Published: December 30th, 1987 (first published 1910)
Published by: Harper Perennial
Pages: 360
Genre: Classics, Horror, Gothic, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Literature, Fantasy
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Goodreads synopsis:
First published in French as a serial in 1909, "The Phantom of the Opera" is a riveting story that revolves around the young, Swedish Christine Daaé. Her father, a famous musician, dies, and she is raised in the Paris Opera House with his dying promise of a protective angel of music to guide her. After a time at the opera house, she begins hearing a voice, who eventually teaches her how to sing beautifully. All goes well until Christine's childhood friend Raoul comes to visit his parents, who are patrons of the opera, and he sees Christine when she begins successfully singing on the stage. The voice, who is the deformed, murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster. Leroux's work, with characters ranging from the spoiled prima donna Carlotta to the mysterious Persian from Erik's past, has been immortalized by memorable adaptations. Despite this, it remains a remarkable piece of Gothic horror literature in and of itself, deeper and darker than any version that follows.
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Hey Guys!
So I read this last week while I was home ill...it wasn't on a whim mind you, it was a full blown obsession for about a week and a half! The musical...my goodness! I couldn't stop listening to it! Andrew Lloyd Webber captured the essence of Erik's sorrow and pain in his music! He captured Christine Daae's innocence and and fear and courage! My favorite version of the musical adaption is the 25th Anniversary performed at the Royal Albert Hall with Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess. They capture not only the musical characters perfectly they captured the book's characters perfectly too!
My only complaints about the actual book are that I wish that part of it would be narrated by Christine. She's the damsel in distress! She should narrate what happens to herself. I also don't like Raoul much at all...he's just so...clingy...I mean he loves Christine but...I ship Christine with Erik...even if Erik is whacko...He just wants to be loved..
I usually do not enjoy mystery novels at all, but this was excellent! This book was written in the beginning of the 1900's, and usually you would think that books written in this time period are quite hard to read and I found that this was really easy and enjoyable to read. The language was beautiful, dark, mysterious, and intriguing. This story sucks you in and you get caught up into the characters' emotions.
I really loved this book. It was great. It lived up to my expectations and Gaston Leroux did an excellent job with this book, and I applaud the translator for doing such a great job..well translating. :)
You can find The Phantom Of the Opera at: Book Depository // Indigo // B&N
You can watch the 25th Anniversary show on Netflix or Youtube
Enjoy & Happy Reading!
Olivia
~livthebooknerd~
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