Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
A moving book!, 8 Mar 2004
Love, hate, horror, the Phantom of the Opera has all this, making it one of the most captivating books ever. The book by the detective writer Gaston LeRoux tells the tale of Paris Opera house and its resident phantom. The book conceived by the author after a thorough investigation brings a believable portrayal of the events that had occurred at the time. Its basis on realistic facts makes it all the more believable.The plot surrounds several characters that work at an opera house. The opera, well renowned for its plays also holds a deeper secret. When the new managers receive threats from a mysterious ghost, leaving letters initialled “O.G.”, a series of events are triggered that cause chaos in the opera house. Although this is how the book is introduced, its tone changes later in the book, focussing on the personality of the opera ghost. A story of love and sadness is revealed, piece-by-piece. The ending is startling leaving an air of melancholy in the reader’s heart. The book was set in the late 19th century, recently after the opera house was constructed. The author himself was a great fan of the opera, and frequented it quite often. After hearing tales of the famous opera ghost, the author explored the opera house behind the scenes and discovered a vast maze of tunnels. In fact the opera house is a combination of a theatre and a dungeon. This creates an atmosphere of mystery, because then, anything could hide in the vast maze of the opera house. The author handles the story very well. This could do with the fact that many parts of the book are actually based on fact-based testimonies. However the way the author connected the stories to make a smooth narrative is to be praised.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Completely addictive, 10 Jun 2005
By A Customer
After seeing the motion picture as well as the opera on stage, I was intrigued to read the novel which had inspired such a passionate and awe inspiring tale. However, I must admit that I was unsure whether while reading the novel I would be constantly comparing it to the motion picture.
However after finishing my a level english literiture exam, I was ready to get my teeth into some serious reading!! So after searching the many shelves at my home for a book which I hadn't already devoured, my mother handed me a copy of phantom of the opera, and I quickly read the book cover to cover within two days, unable to put it down for any other reason that eating or trips to the loo!!!
Needless to say this is an amazing novel!! Extremely well written, and easy to read, meaning that though you may sit down thinking that you will only skim the first chapter, soon family and friends will have to claw the book from your hands to get any sense out of you!!
The novel is written in a detective style, but those who, like myself, generally dislike detective novels should not be put off my this fact!! Leroux writes the novel in such a way that by the final page you actually believe that the phantom was a real figure who stalked the underworld of the opera house. The epilgue at the end is also a must read, especially if like myself you were desperate for the novel not to end!!
The references made my Leroux in regards the actual opera house made my desperate to jump on the next plane to Paris and search out all the back-passages and underground catacombs which the phantom haunts, especially the fanous box five!!
I cannot stress enough how much you should read this novel!! It will fasinate and encapsulate you from the first page. It is very little like the motion picture or the stage play, but even for a firm fan such as myself, this in no means takes away from its spectacular style and storyline!! READ THIS BOOK NOW!!!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Poor Unhappy Erik!, 19 Sep 2003
This is the most compelling book ever written, I assure you. This is a masterpiece and a classic in my eyes; and yours if you take the time to read this story. However you came about looking up this novel here on Amazon, I suggest you buy it, and you buy it quick. Once you have it, you won't be able to put it down. Reading through this story, one can start to think its a 'Ghost-story.' But the author, as it turns out, dedicated a part of his life to this 'Opera-Ghost,' wanting to be sure of his existence - or non-existence. He has sources, archives, spoken to the people of the time and he tells their story, and he tells it well! When I was reading this story, the possibility of this 'Phantom' of ever existing was totally ruled out in my book. What was this author thinking in seriously believing? How can one be in walls, have a bodiless voice, be here and there, be everywhere? Truth be told, the author leaves you questioning of his existence, that the Phantoms 'supernatural' behaviour wasn't so 'supernatural,' just a genius ahead of his time. And what a pitiful genius he was! This is one book that keeps you thinking long after you have read it. If you know of Andrew Lloyd Webbers version, you will be impressed to learn that the book and the musical are very much different. Raoul in the musical seems brave and wise, in the book he strikes me as a pathetic love-sick puppy. A character which has no part in the musical has a dramatic effect on the real story; the Persian. Christine who seems to be a mad woman at the beginning turns into the pity stricken beauty towards the end as she is in the musical. Andre and Fermin are not so comical in the book as they are in the musical. The story is twisted and turned. So just because you have seen the musical, does not mean you know the story of the Phantom of the Opera! This book is a very smooth, easy read, being written in the early nineteen-hundreds. Its possible to get mixed up with names, but the characters that you do get mixed up with are extremely unimportant to the plot, so it doesn't really matter. The narrative keeps you reading and you will curse whatever it is from every day life that pulls you away from it. The character of the Phantom will stay with you forever, Compelling stuff. I can't recommend this masterpiece enough.
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