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A review by ethan0lsen
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
While a bit different from the Disney movie that introduced most of us to these characters, Victor Hugo’s tale provides a glance into a morally grey Paris of the late fifteenth century where beautify can be found on every corner and ugliness can lie within any person.
As is the common critique for Hugo, the man loves to ramble and provide additional depth and reality to his story with history lessons on the architecture of the city, backgrounds on characters, or discussions on general morals and thoughts of the time. Personally, I understand how this can lose some readers’ attention or confuse them on the plot, but it creates the feeling that you’ve just sat down with Victor and he’s telling you the story as he recalls it.
I’d recommend this one to those who enjoy a bit of history with their fiction, embrace characters who don’t fall very easily into moral categories, and want to get into classics. If you’re deciding which of Hugo’s greats to start with, I’d pick here before Les Mis - you’ll get a better feel for his style and characters before being tossed into the crowd there.
As is the common critique for Hugo, the man loves to ramble and provide additional depth and reality to his story with history lessons on the architecture of the city, backgrounds on characters, or discussions on general morals and thoughts of the time. Personally, I understand how this can lose some readers’ attention or confuse them on the plot, but it creates the feeling that you’ve just sat down with Victor and he’s telling you the story as he recalls it.
I’d recommend this one to those who enjoy a bit of history with their fiction, embrace characters who don’t fall very easily into moral categories, and want to get into classics. If you’re deciding which of Hugo’s greats to start with, I’d pick here before Les Mis - you’ll get a better feel for his style and characters before being tossed into the crowd there.