Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

9 reviews

benna_21's review against another edition

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dark funny informative reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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loony_moon's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

     Eu achei o livro, na verdade, bem deprimente e isso não faz com que eu não queira ter lido. Eu acho que me agregou alguma coisa, mas não é das minhas preferências de leitura.
     O Corcunda de Notre-Dame é um livro que realmente deixa a desejar, porque é complicado dizer que os personagens são diversos, porque na verdade eles são muito caricatos, apesar de terem funções e vidas diferentes. E isso forma um grupo, uma dinâmica muito fechada e que não agrada muito a um leitor mais voraz. Por outro lado, o livro é muito bem escrito e ele tem o típico ar que os clássicos trazem, de enxergar algo pelos olhos de outra pessoa que pode te agregar alguma coisa.
     O livro tem uma complicação em dizer também que o livro se trate das falhas do Corcunda de Notre-Dame porque se chama o CORCUNDA de Notre-Dame. Mas, ao mesmo tempo, o Corcunda é o menos problemático ali. E isso não tem qualquer senso de adequação social. E para outros livros, eu diria que isso é um critério para dizer que o personagem não tem habilidades às quais vamos tratar. Mas, nesse livro, acaba sendo o menor de todos os problemas, uma vez que seu mentor é mesquinho e punitivo de "falhas" que não são realmente falhas. A cigana é apresentada o tempo todo com uma alta sexualidade que destrói até o mais nobre dos homens por ser "coisa demoníaca", e o herói é um homem superficial que só está lá para cumprir o papel de salvar o dia.
    Só que são essas falhas que também nos mostram o quão valioso esse livro pode ser, tratado como uma completa alegoria à função da igreja, o papel do homem branco rico na época em que foi escrito o livro assim como eram vistos os outros povos retratados pelos ciganos apartados da sociedade e os homens "pobres e tolos" vistos no corcunda, que eram jogados de um lado para o outro conforme os desejos das grandes massas. Como eu disse antes, não é meu estilo de livro, é justamente por eu ver as qualidades nele eu posso dizer que realmente é um bom livro, já que normalmente eu evito esse tipo de obra.
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spentcello's review against another edition

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dark funny informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Victor Hugo is that uncle that loves to tell all sorts of outrageous stories that are completely over the top and most certainly not particularly factually accurate. It's a lot of fun but it's also very rambly and sometimes hard to follow exactly what the point is - although you're sure that there's a definite attempt to push a certain political agenda.

My main issue with the book was that I didn't like any of the characters and didn't really enjoy reading about them. I liked the overall vibe and some of it was quite amusing, but it was also overdone and most of the puns get lost in translation (endnotes never quite have the same effect...). The darker themes Hugo explores, like power and control over others, punishment and torture, and poverty are all cleverly discussed and for the most part, enjoyable to read. I can see why it's a classic, but just be ready for nastiness and a severe lack of positive outcomes.
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evgeorge's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Dark, traumatic, depressing
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maiahhtratchh's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

I’ve always wondered how this book got turned into a Disney movie and passed all the different layers of people to become produced… and then I read it. There is no way ANY sane person can get through and read this book. It made me feel illiterate. I don’t know what happened. Supposedly a chapter was not in the original publication and was viewed at the time to not add anything to the story… honestly that could be ANY of the chapters. I’ll stick to the Disney movie and musical from now on.
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seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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masha__me's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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sarah_speaks's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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seullywillikers's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I'm not sure how to rate a book like this. It is obviously a classic, and for very good reason. It is funny, dark, sad, and suspenseful. But I find it very hard to enjoy something so filled with racism, sexism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and ableism. Overall, I'm glad to have read it. I'm also fairly amazed at how much the Disney movie kept from the original story-it actually follows the book pretty closely. And, as tragedies are such an important part of human story-telling, this one is true to form.

At times I wasn't sure if the author was denouncing all the above-mentioned isms, or agreeing with them. Maybe both, for different things? I'm not sure. I'll give this a star rating to reflect my enjoyment of the reading, and not so much to reflect that it is a classic. When reading stories like this I try to maintain cultural relativism-it is not my time, my culture, my society, therefore I can't judge it the same way I would my contemporary stories, even as I disagree with so much of the wrongs of that time and place.

Ultimately, I'm glad to have read it.

 
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