Dumas and Hugo

Victor Hugo-The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Spoiler Alert in this review

I am going through and I am including this in my Halloween posts about the classics but with reluctance. Before I read this book, I assumed that this was was horror, but on the contrary. It is a Gothic novel filled with tragedy and pathos. ^Spoiler alert^  Every screen version, I have ever seen, has a happy ending. Not so! All of the main characters die tragically in the end, and it is a very sad book. Nevertheless, as incredibly difficult as it is to wade through, I loved it.

Try not to get discouraged, the first chapter is a minute description of the Cathedral for pages and pages, but if you are a lover of the classics, you know sometimes you have to slog through the verbosity (is that a word?). The classics are tough, but this one is worth it. The book has stuck with me for years. The concept of "The Court of Miracles", a community of handicapped people (in this case a sham to beg money), I used in The Pride of the King. The imagery of the Gothic architecture complete with gargoyles, the evil depraved priest, the flamboyant gypsy Esmeralda and, of course, dear Quasimodo (who I named my parakeet after) are timeless. Don't miss it.