The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

Victor Hugo · 1802–1885 · France

Originally Notre-Dame de Paris (French)

Why it matters

Hugo's Gothic pageant of medieval Paris, written partly to save the crumbling cathedral itself, and it worked. The novel as preservation campaign, and the origin of one of literature's most enduring outcasts.

At a glance

Dense architectural and historical digression surrounds a comparatively simple plot.