#44: The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (Katarina)

The Phantom of the Opera (1911) was yet another reading experience with a soundtrack. I could not help myself from humming along some of the tunes from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical adaptation. Leroux’s novel takes place in the opera where there are rumors of a phantom appearing here and there, meddling in the affairs of the managers. Things, however, are quite peaceful until he takes an interest in the Opera singer Christine. He coaches her to become a greater singer and in the end, kidnaps her in hopes of making her fall in love with him. It does not go as he had planned and when the phantom is unmasked, his true physical appearance frightens Christine. She manages to get a reprieve and turns to her childhood friend Raoul for advice, but they are spied on by the phantom and he kidnaps her once more. This time he gives her an ultimatum – marry me or I blow up the opera.

The novel is a warped love story and even though you cannot agree with the phantom’s methods, he is not left much choice. He hides his deformed face behind a mask and has never been loved, not even by his mother. It deals with how humans easily judged others based on their looks and how our personalities come second. The phantom wanted what we all want – to be loved – but he knew that he would scare off people before he had a chance to show his true self. So he hid in the depths of the earth and built himself a house by an underwater lake underneath the Opera. Here, he would be left alone, not that he wanted to. His attempt to get Christine to love him was born in those dark depths, and took on a shape and form that was not good, but had good intentions for himself. But just as he had been judged by others, the phantom tried to force love out of his hostage.

There is no wonder that the musical is one of the most popular in the world, because this story has it all. And now I am humming again…

#28. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (Catharina)

It is not for nothing that the stage adaptation of this book is the longest running Broadway show in history. It might be a romance novel, but not your regular type. Mystery, dungeons and what is almost an underground maze ensures you never know what is waiting on the next page.

The Opera singer Christine, who has mostly (as far as I could gather) been mediocre, suddenly makes a brilliant performance. At the same time a phantom is thought to live in the opera and communicates with the managers by leaving little notes around. He wants one of the opera booths for himself; he wants Christine in the performance and not the other prima donna Carlotta. When they still get Carlotta to do the performance she suddenly loose her voice, and a chandelier falls into the audience. The Christine is kidnapped by the Phantom who’s got the very normal fake name Erik. The rest of the story contains secret tunnels, Christine’s lover, Erik being in love with Christine and other mysteries.

Definitely worth a read! It is especially worth a read if you have seen, or are going to see the musical depiction.