The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Anthony writes:

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is definitely a book that you have to keep on reading in order to enjoy.  This book gets better and better as you continue to read it.  The second half of this novel is definitely more interesting than the first half.  After Quasimodo attacks La Esmerelda, he goes to court, and is sentenced to be tortured and whipped.  While Quasimodo is being whipped,  La Esmerelda helps him by giving him some water.  Later on in the book, Claude Frollo is talking to Phoebus de Chateaupers, and La Esmerelda walks in, forcing Claude Frollo to hide.  La Esmerelda tells Phoebus that she loves him, however Phoebus does not love her.  Someone suddenly jumps out and stabs Phoebus repeatedly.  La Esmerelda sees this and passes out.  La Esmerelda is put on trial for murdering Phoebus and also for sorcery.  The judge accuses La Esmerelda of killing Phoebus, and of possessing her goat.  La Esmerelda will not admit to killing Phoebus, but she is tortured, and finally admits to the crime that she didn’t commit in order for the torturing to stop.  While La Esmerelda is in prison, Frollo visits her.  La Esmerelda realizes that it was him that killed Phoebus.  Frollo tells La Esmerelda that he loves her, and he begs her to love him, but she refuses.  Phoebus fully recovers from his wounds, however when La Esmerelda is going to be executed, he doesn’t say anything.  Quasimodo swings down from a tower and rescues La Esmerelda .  One night, Frollo sneaks into La Esmerelda’s room.  La Esmerelda screams and then blows a whistle to call Quasimodo.  Quasimodo comes and begins to choke Frollo, but then stops, realizing it is his master.  Later, the vagabonds come to rescue La Esmerelda, but Quasimodo thinks they are coming to kill her, and he kills the majority of them.  La Esmerelda escapes with Pierre Gringoire, but finds out that he is with Frollo. Frollo gives La Esmerelda to Sister Gudule, to have her executed.  They realize that La Esmerelda is Sister Gudules daughter, and Sister Gudule tries to protect her.  However, La Esmerelda is captured by the Kings men, and is hanged.  I would recommend this book, but only to certain people.  You have to be pretty advanced to read it, and you have to stick with it, because the first few  sections are hard to read.  However, in the end, this is definitely a classic.