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The Phantom of the Opera (A Stepping Stone Book)

Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Release Date: 1989-08-26
Publisher:Random House Books for Young Readers
Author Gaston Leroux
Number of pages:96
ISBN:0394838475
Language:Unknown: English; Original Language: English; Published: English;
Adapter Kate McMullan
Weight:0.19 pounds
Dimensions:5.14 inches x 7.6 inches x 0.32 inches
[Width x Length x Height]

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Product description

 

"The story of the monster man whose horrible deformities cause fear and terror, his search for love and acceptance, and his haunting of the opera house in Paris is told in very simple language. Beautifully adapted, the story flows along so easily that readers will be immediately caught up in the tangle of events and emotions. McMullan conveys all of the anger, grief, joy, and love that make the phantom a truly believable character. Will attract reluctant readers."--School Library Journal.

Customer reviews


« The Original - It's Not the Bible »
Well, I've been accused of never having read Gaston Leroux's original work nor heard of Jerrold E. Hogle's literary dissection of the original work. Funny...this is the copy that I purchased and have highlighted, written inside, and dissected to death. Nevertheless, I'll move on from that comment left in the review of my own work.

So Gaston Leroux! This is where it all began - the story of the Opera Ghost. Much different in many ways, yet similar too, of Webber's adaptation. I personally don't count the story to be absolute truth, because Leroux was a fiction writer, who I believe used his profession to weave a tale he wished us all to believe was truth. Don't forget, he lived in a time when being an illusionist was quite the thing! Even authors made illusions they wanted their readers to believe was truth. Nevertheless, it's a tale with a timeless message of wanting to be loved in spite of our looks and not-so-perfect personalities. We relate to the Opera Ghost on many levels.

The story, if you dig deep enough, is riddled with symbolism. The writing itself, is probably not as totally enjoyable in English as it may be in the original French tongue. I don't consider Leroux to be the most fantastic author I've ever read, but I do consider his story to be one that will never die because its message is poignant from generation to generation.

Its characters are different in many ways too. Erik seems to be more of a madman, Christine - well, is Christine - the tough nut to crack who manipulates two men to her advantage and tells hideous lies to the monster to buy her freedom. Raoul is quite the crying emotional young man, who I'd say is a little obsessed with his little Lotte. The remainder of the characters are there for our enjoyment as well.

It's a great story, which has subsequently been rewritten and adapted a hundred times, if not more. Even I'm guilty of it.

I will say, I did enjoy Anne Perry's introduction, which is more on the humanity side rather than on the literary side such as Hogle's interpretations in the back. I tend to lean toward what we can learn from the story as human beings, and not what can bore me in a classroom setting. After all, it's the heart of the story that touches us more deeply on the simple elementary elements that we all relate to and understand. It's the emotions, longings, passions, and the characters that keep us coming back time and time again to anything Phantom. Frankly, I'd rather be an amateur with a heart. Otherwise, it just shows I really don't understand the underlying message of the story at all.
Rating: (4 out of 5) @ 2010-08-28
« 4.5 stars; this edition has some formatting issues but the story itself is wonderful »
I love the musical but had never read this book before. So I downloaded it to my Kindle for free. The formatting was okay on the Kindle version; chapter starts were a bit hard to see and there were some formatting errors. All of the color plates were missing with an insert stating (color plate here). Overall the story itself was wonderful and really added to my understanding of the musical.

I think just about everyone should be familiar with this story. It is the story of an Opera Ghost who is mentoring Christine Daae to become a great opera singer. Of course when the Opera Ghost's wishes are not met by the new managers who run the opera house a series of disasters befall the opera company. Christine becomes increasingly entangled with the Opera Ghost and her childhood sweetheart, Raoul, tries his best to save her.

The book starts out a bit slow. It is told from the point of view of an investigator who is trying to piece together the whole story behind the Phantom of the Opera. Things really pick up as the Opera Ghost starts to torment people and Christine and Raoul start their false engagement.

My favorite part was the last third of the book when Raoul and the Persian are trying to navigate the area beneath the theater.

This book fills out some major parts of the story that you don't get in the musical. There is a lot more background on Raoul and Christine's childhood. More time is spent explaining the past of the Opera Ghost, Eric, and what made him the way he is. At the very end the investigator details how all of the ghostly things that happened in the story were done. Also the scenes under the opera house are much more vicious, involving a incredibly unique torture chamber, threats to flatten a few blocks of Paris, and more.

I was surprised at how engaging the writing style was. This was not a tough book to read at all, it was incredibly engaging and easy to read. There is a sly sense of humor in parts of the book and I found myself laughing out loud a couple times. I really enjoyed it.

My only complaint (and my husband's complaint) is that I kept humming parts of the musical as I read the book! If you are a fan of The Phantom and the Opera musical definitely check out this book; it makes parts of the musical make a lot more sense. It is much more interesting and creative and engaging than the musical too! The first third of the book is kind of slow but if you can make it though that, the rest of the book is definitely worth it!
Rating: (4 out of 5) @ 2010-06-04
« The Dark side »

Not as good as the play, this film nvbertheless is mostly well done. The music is excellent, Bulter needs to work on his singing but the point is how we treat people who look different then most of us and the tragic need for love that goes unforfulled. The legths one can and will go to get love only to watch it go away. We can relate to this film and all the characters, yet I think most relate to the Phantom most often. We all, in our wa, face what he faces in our lives, we kno how he feels. I wish they has left the music as they did it in the play as it added so much more to the play then the movie.
Rating: (5 out of 5) @ 2010-02-15
« Friends »
My friend had said I should read this book.She had seen the movie and loved it .So I had had seen the movie and loveeeeeeeedddddddd it!And Im not joking.
Rating: (5 out of 5) @ 2009-12-21
« Wonderful read! »
Great story and a tempting read! Could not put it down! Loved it!
Rating: (4 out of 5) @ 2009-11-24
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List Price: $3.99
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