical context, I believe this novel was a fantastic, thought-provoking read which provided me a lot of value through the reading of it.
## On Story
The main story was extremely well written. Pacing was phenomenal, and so was the intricate web of the story and plot points. It was gripping to read, and when the action was in full swing it was an absolute page-turner. It was every genre. At times emotional, tragic, funny, romantic, hopeful, horrible, exciting. Incredibly romantic and pathos-filled. Although perhaps at times a touch melodramatic to the point of near absurdity.
The weakest part was the beginning, which dragged heavily without actually really starting the main story or introducing any characters which would be worth remembering. The historical essays on Medieval architecture also interfered with the story, but there weren't many of those. And in the context of the purpose of the work, they make sense.
The core themes seemed to be:
- Unrequited love:
- The power of first love:
- Appearance vs reality:
## On Characters
I love the way Hugo builds his characters. He took a break from the plot for a whole book to slowly let us "get to know" Quasimodo and Frollo. And then he chose a few choice moments in their lives, in their interactions with others, and in their upbringing, to paint you this really amazing well rounded picture of not just who they are now, but kind of how they got there and why they became that way. It creates so much sympathy, because you can no longer see them as e.g. "evil", but you have this extra colouring of the things they've suffered and why they felt the way they did and a sort of "I get it" for their actions. He did the same throughout Les Mis, and it's terrific!
That said, Esmerelda wasn't quite as well developed, and felt like more of a literary tool than a proper character, perhaps? Although she definitely had a backstory, she never got a "getting to know you" chapter like Quasimodo and Frollo.
## On Context
It's mind-blowing to me that the entire purpose of this story's existence was to help save the Notre-dame cathedral in Paris from demolition/further mutilation. It's almost ridiculous to think that when confronted with a problem like "they are considering destroying this cathedral which I think is beautiful", a solution as absurd as "I will write a 600 page epic story to save it!" would actually work! But it did! And it shows how you can transform an object into a beautiful one through story. Sometimes it takes someone who sees beauty in something to communicate that beauty before it can be seen as beautiful by others. It appears that that is what Hugo did in the 1830s with his publication of this novel.
## Conclusion
Overall, whether you're reading this as a gripping, romantic story; as a character novel; or as a historical piece embedded in a historical context, I believe this novel was a fantastic, thought-provoking read which provided me a lot of value through the reading of it.