The Hunchback of Notre-Dame in Never too Late to Read Classics

Jan 16, 2013 Chrissie rated it it was ok

Shelves: hf, classics, returned, audible-us, france, 2018-read, magic, love, humor

I want to state clearly that the book is not bad. I gave it two stars, and by that I mean it is OK! First of all, there are some really gorgeous lines. Secondly, Hugo has the ability to put you in the middle of an event; you are right there and it is whirling around you. Thirdly, he has a talent for weaving non-fictional facts into a fictional story.

Sometimes the writing feels wordy. Other times, Hugo expresses himself superbly, beautifully, elegantly.

The fictional elements are what give me the ...more

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Mar 03, 2008 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: french-literature, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, book-and-movie

Le roman se compose de 59 chapitres répartis en onze livres de longueur inégale.

L'intrigue se déroule à Paris en 1482. Les deux premiers livres (I et II) du roman suivent Pierre Gringoire, poète sans le sou.

Le livre III évoque Notre-Dame de Paris, son histoire et ses restaurations mal pensées, puis donne une vision d'ensemble de la ville de Paris telle qu'elle apparaissait à un spectateur médiéval regardant la capitale du haut des tours de la cathédrale. ...more

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May 06, 2008 Brianna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, constantly-reading-at-some-time-or, historical-fiction, plantagenets, late-medieval, house-of-york, 2022-reading-challenge, medieval, classics

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was my second time reading through Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris. The first time was nearly ten years ago.

Although, in many ways, it was just as wonderful as I remember, something felt "lacking" this time around. I may end up having to leave this post in Draft-limbo for a time, and every so often add to it when I figure out how to articulate an idea. For now, I'm still reeling - whether you enjoy it or not, Notre-Dame is an exhausting book. Funny enough, I find it more exhausting than L ...more

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Mar 31, 2020 Brenda rated it it was ok

Shelves: classics, french

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I’ve finished, is what I am finally glad for. It is a beast of a book that took me nearly a year as I kept putting it down. I don’t think I have a great translation which added to the misery.
Parts of the story I really liked, parts I loathed. It is a dark story for the most part to me, some of the most repulsive parts of people and to the nth degree. Most of the characters were genuinely unlikeable. The only one I rooted for was Quasimodo who is not in the book much. Even the cathedral, which I ...more

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Jul 23, 2014 Tom Britz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Great story and the writing is wonderful...for the time. The book's fault is in its over-descriptiveness. Book Three could have been tossed in my opinion. Fifty pages of description, on how Paris looked then. It dragged and dragged. ...more

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