This is such a classic that I almost feel guilty that my rating isn't higher. Make no mistake, there are parts of it that deserve a high rating. Alright, one part. The slow, thorough portrait of evil that is Claude Frollo is absolutely masterful. Rarely have I loathed a character so much.

However: the thing is just so damn long. I don't mind length if it's used well, but nearly the entire first half of the book is filler. It's meant to be atmospheric but it's just a painful, tedious bore and it's absolutely irrelevant to the rest of the story. I know that old French writers like to take their time to set a scene - I have struggled my way through ALL of Balzac's Human Comedy so I know what of I speak, and never did I think anyone could be as long-winded as him, but Hugo makes Balzac look like an amateur.

This book would have been improved immeasurably if the word count had been cut in half. And if Esmeralda had a brain in her tiny echoing head. But really, as a character she's just a cipher, an empty feminine shape that exists to wail "Phoebus!" continually and against all reason. Comparing her characterisation to Claude Frollo's is an exercise in utter disappointment. If only the Frollo level of skill had been applied to the rest of the text...