Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful writing, interesting but overrated story
Review: This novel is so well-written that I'm giving it five stars despite the fact that I wasn't greatly impressed with the plot. Hugo's penchant for digressing from the story and thoroughly engaging the reader in various discourses is perhaps the most brilliant aspect of his style. In Notre-Dame the educated layman gets convincing arguments in several subjects: philosophy, religion, science, human temperaments, architecture, justice, and others. On top of all that you get a good deal of humor. Quasimodo's trial before the deaf judge had me rolling on the floor.You may have seen a play or the Disney movie based on this novel. These productions are by necessity abridged down to the bare plot. Unfortunately, the plot is really not what earns this title entry into the annals of the classics. On its own merits, the story is rather absorbing (and tragic) but replete with random coincidences that are often crucial to the progress of the tale but detract from its believability and by extension the likelihood of total immersion. For example, Phoebus's appearance near the end of the chapter "The Little Shoe" is a contrived coincidence. Events like these make the plot itself more suitable for teens than for adults. Thirty-one years later Hugo would use similar plot devices in the otherwise wonderful Les Miserables. There's really not much else to say. Notre-Dame is one of the finest classics ever written. You're surely missing out if you haven't read it!
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