The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, my angel of music....

So yeah, I'm re-reading this fantastic novel from 1910 and am enchanted, even greatly relieved to realize it is equally as good, if not obviously deeper, more fascinating, than the musical by ALW.

All the things that were merely hinted at, to be thought-through from the musical, are laid out bare in the novel. This SHOULD be a rather obvious statement, of course, but I'm repeating it because I am an idiot.

Well, not an idiot, maybe, and others might disagree, but I had a phase back in my early teens, when I was 14, when I became OBSESSED with the Phantom's music. I had never seen it on stage, and never even got to see it in any form until the 2004 movie. But I had listened to the music about 60 times during a summer until it was permanently re-playable in my mind.

So, uh, Brad, what does any of this have to do with THIS book?

Hold on, hold on, I'm getting there. So, I got the Gaston Leroux book as the completionist that I am, but I loaned it out like an idiot and that was the last time I had read it. I, sadly, just let it go. I had to rely on MEMORY, that fickle musical ghost, to remember the original tale.

Fast forward to today.

Upon re-reading it, I think the story is absolutely SUPERIOR. Sure, the musical's music is also brilliant, but the original TALE is as well.

I don't know what I was thinking, assuming it could in any way be lesser than what came after. Indeed, it's right up there, in full honesty, with the great horror/thriller/romances. You know, like Frankenstein or Dracula.

And before any of ya'll start looking at me like I had just crawled out from a 114 year old rock, let me just say... "I know!!!"

Sigh.

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