Mike’s Reviews > The Phantom of the Opera > Status Update

Boy, this is underwhelming. We are way too close to the climax to be relying so heavily on flashbacks. I remember the torture chamber being interesting, but so far, not really. At least the Persian isn't quite as boring of a viewpoint character as Raoul and the managers are, even if his portrayal is kind of racist.

If you view this as a horror story, I suppose I can see how Raoul could've been an effective viewpoint character. But he's just a boring character, and I have no investment in him or his insta-lovey relationship with Christine. This is just a bland, predictable book, and I have no idea why it's so remembered except that the story has potential to be so much better.

I feel like, even if I didn't already know this story, it would still be ridiculously obvious that the Angel of Music was the Opera Ghost. In fact, I might even dismiss it because it was too straightforward. But Leroux is consistently proving that he only knows how to go with the most straightforward option - there just aren't going to be any surprises in this book, and I might as well get used to it.

It's kind of weird how much time we spend with the managers, considering that I seem to remember Raoul being the main viewpoint character. This doesn't strike me as pulpy exactly, but it is very blandly-written, and Leroux doesn't seem to understand suspense very well.

I've been told that this is basically glorified pulp fiction, and so far, I guess I kind of see it, but it's not as cliched as you might expect. Then again, it's also not nearly as atmospheric as I remember it being from when I read it in middle school. The writing is pretty good, but the whole thing is just kind of bland so far. Hopefully it picks up.