Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo (August 25 - October 5, 2004)
Set in 1482 in Paris, Hugo entwines the tales of Gringore, Quasimodo, Frollo, La Esmerelda, and Phoebus. The high-paced plots centers around the Notre Dame cathedral, and the thorough descriptions of architecture and importance of the building lead many to consider the cathedral a central character in the story.
Though I’d seen movie versions before reading this, parts of the story still surprised me. Quasimodo was not nearly as sympathetic as he was later portrayed on film, and the novel’s conclusion was altered for moviegoers to have a happy ending. The novel, in contrast, is much more poignant, with every character making profound mistakes in judgment. Every character was unlikable: Frollo was creepy, La Esmerelda was loving, but dumb, and Quasimodo was violent. Though there was no character I really liked, I still wanted to know what happened to everyone.
The story is filled with overarching themes of social, political, religious drama, and history, told through the personal stories of the main characters. At times, it seemed Hugo was mocking his own characters and their decisions, which gave me a laugh. There are some really great plot twists, some of which I could predict easily, but some still surprised me. Some of my favorite scenes included the deaf judge misunderstanding the deaf Quasimodo, Quasimodo taking Esmerelda to Norte-Dame for sanctuary, Esmerelda discovering Phoebus was alive, and learning the story of the recluse and why the recluse hates the gypsies. The masterful plot construction led to a very memorable and dramatic conclusion that was completely worth the build up.
