Klokkeren fra Notre Dame (1831)

Really enjoyed the non-narrative quirky parts. The story was lovely too and everyone gets what they deserve in the end. Except for the goat, the goat did nothing wrong. ( )

A Classic Romance

On my themed reading list, The Hunchback of Notre Dame should have been in another category (e.g. A Book More Than One Hundred Years Old) because this is not a romance novel. At some point in a romance both parties in said romance have to love each other. Not only is this requirement is never fulfilled, it was destined to fail due to the limitations of the novel's protagonists.

The main characters of The Hunchback of Notre Dame are each flawed - either naive about love (Esmeralda), incapable of being loved (Quasimodo), incapable of love (Phoebus) or forbidden to love (Frollo). Each person in this quadrangle loves someone else within it who does not return their love. Three will pay the ultimate price for their attachment (four if you agree with Hugo's humorous view of Phoebus's fate). Although their destinies are evident at the outset of each romance, what makes the novel worth reading is the accumulated tragedy that results from Hugo's interweaving of each character's individual tale.

Like Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame suffers from Hugo's verbosity, which is particularly noticeable at climactic moments. At these times a character hesitates to act or launches into an extended (and unrealistically lengthy) dialogue. Hugo might have thought this generated suspense; for me, it had the opposite effect. The novel is also a good candidate for abridgement. There are several chapters, such as both chapters of Book III and the additions to the 8th edition, which are devoid of plot and can be skipped without any impairment in understanding or enjoying the novel. The introduction to my edition discusses Hugo's efforts to control the profits from his novel, and these chapters are evidence that the narrative suffered for his efforts.

Despite these complaints, I enjoyed the novel - it just needs to be read with an understanding that it was written in a time that it didn't compete with myriad entertainment alternatives and an acceptance of the deleterious effects of that environment. ( )

This is a fascinating Gothic take on power, corruption, and xenophobia. Once you make it through the first 60 pages, you really settle into the bones of the story. It's only fair to warn you that this is basically to the Disney movie what the Little Mermaid fairytale is to its Disney counterpart. ( )

L'amore nella sua complessità. L'amore nella sua essenza multiforme e sfaccettata. L'amore che travolge, che porta una sofferenza disperata alla quale, comunque, non si sa e non si vuole rinunciare. Qual è l'amore per eccellenza? Quello di Quasimodo per Esmeralda: Dolce, ingenuo quanto quello di un bimbo, generoso, puro e senza malizia, disperato, ma disposto a non dissolversi sia pur a fronte di una condizione e di circostanze che non potrebbero condurlo oltre la contemplazione? Quello di Frollo per Esmeralda: Passionale, totalizzante, brutale nella sua concupiscenza e nella sua smania si possesso, ossessionante al punto da suscitar il desiderio di distruggere quanto si ama per illudersi di poterne vantare il possesso in forma esclusiva? Quello ingenuo e sentimentale di Esmeralda per Febo, così simile a quello che Quasimodo prova per lei e incapace di distinguere l'inganno al quale il suo cuore cede? Quello di Febo per Esmeralda: Freddo, inesistente, teso unicamente al proprio piacere, privo di qualsivoglia spiritualità? Quello che vede diversi personaggi innamorarsi di persone che non li desiderano o, come Febo, esser desiderati da chi non amano? L'amore è una fatalità ineludibile alla quale siamo tutti soggetti? Hugo ci lascia con più di un quesito e sceglie di farlo calando tutto questo in una storia veramente immortale, che a ogni rilettura sembra risolvere un dilemma per generarne altri. Ma non è questa, del resto, la magia insita nei capolavori? ( )

AG-3