Reviews - Το φάντασμα της όπερας

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I read the gothic ‘The Phantom of the Opera” by Gaston Leroux fifty+ years ago. Now that I have finished re-reading it today, I am flabbergasted at how much movie versions of the book overlaid my memories! Or perhaps, I simply was too young to understand enough of what I read the first time through the book to remember adequately what I had read.

Fifty years ago I knew nothing of opera, the Sultan of Turkey, the Shaw of Persia, the obsessive loves of men, psychology, birth defects or the history or anything about underground Paris. I certainly had read very little horror or mystery genres except those novels customarily in the children’s section of libraries. I do remember confusing the President of the United States with the Principal of my elementary school at the time I first read this book. When a passerby told me in horror that President Kennedy had been shot, I recall wondering why anyone would hurt one of the employees of my school…and if you are wondering, gentle reader, how so young of a person was able to read ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ in the first place, I used to haunt the used book section (all paperbacks 5 cents) of my local Salvation Army store exactly like a phantom. Adults never paid me much attention when I wandered about my Seattle neighborhood. Helicopter parents were not yet a thing back in the 1960’s. Children often were as invisible in plain sight to adults as the Phantom was in his cloak and mask stalking the corridors and back stage of the Paris Opera! I recall being called “a little monster” a time or two…

If you’ve seen one of the hundreds of movie versions of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, you did not see exactly the same story that the book tells. The movies follow a skeletal framework (heh heh, a pun for those who have read the book) of the novel’s plot, or the movie dramas emphasize the love for Christine Daae of both the Phantom and the young man who both want to marry her, or they leave out some of the murders, or they include only some of, or leave out, horrors in the novel. How the Phantom came to be the Phantom has been often screwed around with by script writers as well. Readers need to read the last few pages of the book to find out the Phantom’s biography, told by one of the characters in the book as well as by the Phantom himself.

Well. I am not going to enlighten you, gentle reader. You will have to read this delightful novel of historical horror for yourself.

jessicawhiting's review against another edition

3.0

I remembered most of the details from the first read (sometime between 2002-2009). Raoul and Christine's love story strikes me as more childish and innocent this time around. Erik's actions are horrific, manipulative, and abusive. Which I didn't recognize when I was younger.

terraluft's review against another edition

3.0

Written over 100 years ago. A fact I had to keep reminding myself of. I had neither read this before nor seen the musical or movies derived from it so I knew nothing going in. Started very slowly and the French words and names made it very difficult to follow the story. So I downloaded the audible instead and was far happier. Super creepy story, could have skipped the first handful of chapters and still enjoyed it. Because of the time period and cultural differences I had a hard time identifying with the characters. However, I'm not sorry I read this classic and the book club discussion was lively and interesting. A great read for October.