richelleegoodrich's review against another edition
4.0
Victor Hugo once again demonstrates unrivalled mastery over the written word, but the story itself was grievous to experience. Shakespeare has nothing on tragedies in this case. I loved the descriptions, the in-depth details and creative examples that colour both Victor's characters and their emotions in this book. I awed at the author's ability to rend a reader's heart through poetic text. But normally, even in a tragedy, at least one character stands out as piteous—an ill-fated victim entirely deserving of sympathy given his or her altruistic, often heroic nature. These Notre-Dame characters, however, were all hard to pity. Even the hunchback, Quasimodo, who I believe was meant to be the hero in this case, through actions that caused pain and cruelty unbalanced by an attempt to protect Esmerelda, proved upsetting.
I wonder if this wasn't meant to be a cleverly laid out example of self-seeking, base human nature demonstrated from diverse stations and perspectives. Esmerelda, Claude Frollo, his drunkard brother, Quasimodo, Captain Phoebus, Gringoire, the King, and so on—every character, even the minor players, seemed controlled by selfish interests, none truly praiseworthy! It was difficult to read through these intertwining paths and root for no one. Lives tragically found their end in the same manner in which they elapsed, through spiteful and heartless misfortunes. It was a harsh and sad tale but a seriously insightful demonstration of the end results where selfish obsessions are concerned.
I wonder if this wasn't meant to be a cleverly laid out example of self-seeking, base human nature demonstrated from diverse stations and perspectives. Esmerelda, Claude Frollo, his drunkard brother, Quasimodo, Captain Phoebus, Gringoire, the King, and so on—every character, even the minor players, seemed controlled by selfish interests, none truly praiseworthy! It was difficult to read through these intertwining paths and root for no one. Lives tragically found their end in the same manner in which they elapsed, through spiteful and heartless misfortunes. It was a harsh and sad tale but a seriously insightful demonstration of the end results where selfish obsessions are concerned.
lailasemeda's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A classical is a classical and The hunchback of Notre Dame is a story we have grown up to hearing and seeing it in movies so it is something in our veins.
However reading it was a completely different experience; I have to admit that I enjoyed Les Misérables more. As in the Hunchback of Notre Dame the story itself was more tragic and violent than the movies specially the Disney colorful one, also the incidents would have been written in a much shorter book as there was a lot of descriptions for the french society and Paris at that time that could have been written in a separate distinct book.
However reading it was a completely different experience; I have to admit that I enjoyed Les Misérables more. As in the Hunchback of Notre Dame the story itself was more tragic and violent than the movies specially the Disney colorful one, also the incidents would have been written in a much shorter book as there was a lot of descriptions for the french society and Paris at that time that could have been written in a separate distinct book.
hannahwrf's review against another edition
5.0
W: Quasimodo, Esmeralda L: jeder andre
Faszinierend wie disney eine liebesgeschichte draus gemacht hat, eigentliche eine Geschichte welche Gräueltaten Menschen wegen der Liebe begehen, Hinrichtung, fast eine Vergewaltigung, Mord u name it. Dom Claude hat sein Ende verdient war sehr angenehm die Seiten zu lesen.
Faszinierend wie disney eine liebesgeschichte draus gemacht hat, eigentliche eine Geschichte welche Gräueltaten Menschen wegen der Liebe begehen, Hinrichtung, fast eine Vergewaltigung, Mord u name it. Dom Claude hat sein Ende verdient war sehr angenehm die Seiten zu lesen.
sweetgly100's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
emaaaaa's review against another edition
Super boring which makes it hard to stay focused
vavocado's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rhysciar's review against another edition
3.0
Plus a half star, because it wasn't so bad, and Hugo definitely can write, but the first 200 pages was really boring.
saralynnburnett's review against another edition
4.0
One of my favorite things to do back when I taught Lit / English classes was to discuss the real stories of Disney movies and other adaptations of fairy tales. Kids always love getting the truth and The Hunchback of Notre Dame is another great example of an epic book whose darker parts got stripped away by Disney.
I recently read ‘How to read literature like a professor’ and there was a great examination in there on the relationship between physical appearance and morality in lit as in - the witch is ugly, the evil Russian spy will have a scared face etc. Hugo’s novel was mentioned as one of the first to create a physically deformed character with a good heart.
This was a reread for me during a trip to Paris where we stayed right across from Notre Dame so that definitely added a lot... and made the long / dry history of Paris, history if the cathedral, and history of France chapters a little more palatable.
I recently read ‘How to read literature like a professor’ and there was a great examination in there on the relationship between physical appearance and morality in lit as in - the witch is ugly, the evil Russian spy will have a scared face etc. Hugo’s novel was mentioned as one of the first to create a physically deformed character with a good heart.
This was a reread for me during a trip to Paris where we stayed right across from Notre Dame so that definitely added a lot... and made the long / dry history of Paris, history if the cathedral, and history of France chapters a little more palatable.