Gaston
Leroux was well known for his detective novels, and The Phantom of the Opera is
written in this vein.
In
the prologue Leroux states that he, himself, had come across documents and had investigated the strange
occurrences at the Opera, the disappearance of the soprano Christine Daae and
Erik the troubled disfigured man who lived in the labyrinthine bowels of the
Opera building.
Of
course none of this was true, but the story has just about become legend due to
the success of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Musical.
Erik
(the Phantom) is an evil soul, with a disfigured face, but he has the voice of
an angel. Calling himself ‘The Angel of
Music’ he teaches Christine Daae how to improve her singing voice, and falls
desperately in love with her. Christine,
however, has another suitor in the form of a Viscount, and Erik’s extreme
jealousy leads to kidnapping and murder.
This
is a very sad tale, for despite the terror he puts Christine through she still
has a kind of respect and affection for him.
It
is written very matter of factly as if these events did indeed really happen.
The novel did not sell well on publication and was out of print for a while,
but it is definitely worth reading if you enjoy the gothic horror genre.
Maxine
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