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Type of bind: Paperback
EAN num: 9780394838472
ISBN number: 0394838475
Label: Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 96
Printing Date: August 26, 1989
Publishing house: Random House Books for Young Readers
Age index: Ages 9-12
Release Date: August 26, 1989
Sale Popularity Level: 42966
Studio: Random House Books for Young Readers
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Erik has the voice of an angel, but the face of a monster. When he takes off his mask, people scream and run away. So he hides himself away in the darkness below an opera house. There, he falls in love with a beautiful singer. But will she be able to return his love?
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Rated by buyers 
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This is a readable and oft-gripping version of Mr. Leroux's famous tale. The ingredients are here for a fun read - mystery, intrique, love, danger, difficult choices, etc., all set at the Paris Opera in the early 20th Century. Readers follow along as Raoul competes for the lovely Christine Daae against the disfigured phantom who also loves her, and who taught her the craft that she now performs so flawlessly. We see the bodies pile up, experience the mystery of box 5, and feel the grip of fear haunting the opera. Perhaps the climax occurs when Raoul and the Persian's search the cellars, keeping one hand up and never knowing what trick will subsequent befall them. Reading this novel for the very first time I enjoyed the mystery and intrigue, yet felt like something was missing - the ending seemed somewhat unreasonable. Perhaps one needs to peruse the full version for better understanding. Despite uncertainty, this is an interesting, readable tale of mystery and intrigue.
Rated by buyers -
The mask, the music, the dark mysteries, and the tortured, deformed genius who just wants love. "The Phantom of the Opera" is so well known that its story needs no explanation.
But Gaston Leroux's novel is still a spellbinding experience, full of atmospheric horror, a sense of gothic mystery, and lushly evocative language. But its crown jewel is Erik: a magnificently tortured anti-hero who inspires more horror, pity and sympathy than the rather flat hero and heroine.
The Paris opera house is said to be haunted by a ghost with a "death's head," who demands a small salary and a reserved box. Despite the sightings and fears of ballerinas and stagehands, the new managers are determined to stamp out this ridiculous story -- despite threatening letters and increasing accidents that happen around them.
Meanwhile, budding diva Christine Daae is taking Paris by storm, although nobody quite knows who taught her how to sing. And when her childhood friend Viscount Raoul de Chagny pays her a visit, he hears a passionate exchange between her and a man -- but there's no man there. She credits her new vocal abilities to the Angel of Music, but of course, that self-same Angel is the opera ghost.
As the Phantom becomes even more attached to Christine, Raoul soon finds that the ghost is actually a half-mad, horribly deformed musical genius named Erik -- and that after Christine saw his true face, he made her become engaged to him. The young lovers plan to run away together, but the "Angel of Music" isn't about to allow his beloved Christine to leave him...
Apparently there actually were some odd events -- including rumours of an opera ghost -- happening when Gaston Leroux began writing "The Phantom of the Opera." And it's a credit to his imgination that he was able to spin a some odd facts into a harrowing, heartbreaking love triangle that's based on music, obsession, adoration, and a bit of pity. And, of course, a frighteningly sympathetic "villain."
Admittedly the style is very "penny dreadful": melodramatic and overloaded on prose. But Leroux's talent shines through -- he drapes the book in a haunted atmosphere, full of snowy graveyards, dark opera backstages and underground labyrinths, all with Erik's presence hovering over it. The plot is mostly a slow, satiny procession toward the inevitable blowup, but Leroux does tinge it with scenes of romantic drama, a feeling of dread, one shocking action scene, and even some quirky humour at times.
And Leroux's writing is simply astounding as he describes the corpselike appearance of Erik ("... tore his terrible dead flesh with my nails") and his "death's" head appearance at the party. But he also excels at the more poignant moments -- Erik's final, rambling monologue to Christine after she kisses him is heartbreakingly clumsy and saddening.
Though Christine and Raoul are the hero and heroine of the book, they're actually kind of flat. Erik is the real star -- an arrogant genius who is also pitifully lonely. And insane. Despite his crazed behavior -- which results in at least two deaths -- it's hard not to feel sympathy for someone cursed with such a ghastly appearance, and so starved for human contact that a single kiss changes his life ("... he tried to catch my eye, like a dog sitting by its master").
Despite being a bit overblown in the style of its time, "The Phantom of the Opera" is a triumph of atmosphere, horror, and one of the most memorably sympathetic "villains" that you can find on the shelves. Magnificent.
Rated by buyers 
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This review is about the book the Phantom of the Opera I hope you like it.In the early years of the phantoms life's he was s beaten and jeered at home,how could the phantom get away.
The only way for a getaway the phantom could see was to run away.One day the phantom [who always wears a mask] went into a freak show and was offered a job.His act was called The Living dead boy.He soon made himself star.
He was one day asked to perform for a king!The living dead boy performs so well that he and and the boy become friends [or so he thought].One day he heard the king talking to a guard telling him to kill the phantom.The phantom got out as fast as he could.
The phantom was now called The phantom of the opera.The phantom of the opera now lives in a opera.He is feared and because of this he gets money and free seats.[He is feared because people think he's a phantom. He soon falls in love for a girl who sings in the opera.
The phantom at the opera soon finds out that the girl loves someone else this makes the the phantom of the opera almost kill the girl's love and blow-up the opera house but, he comes to his senses and let the lover go and does not blow up the opera house but his love for the girl kills him in the end.
I like this book and I recommend it to people who like good books that keep them guessing till the end.So get this book, don't come home with out the phantom of the opera.
Rated by buyers 
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I read this novel for the very first time about 4 years ago and I knew then I just had to teach it. I've been using this particular translation in my 8th grade classroom for the past 3 years because, in my opinion, it is the best one out there. The language is beautiful, and there is so much that can be analyzed and discussed. I look forward to teaching it every year! Each year the students whine when I give them such a long book, but when they have finished it, they admit that it was actually good! Then when we compare it to the 2004 Andrew Lloyd Webber film, almost all of them say that the book was much better!
This novel is also great to read for fun. There is something for everyone because Leroux includes a bit of everything -- horror, murder, obsession, romance, melodrama, mystery, suspense, tragedy, action, history, gothic elements, supernatural elements... There is a convoluted plot that twists and turns, and Leroux successfully reveals just enough information to keep you reading. In the end, all is explained and the reader is amazed at how Leroux was able to weave together such an interesting cast of characters and a complicated plot.
The setting adds to the story. What setting could be more interesting than an underground lair that is on the edge of a subterranian lake beneath the famous Paris Opera House?
Character development is fantastic and the readers clearly see how Christine could be torn between her love for Raoul and her love for the phantom, Erik. Because Leroux portrays Erik as a very complex character, the reader will have a difficult time answering the question of "Should Erik be pitied or cursed?"
I highly recommend this book!
Rated by buyers -
(I am 14 years old) The Phantom of the Opera in the Modern Library version was much better than the 2004 film. I loved the film but then I wanted more so I read this. Gaston Leroux characterizes the Erik (The Phantom) so differently from the Don Juan-ish charcter in the film. Erik is just searching and longing for someone to love him as himself, he's not overly lustful or seducing as in the movie. He also isn't attractive beyond his face, but more described by some as a "living corpse." This new idea about Erik made my parents approve of the book more than the movie (they haven't read the book but they said that Erik was too "creepy" in the movie). I love how Leroux tells it as almost a documentary or a report, I haven't read a book told like that before. Although it seems that it would be so much more descriptive and attention holding if he told it as if he were there. Nonetheless I am very satisfied with this book and I will re-read it in the future! I highly recommend this book to adventure/love/suspense/not-so-gruesome horror story lovers! Enjoy!
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