Notre Dame De Paris (Masterpieces of Foreign Literature Series)

This book is the first large-scale romantic novel by French writer Hugo. It uses bizarre and contrasting techniques to tell a story that took place in France in the 15th century: Claude, the vice-president of Notre Dame de Paris, was sanctimonious and vicious, loved first and then hated, and persecuted the Gypsy girl Esmeralda. The ugly but kind-hearted bell ringer Quasimodo sacrificed his life to save the girl. The novel exposes the hypocrisy of religion, declares the bankruptcy of asceticism, praises the kindness, friendship and self-sacrifice of the lower working people, and reflects Hugo's humanitarian thoughts.