The Phantom of the Opera: The Original Novel by Gaston Leroux
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Book Reviews of The Phantom of the Opera: The Original Novel
Book Review: SURREAL AND EYE-OPENING
Summary: 5 Stars
The tragic story written by gaston leroux, relieves on Broadway but it also does on the pages of this surreal and eye-opening book. I read this book when I was in seveth grade and it amazed me and I saw the musical on broadway afterwards I don't lknwo how to describe it but the feeling or should I say feelings you feel after reading this book will shock you. Set in the Paris opera house a phantom terrorizes the place but what makes this story so great is that it is real and it stands on its own two feet. It shows feelings and emotions to their greatest level an ugly and unloved creature falls in love with an opera singer and does everyting to make her a star in the name of love and he becomes her teacher not also is the phantom a great teacher but also a great musician. The phantom has been there for a while aqnd new owners come in the scene and all and they have been warned about the phantom and that he requires certain things but they don't care about it and that's here the trouble starts.. The phantom only wans a small amount of moneya nd his box#5 but the new owners don't give it to him well they will see later. Then his love Christine falls in love with the count Raoul and the phantom gets striked by jealousy and he starts to kill and he brings christine to his undeground house by the lake and he wants her to marry him she pulls of his mask in one part of the book and he gets furious but anyway he tells her he has to marry he ropr her love will die in the end she kisses him and he lets her go, because she was the only one who shows him some affection not even his mother has even kissed him. The tale is horryfying in its truth and it would be lossing a great experience if this book is not read I also recommend watching the broadway musical after reading this book you will truly appreciate it but find out for yourself and next time you'll be bragging about reading this great and amazing book.Book Review: Personal Favorite for a LONG time
Summary: 5 Stars
After seeing the first three movies and reading David Bischoff's version, I finally got to read the original Leroux novel in 9th grade - the library edition. No other edition was available until around 1986. This book has been made into 8 movies, 2 animated versions (made for video I think), and at least 3 musicals. The actors to play The Phantom over the years (in the movies) have included Lon Chaney, Claude Rains, Herbert Lom, Maximillan Schell, Robert Englund, Charles Dance, and Julian Sands. The three musicals I know of were written by Ken Hill, Andrew Lloyd-Webber, and Maury Yeston. The basic idea has been borrowed many times in movies, TV, and even some Japanese manga (comics). The Phantom of the Paradise is probably the better known of these.
Gaston Leroux's book is a mystery romance that uses some classic Beauty and The Beast elements. You have a deformed man who wants a normal life with a wife. He does have some negative traits which you'll discover as you read. At some point, most of his secrets get revealed.
Contrary to some of the movie versions, the story has nothing to do with stolen music, and acid does not cause him harm. Before Christine's father died, he used to tell her about the legend of The Angel of Music who visits promising musicians and singers. Now, The Angel has visited her and is helping her advance her career. The adventure begins.
There is much more I'd love to say here, but everytime I type it I feel as if I'm doing some mini-spoilers. If you've read any of my reviews of the movies, you can tell I have much to say about any version of this story.
The writing style is not the best, but this is a fantastic story. Also keep in mind this is a translation from French, and that could be a factor in the writing style here as we see it in English. The new translation is a little better. (This and most of the editions out there are the older translation.)
Book Review: Teen Phan says, "very good!"
Summary: 5 Stars
I was named after the character "Christine" in a way, my mom was looking for a name and saw Christine in POTO and, here I am! Well, I saw the movie not to long ago and became hooked, two days later I had the soundtrack and the day aftert that I bought the novel and DVD. I love them both. They are almost different stories, but both good. The movie doesn't explain everything, and Andrew wanted Erik to be more "loveable" if that's possible (well, it must be since my best friend and I are in love, go Gerard for a great performance) if you are going to get a soundtrack I would go with the movie as Gerard had a more powerful voice than Michael Crawford (M. Crawford may be a better singer, but he would be better off as playing Raoul). I was named after the character "Christine" in a way, my mom was looking for a name and saw Christine in POTO and, here I am! Well, I saw the movie not to long ago and became hooked, two days later I had the soundtrack and the day aftert that I bought the novel and DVD. I love them both. They are almost different stories, but both good. The movie doesn't explain everything, and Andrew wanted Erik to be more "loveable" if that's possible (well, it must be since my best friend and I are in love, go Gerard for a great performance). Anyway, I''m getting off track, someone said that the phantom was wanted by the police, I didn't even get a hint of that in either the book or movie, well, he was only wanted by the police in the movie, but that was AFTER he was a fully grown man. Anyway, the story was well written, but if you are not a fan of reading, you may find it hard to get into or not like it at all. I would suggest watching the movie (musical, Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum) first, since you will be pleasantly surprised (and not so pleasantly) of the extra details in the book. I highly suggest this book and movie.Book Review: An Absolute Page Tuner!! I Could Not Put It Down!!
Summary: 5 Stars
The original novel "The Phantom Of The Opera" by Gaston Leroux is a must-read for any "Phantom Of The Opera" fan (it inspired the classic 1925 silent film version starring Lon Chaney (aka "The Man Of A Thousand Faces" for his ability to transform himself through make-up, employing extremely painful devices for added effectiveness) [see my review below], the immensely popular musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and the big-screen version that's in theaters now [see my review on it] starring Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson and Minnie Driver). This book is so good I finished it in five days. Yes, the narrative can be a little slow and confusing at times, but it's never boring. I relate this novel more to the 1925 silent version, but that doesn't make the 2004 movie version any less better than I've said so. In fact, it's the best movie version of the tale. I prefer it to the book, though.
THE 1925 SILENT FILM VERSION "THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA"
This first silver screen rendering of the classic novel by Gaston Leroux is faithful to the book and Lon Chaney is excellent as The Phantom, oozing pure menace as he tries to force Christine Daae, a young opera singer, to fall in love with him. He doesn't appear until 33 minutes into the film, however, which makes it very suspenseful; I guess Hitchcock was inspired by his shadow on the wall to create that eerie effect himself whenever he came on camera. He was one of the greatest actors that ever graced the silver screen (second only to Sir Laurence Olivier, THE greatest Shakesperean actor the world has ever known, with Kenneth Branagh [see my reviews of their versions of "Hamlet" and Branagh's "Much Ado About Nothing" for more information]). The book is rated PG for brief language and the movie is Not Rated.
Book Review: Superb
Summary: 5 Stars
Unlike most people, I read this book long before I ever saw the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, and it is one of my favourites to this day. I was first introduced to the story through a slightly abridged for children's version of the novel at the age of 12. I still have that book, but I decided that the time had come to read the original novel.The major difference between this (unabridged) version of the text and most edited versions is that the Phantom has a much darker side than is ordinarily shown, either in books or in the show. Leroux wrote him as a love-struck genius, with a much more sinister side. Yes, Erik loves Christine Daae with a passion, but he is still willing to hurt her to achieve his own ends. The original version of the novel also shows Erik as a cold-blooded murderer, as well as a musical genius. The manner in which he dupes Christine into believing he is the Angel of Music, his terrible treatment of Raoul and Philippe de Chagny and his complete refusal to adhere to normal socially acceptable mores all combine to make Erik far more dark-natured than most people realise.
The most delightful aspect of this novel is the fact that it goes into far more detail about Erik's past than any other version of the story I've come across. It also tells us exactly who the Persian is and how he came to know Erik.
This is a delightful book and should be read by all, especially fans of the musical who profess to know the story but have never read the book. However, I would implore people not to read Susan Kay's "Phantom" as it is simply a piece of fan fiction along the same lines of Laura Kalpakian's "Cosette" and any further detail about Erik's life that she goes into is purely speculation on her part.