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The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo


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IT IS ASSUMED YOU HAVE READ THIS BOOK BEFORE READING THIS THREAD, THEREFORE SPOILER TAGS MAY NOT HAVE BEEN USED IN ORDER TO FASCILITATE EASIER AND MORE OPEN DISCUSSION



 

This book is available cheaply from Green Metropolis or through Amazon (please use the link at the top right of this web page), or as a free e-book from Project Gutenberg.

 

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The Hunchback of Notre Dam by Victor Hugo:

One of the first great novels of the Romantic era, Victor Hugo

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I found the book a challenging read in places, and an absolute joy in others. There seem to be a lot of long winded descriptions and musing on things that were barely relevant to the story, and didn't really add to the book at all.

 

The worst bit was book 3 - Notre Dame. Yawn. This description of Notre Dame, Paris and architecture droned on for 30 pages, and towards the end comes a sentence that made me laugh, it begins "Now if the enumeration of so many edifices, brief as we have tried to be..." Brief?? I just can't understand why the author felt the need to include these sections. Self indulgence perhaps, and an opportunity to discuss subjects that interested him, without giving much thought to the reader? I felt at times like I was rifling through a haystack that someone had dumped a chest of treasure over, searching for the gems amid the straw.

 

However, I'm glad I persevered, and I did find the second half of the book better than the first. What I loved about the book was the vibrant prose, and wonderful images. I found it to be humorous and light hearted in tone, in spite of the darkness of the story in many places.

 

I loved the initial description of quasimodo: "We shall not try to describe for the reader that tetrahedron nose, that horse-shoe mouth, the right eye which disappeared completely under an enoromous wart; those jagged teeth, with gaps here and there like the battlements of a fortress; ..."

 

I found wonderful imagery like this throughout the book, and I think that was one of the main things that made the book worthwhile for me. If only Victor Hugo had had a decent editor!

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The worst bit was book 3 - Notre Dame. Yawn. This description of Notre Dame, Paris and architecture droned on for 30 pages, and towards the end comes a sentence that made me laugh, it begins "Now if the enumeration of so many edifices, brief as we have tried to be..." Brief?? I just can't understand why the author felt the need to include these sections. Self indulgence perhaps, and an opportunity to discuss subjects that interested him, without giving much thought to the reader? I felt at times like I was rifling through a haystack that someone had dumped a chest of treasure over, searching for the gems amid the straw.

 

This is pretty much the reason I gave up. It took me a while to start getting interested in the book, from only about a chapter in I had decided to give up if it hadn't picked up by page 100. It wasn't long before this that it started to interest me,

around about the time Esmeralda was dancing the first time

. I decided to carry on reading but then book 3 started. Having waited so long for the story to actually properly start it just frustrated me that when I had started to be interested (not even for long enough to say that I was enjoying it) suddenly the story was cut off again for what I can only describe as a rant. Maybe when I have got over the frustration I will try again because when there was actual story I could see potential. For now though it's just annoying me

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I don't think there is anything in book 3 that's absolutely vital for the story. I skipped it (well very very lightly skimmed it). I'd advise anyone who's struggling with it as much as I did to do the same.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I read this book years ago and gave up after a few chapters, I think it was the detailed description of certain places or something that what put me off, hence why I prefered the film version instead of the book!

 

I will root it out and reread it before commenting on it further.

 

Batty

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I think it was the detailed description of certain places or something that what put me off

 

Hmm - a pattern emerging ;) Maybe this is a good candidate for 'books to be read in the abridged form'. I certainly wondered if I'd have preferred the abridged version while I was wading through those descriptions.

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I don't think there is anything in book 3 that's absolutely vital for the story. I skipped it (well very very lightly skimmed it). I'd advise anyone who's struggling with it as much as I did to do the same.

 

I took this advice and I don`t feel that I missed out on anything. It was soon after this part of the book, that I started to really enjoy the story. :censored:

The characters seem to be given more attention than the architecture after book 3, which makes the book much more interesting, in my opinion anyway! Hugo certainly paints a clear picture of the characters, and the atmosphere. I`m glad I managed to persevere with the book, in the first 50 pages or so it would have been easy to give up on it, but now (I still haven`t finished it) the storytelling is really making up for the hard work at the begining.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I finished this book a few days ago and I`m so glad that I persevered with it. It was the first book I`d read by Victor Hugo but I all ready had Les Miserables on my TBR pile. I really struggled with the book at first, the monotonous and (to my mind) pointless ramblings about architecture, were largely to blame. However I plodded on, took FishandChips advice and skipped book 3, then the story really picked up and I started to enjoy the book.

 

I felt sorry for Esmerelda, she was so young and innocent and was treated so badly, but I suppose that`s what happened in those times, when the fear of witchcraft was strong.

I really liked Quasimodo, so thoughtful in his treatment of Esmerelda, who of course had shown him compassion when nobody else did, but I felt for him when she couldn`t bear to look at him even, he was so fond of her, she was probably the first person to show him any real kindness so no wonder he loved her.

 

All in all I enjoyed 3/4 of the book, Hugo`s descriptions really captured the atmosphere of the city and of events.

I`m glad I read it.

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I'm reading it at the min and I do agree it is becomming rather monotonous. A lot of unnecessary rambling which is a bit tiresome, but I will stick at it. I might skip book 3 as suggested when I get to it.

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I'm still reading this and have skipped book 3 but I'm honestly not sure if I'll finish it. It's just not what I expected and it's not grabbing me at all making it a chore to read. I'll carry on along side other books and see if it picks up for me. :)

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  • 5 months later...

This book is a masterpiece as long as you like gothic scenery.

I really like how Hugo writes each chapter in which he develop either the plot (via a character's depictions) or a philosophical point.

I have read 15 years ago. Above all, 2 images are still imprinted in my mind :

- The chapter called "This will kill that" in which The priest Frolo (alias Hugo..) tells his mate that this (the fatal book/apgiornamento) will kill that (architecture/Christianism/). Before the apparition of printing-press, the masses were educated via the cathedral's pcitures. With Gutemberg, a fatal breach will appear.

- I also remember, the very last poignant, macabre and romantic image of Quasimodo getting married...

For those who gave up : you should read the last chapter.

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