Book #38: The Phantom of the Opera
I listened to this as an audiobook. It's an old favorite that I probably haven't read since my late teens/early twenties. The reader took some getting used to; he has an odd accent and tone. But he did a great job with the character voices and I came to appreciate his skill.
This is one of those strange instances where the story is better than the execution. Some of it is the style of the time period, and some of it is the style of Gaston Leroux himself. It's written almost as a true crime account, to give a sense of realism, and sometimes that works and other times it just mires down. I also had forgotten what a whiny, over-the-top character Raoul de Chagny is. I wanted to slap him more than once. In some ways, in spite of her fragile innocence, Christine is smarter than he is. The best part of the book is the exposition final chapter that gives Erik's background.
The best interpretation of this story remains Susan Kay's Phantom, one of my favorite books. She takes that last chapter and fills in the details with great skill and imagination.
This is one of those strange instances where the story is better than the execution. Some of it is the style of the time period, and some of it is the style of Gaston Leroux himself. It's written almost as a true crime account, to give a sense of realism, and sometimes that works and other times it just mires down. I also had forgotten what a whiny, over-the-top character Raoul de Chagny is. I wanted to slap him more than once. In some ways, in spite of her fragile innocence, Christine is smarter than he is. The best part of the book is the exposition final chapter that gives Erik's background.
The best interpretation of this story remains Susan Kay's Phantom, one of my favorite books. She takes that last chapter and fills in the details with great skill and imagination.