Victor Hugo’s ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ is a worthy classic

Oftentimes, literary classics have earned their posterity for purely academic reasons. They are admirable works of art, using clever turns of phrases and vivid characters to convey convoluted plots and cathartic lessons. What sometimes is missing from these venerable tomes is a sense of enjoyment. Classics are too often thought of as the vegetables of the book publishing world: They’re good for you, but don’t we all love the sweets and saltiness of James Patterson and Stephen King?

Victor Hugo, perhaps France’s most famous novelist, bridges the gap between academia and accessibility. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, second in his catalog only to Les Miserables, is a stirring tale of religion, society, personality and fervor. It not only spins the infamous tale of Esmeralda and Quasimodo, but it also captures the craziness of 15th-century Paris, when accusations flew and public spectacles were the rule of the day (note: the novel’s plot takes place a couple centuries before the French Revolution, so there are no guillotines).

What the cinematic adaptations over the years have failed to convey is that The Hunchback of Notre Dame is as much about religion as it is about society. It’s not only a story depicting the sorrowfulness of Quasimodo, the deaf and deformed bell ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral. It also goes into quite a few details over Claude Frollo, archdeacon of the church. The very idea of “Sanctuary!” is not merely a plot device. It’s meant to serve as a simultaneous indictment over the corruption of the church officials and a plea for purity.

Esmeralda, the gypsy woman who enraptures the hearts of Quasimodo, Frollo and Captain Phoebus, is given a complex back story, which sheds light on her wayward upbringing. In fact, the anonymity of her earlier years proves to be one of the central side stories of the novel.

Also, the underground world of Paris, centralized on the Court of Miracles and Clopin Trouillefou, is brought to vivid life. Poets and street performers are given their time in the spotlight, and in Hugo’s hands they come off as tortured artists, men and women stricken to the vagabond life.

After reading the novel, one realizes that Hugo attains a mastery for description. The characters are detailed from their wrinkled faces to their colorful shoes, and the streets of the French capital are described as if the reader were a member of the crowd. It’s easy to picture what the author has in mind.

Hugo also never lets the plot, which is far denser than the movie versions, get out of hand. He keeps the events largely chronological and never goes off on too many tangents.

The characterizations are all finely crafted, and they never fit into easily understandable archetypes. Yes, Frollo is evil, but he also has the capacity for love. Yes, Quasimodo is a victim, but he is also horrifying, not only in his looks, but also in many of his actions. Esmeralda is the only character given a a full portrait of benignity, and yet even she is put into situations that tests her likability. Hugo’s world is a bleak one, a universe where reality oozes. These are real people at the mercy of their whims, giving in to temptation and the pulls of their hearts.

Reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame, some 130 years after its first publication, the pages still pulsate with an incredible energy. Hugo has spun a tale that still goes unmatched for its sheer descriptive scale and characteristic verve.

John Soltes / Publisher

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame

• By Victor Hugo

• Signet, 528 pages

• Retail price: $5.95

• Bubble score: 4 out of 4

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