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A review by penguinna
Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Tears streamed down my face for a solid hour once I turned the last page. After reading Les Misérables, I naively thought that The Hunchback of Notre-Dame would finish with a happy ending! How mistaken I was…
I bought this book in Paris as a souvenir for myself. I'm a big fan of Hugo's stories, so starting The Hunchback of Notre-Dame right in front of the cathedral felt so special!
What I really enjoy about Hugo's books is how all the characters' stories weave together, like pieces of a puzzle or cogs in a machine. And this one was no different. In this book, we meet:
• Esmeralda, a beautiful 16-year-old Roma street dancer, and her pet goat Djali;
• Claude Frollo, the Archdeacon of Notre-Dame and the main antagonist;
• Pierre Gringoire, a struggling poet;
• Sister Gudule, a recluse haunted by the loss of her child;
• And, of course, Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell-ringer of Notre-Dame.
If you have already read something by Hugo, you know how much he loves to describe everything in detail. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame has even more descriptions than Les Misérables, which is twice as big!
That’s why I had to combine physical reading with an audiobook when there was another 50-page-long chapter about royal matters or the history of architecture since the creation of times (literally). But this is the writer’s style, and even if it feels a little tedious sometimes, it makes you feel the atmosphere of those times and places to its fullest.
Despite long narrations, I absolutely loved this book with my entire heart (which is now broken into pieces, by the way). I could not expect such a devastating ending, and I cried my eyes out after reading the final chapter. This book will definitely stay in my thoughts for a very long time!
More reviews by me on instagram: @penguinna_books
I bought this book in Paris as a souvenir for myself. I'm a big fan of Hugo's stories, so starting The Hunchback of Notre-Dame right in front of the cathedral felt so special!
What I really enjoy about Hugo's books is how all the characters' stories weave together, like pieces of a puzzle or cogs in a machine. And this one was no different. In this book, we meet:
• Esmeralda, a beautiful 16-year-old Roma street dancer, and her pet goat Djali;
• Claude Frollo, the Archdeacon of Notre-Dame and the main antagonist;
• Pierre Gringoire, a struggling poet;
• Sister Gudule, a recluse haunted by the loss of her child;
• And, of course, Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell-ringer of Notre-Dame.
If you have already read something by Hugo, you know how much he loves to describe everything in detail. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame has even more descriptions than Les Misérables, which is twice as big!
That’s why I had to combine physical reading with an audiobook when there was another 50-page-long chapter about royal matters or the history of architecture since the creation of times (literally). But this is the writer’s style, and even if it feels a little tedious sometimes, it makes you feel the atmosphere of those times and places to its fullest.
Despite long narrations, I absolutely loved this book with my entire heart (which is now broken into pieces, by the way). I could not expect such a devastating ending, and I cried my eyes out after reading the final chapter. This book will definitely stay in my thoughts for a very long time!
More reviews by me on instagram: @penguinna_books