Victor Hugo, you would have been a great stand-up comedian.

I always go into classics assigned by my professors with caution because they're hit or miss for me. Needless to say, I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this book from the writing style to the characters to the religious themes.

I'll start with the writing style. Hugo somehow manages to write a book that is all at once compelling, funny, ironic, emotional, immersive, bleak, and transcendent. I was fully invested in his writer's voice from the jump, even if I was unsure about what was going on. He perfectly balances deep, emotional themes with comedic relief. It was an emotional roller coaster of a novel. The humor was absolutely necessary to keep the reader from falling into the despair of medieval France—a horrifying and bleak setting that constantly threatens the lives of its inhabitants. Despite the looming darkness of the plot, I was still laughing throughout the whole thing. It's impressive that Hugo was able to do so through his writing. I did, however, find his writing to be excessively descriptive at times (I'm looking at you Book 3, Chapter 2). He has the tendency to repeat himself when it's not necessary and it bogs down the pace. A ~500 page novel could have been maybe 350 instead.

As for the characters, I was particularly interested in Esmeralda and Frollo. Having watched the Disney adaptation, I already knew Frollo would be disgusting, but I wasn't expecting to enjoy his character arc. Here is a man, so devoted to his God and religion, who eventually succumbs to the inherent sin of humanity. His development proves that sin is natural, no matter how drastic or mild. Some just cannot resist the call of, in his case, lust which turns them into obsessive demons. Frollo became obsessed with Esmeralda (a minor, I should mention) as the pinnacle of beauty, divinity, and purity. At first I thought he was attracted to those elements of her and thus wanted to preserve them for his own admiration, leading to the attempted murder of Phoebus. However, as the story progressed, I realized Frollo just wanted her purity for himself. Not only was he lustful, but he was greedy. He wanted the privilege of defiling Esmeralda's purity and the lengths he went to do so demonstrated just how obsessive he was—to the point he replaced his God with her. He even alludes to, at one point, that Esmeralda is above God. Through Frollo, Hugo has perfectly executed a religiously obsessive character who (literally) fell from the heights of divinity into the depths of hellish sin. As much as I hate Frollo as a person, words cannot describe how much I love how his character was written. When I want religious desire and obsession, this is what I mean.

Turning over to Esmeralda, she was also quite well-written. My heart aches for her. A young, innocent, naive girl who doesn't fully realize the danger of men yet repeatedly trusts them and ends up executed for it. She is the pillar of the historical injustice against women. History has failed women and it shows through her. Again and again, men are the ones to blame, yet it is the women who suffer. She is called a "witch" yet Frollo was the one practicing alchemy behind closed doors. I wouldn't go as far as saying this book is feminist because Hugo's own misogyny does show at times, but I would say it's relatively progressive for a male author to write about such detailed injustices against a female character. Even when the reader begins to think someone loves her, like Phoebus, Quasimodo, and Frollo, she's ultimately betrayed. Esmeralda just cannot win. The only time she seems to be truly happy in this book is when she reunites with her mother—a woman. Perhaps Esmeralda's character is meant to speak on the untrustworthy nature of men.

Something else that stuck out to me was the characterization of Notre-Dame itself. This book feels like an ode of love from Hugo to the cathedral. You can tangibly feel Hugo's appreciation for architecture and I absolutely adore it. He sets up Notre-Dame as this immense force to be reckoned with: a physical manifestation of and stand-in for God's immeasurable power. Not only this, but Hugo also describes Notre-Dame as womanly, motherly. The way she (I like to refer to her as a woman) houses and protects Quasimodo, Frollo, and Esmeralda is like that of a mother. And, furthermore, all three characters are missing their mothers for a majority of the book. Notre-Dame stepped in as a necessary motherly figure for characters that experienced trauma at such a young age. I didn't even know this was possible, but Hugo seems to imbue Notre-Dame with a feminist role. Who knew architecture could be feminist? Whether that was his intention or not, I'm thoroughly convinced that this is the case and I'm in love with the idea.

Overall, I docked a star for the slow pace and excessive description. It was too noticeable for it to not affect my rating. Otherwise, this book is an absolute masterpiece. This is art. A truly memorable novel and one I'm so glad I had the chance to read.