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A review by fireinherveinzz
The Essential Phantom of The Opera by Leonard Wolf, Gaston Leroux, Gaston Leroux
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
This story started my love of dark romance and gothic fiction .
I’ve been obsessed since I saw the musical at 15 or so .
It really is a tragedy on so many levels . we haven’t done much better as a society to treat , disabled , “ugly” disfigured people as a whole . Sure it’s gotten better but not really. The ugly laws were a thing for a reason .
I never related to or liked Christine very much she came off as a silly empty headed indecisive pick me . But in this she really had a spine to an extent which I admired .
But it was Erik’s story albeit frustratingly told by 2nd and 3rd person narratives that made me feel everything and fascinated me . It was him I related to the most and felt the most empathy and pain for . Being rejected by your parents for having a birth defect , and then continually told you’re nothing by everyone and everything . And forced into the role of a monster simply because of your appearance. That is the real tragedy that besides the Persian no one gave him any kindness or affection . So it became easier to shut everyone out and the only acceptance and validation he received from anyone was when he’d perform acts of violence. It’s easy to see how character developed . While it doesn’t excuse his behavior it does explain . Although I’ve found more men and women and people in raouls standing in life are more prone to acts of violence and being true monsters because they feel they were owed something and can get away with it . Maybe I saw something truly beautiful in comforting a grieving young woman by being her angel of music and helping her to find her voice and passion . The tragedy is what could’ve been he could’ve been truly great . All I wanted was to be loved for myself." And don’t we all ?
I’ve been obsessed since I saw the musical at 15 or so .
It really is a tragedy on so many levels . we haven’t done much better as a society to treat , disabled , “ugly” disfigured people as a whole . Sure it’s gotten better but not really. The ugly laws were a thing for a reason .
I never related to or liked Christine very much she came off as a silly empty headed indecisive pick me . But in this she really had a spine to an extent which I admired .
But it was Erik’s story albeit frustratingly told by 2nd and 3rd person narratives that made me feel everything and fascinated me . It was him I related to the most and felt the most empathy and pain for . Being rejected by your parents for having a birth defect , and then continually told you’re nothing by everyone and everything . And forced into the role of a monster simply because of your appearance. That is the real tragedy that besides the Persian no one gave him any kindness or affection . So it became easier to shut everyone out and the only acceptance and validation he received from anyone was when he’d perform acts of violence. It’s easy to see how character developed . While it doesn’t excuse his behavior it does explain . Although I’ve found more men and women and people in raouls standing in life are more prone to acts of violence and being true monsters because they feel they were owed something and can get away with it . Maybe I saw something truly beautiful in comforting a grieving young woman by being her angel of music and helping her to find her voice and passion . The tragedy is what could’ve been he could’ve been truly great . All I wanted was to be loved for myself." And don’t we all ?