The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

I read The Hunchback of Notre-Dame written by Victor Hugo. It is a French novel and I've read his book titled Les Miserables in Japanese before. I've been interested in French and French novel but I didn't know these novels are written by same writer. I've watched a movie of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame made by Disney company before.

It has 5 chapters: A Day of Surprises, Broken Hearts and Broken Lives, Evil Thoughts and Evil Actions, One Honest Heart, and Together in Death.

The main characters are Father Claude Frollo who is a priest, Quasimodo who is a hunchback bellringer, and Esmeralda who is a gypsy girl. Notre-Dame is like their prison or sanctuary. They all have problems in their minds.

There is good and evil, love and hate, life and death. Some people are kind and others are bad, but they are all real. We understand their actions. We want to find out how their storeis will end.

It is not happy-ending story. The last is too sad but I could feel something from this story. For example, about love and hate. There is a witch named Sachette who is Esmeralda's real mother. She hated gypsy for a long time because the gypsy robbed her baby, so she couldn't recognize that Esmeralda is her daughter just before she died. It was too sad but I understand Sachette's mind. I thought that love is the reverse of hate, and also good is evil's and life is death's reverse.

This novel is too long but I recommend it. I hope you to find some meanings from this sad story. If you have a lot of free time, please read it once!!

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Penguin level 3, 0582 81986-5
Points: 3.4
Reminings: 5.6

(294 words)