The Phantom of the Opera!

Hey everyone, another great week ahead of us, and more time behind us! Hopefully our time is well spent! Now, most of us have seen or at least heard of The Phantom of the Opera, which is a popular movie based off of the book written by Gaston Leroux, which features a disfigured man who plagues the Opera and who is in love with the talented young actress Christine. I personally loved the movie (the newer one), and I thought it would be... unjust if I not read the book to see how it was originally supposed to play out. What I got was a lot different than the way the movie portrayed it.

We start out the novel no from the point of view of Christine or Roule, but of someone (I believe Gaston himself) telling the story of how he came to find out about the rumour of the 'Phantom' who tormented the Opera house years in the past. And then we observe, from a third person standpoint, Roule and Christine as they mingle about with each other when they come back.
The only mention of the Phantom is from the stage girls who are frightened to walk about the theatre in fear they might run into him. Right off the bat the Phantom kills off the stage-hand (which in the movie was saved to be more dramatic later on), and the new managers take over the theatre.
The new managers refuse the play by the ghosts rules, and instead set about proving that there is no phantom in the first place.
About half way through the novel we switch points of view to Roule, who takes over trying to get with Christine, the girl with whom he had shared a childhood romance.
And, unlike the movie, it is seen that Roule is in fact rejected by Christine many times, and she is much more frightened of her 'Angel of music' than in the movie. Roule is portrayed as much more of a cry baby than the movie, and instead of constantly being heroic, challenges Christine on everything, and get's angry at her often because of how she feels.
But the one thing they kept the same in both the movie and the book, is the Phantom's undying love for Christine, despite how hideous he is said to be. The Phantom is also a lot more emotional, constantly crying at Christine's feet and begging her to stay with him, and to love him for who he is.
Not to mention that the lake under the theatre is home to much more than the movie leads on, such as an entire house under there where the Phantom lives and defends his home. 

I personally thought the book was a bit slow to start off, and I only really cared about the Phantom, Christine, and Roule, so reading about the managers, and other people's life was just too boring for me.
But once you get to the part where Christine starts interacting with the Phantom, it is completely worth the boring start. I loved how emotional the Phantom was, and how Roule did everything he could to save Christine from him.
The ending was crazy, though foretold from the beginning, and exciting from the moment it began. A lot of things were different from the movie, and if you are a big fan (like me), I would suggest that you try  reading the book, because it gives a whole new perspective on everything you thought you know.
I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars, because I loved the way the author put the Phantom forward, and I would probably keep it for a while.
Have a nice week everyone, and I will see you all next Monday!
- K