What I Just Read

This is one of these novels that must be read, and as you read it, you'll feel sheepish that you haven't already read it. The French are lucky to have this author. I'll talk about the story itself shortly. But what surprises a modern reader most about The Hunchback of Notre Dame is how experimental it is, especially for its time. See for instance how Victor Hugo frequently breaks the fourth wall, or how he plays with the readers' perceptions of who, exactly, are the story's "good" and "bad" characters. The reader doesn't really see Claude Frollo for who he is until nearly halfway through the story, and on some level the story actually has multiple protagonists and antagonists, all sharing various and unusual allegiances to each other. Hunchback  of course has plenty of the usual 19th century novel characteristics, but also enough experimental qualities that I think it's fair to call this a proto-modern novel. What vastly separates this w...