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The Phantom of the Opera

Gaston Leroux

Start date: September 1, 2014

Finish date: September 30, 2014

Discussion: New School Classics- 1915-2005

Why we're reading this: New School Classic Read, September 2014
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New School Classics- 1915-2005

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What Members Thought

Feb 13, 2017 Candi rated it liked it

Shelves: classics-shelf, mystery-crime, european-literature

"He is extraordinarily thin and his dress-coat hangs on a skeleton frame. His eyes are so deep that you can hardly see the fixed pupils. You just see two big black holes, as in a dead man’s skull. His skin, which is stretched across his bones like a drumhead, is not white, but a nasty yellow. His nose is so little worth talking about that you can’t see it side-face; and the absence of that nose is a horrible thing to look at. All the hair he has is three or four long dark locks on his forehead a "He is extraordinarily thin and his dress-coat hangs on a skeleton frame. His eyes are so deep that you can hardly see the fixed pupils. You just see two big black holes, as in a dead man’s skull. His skin, which is stretched across his bones like a drumhead, is not white, but a nasty yellow. His nose is so little worth talking about that you can’t see it side-face; and the absence of that nose is a horrible thing to look at. All the hair he has is three or four long dark locks on his forehead and behind his ears."

Sounds deliciously creepy, right? Well, no doubt the Opera ghost would have scared the hell out of me if I had ever crossed paths with him! And he was scary; in fact he was downright evil. More evil than I recall from attending a live performance of the musical by the same name many, many years ago. All the elements of a gothic mystery were there; I was intrigued by the corpse-like apparition that was said to haunt the Paris Opera House. Unfortunately, I was more amused than I was terrified while reading this book. I didn’t experience the allure of the gothic atmosphere.

The plot was interesting enough and kept me turning the pages. Christine, trained by the Angel of Music, becomes a sensation at the opera house and falls in love with a young man from her past. Raoul has been smitten with Christine since he was a child. One day, a little boy, who was out with his governess, made her take a longer walk than he intended, for he could not tear himself from the little girl whose pure, sweet voice seemed to bind him to her." But the Opera ghost is infatuated with her as well, and will stop at almost nothing to make her his bride. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the phantom. At times I abhorred him; he seemed to have no conscience. The next moment I felt pity towards this unloved and lonely outcast of society. It’s a bit of an adventure in the underbelly of the Opera House and I did enjoy all the literal twists and turns there. The melodrama and the unpolished dialogue disappointed me, however. The characters felt flat, with the exception of the phantom himself. The Persian was a bit intriguing as well. Essentially, it’s a tragic story with an engaging plot, and it’s quite readable. Just not the remarkable story I was looking for, but I’m getting a bit particular about my gothic mysteries.

"He asked only to be ‘someone,’ like everybody else."
...more

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Jan 18, 2019 Chinook rated it it was ok

Shelves: europe

As much as reading this had the music from the musical running through my head and left me wanting to revisit that, I found the novel incredibly boring. It’s a great story and there were bits I really enjoyed, both the language and the events. But the detachment created by the narrator trying to solve the mystery/find out what happened really bogged down the story for me. Great plot, boring execution. Fantastic characters.

Interestingly, in a review by someone I follow, there’s a comparison to W ...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Basma Parkar rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is another book I wanted to read for a long time and I am not disappointed in it. It is creepy, dramatic, tragic, and is peppered with subtle humour.

The Opera Ghost, a genius who is ostracized because of his hideous face, makes the Opera House his home. He roams the labyrinths, calls the opera house his own and bends the managers to his will. Then he falls in love with Christine Daae, a singer. He becomes her teacher (she calls him Angel of Music), helps her rise to greatness and expects he ...more

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Sep 01, 2012 S. rated it liked it · review of another edition

what.

this is some straight up silly nonsense. to give a brief summary: tears, sobbing, and crawling on the floor. also, include a healthy dose of holding people hostage and threatening to kill everyone, it's totally romantic. ...more

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Oct 06, 2011 Denise rated it liked it · review of another edition

Even to the last few minutes of the book, I was unsure whether I liked it or not. It was mildly interesting but seemed to been missing a point. The only thing that kept it from receiving two stars was a last minute save by finally finding out about the phantom's (ghost's) past. Throughout the entire story all I kept wondering was "why?" Why is the ghost here, how did he get here, who is he...because without that information, I really couldn't care any less about him as a character. It was a very ...more

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