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A review by cuddlesome
The Phantom of Manhattan by Frederick Forsyth
2.0
WELL, YOU'RE A HOT MESS AND I'M FALLING FOR YOU / AND I'M LIKE, HOT DAMN LET ME MAKE YOU MY BOO
Great googly moogly this was not great. Right from the get-go with the condescending preface about how much holier than the source material this is. Y e e s h.
I've heard it oft-repeated that this novel lent some inspiration for Love Never Dies, but in all honesty it only lifts some very basic elements (the setting, Erik's successful business,. Otherwise I didn't think the two are very similar. LND is a cakewalk when compared to the sheer frustration I felt every time this book had some random side character you definitely don't care about stop and talk about themselves, detracting from the titular Phantom's story.
It takes darn near a hundred pages for the de Chagny family (minus Raoul who might as well be a side character for how much he gets mentioned, I think the poor guy only has two bits of dialogue) to even set foot on American soil.
Easily the best scene is when it's just a stripped down script of Erik and Christine talking back and forth for a couple of pages. I don't know that that's saying much, but there you go. (There's another scene later that's just the two of them talking that's also very good. If this book had just... you know... been about their relationship... the thing everyone cares about... but alas.)
I do have one issue with that bit, though:
And just to ramble about the end for a bit--
Listen, I understand that the term "biological father" almost certainly wasn't a thing back in 19-whenever-this-takes-place-the-00s-I-think-I-couldn't-be-assed-to-pay-attention, but it was infuriating for Christine's last words to be about how Raoul isn't Pierre's "real" father.
Then again, Raoul did a heck of a dick move right after that by putting Pierre on the spot to make a choice between him and his "natural father" so what do I know? Extra points for the wooden and unnatural rambling about how Christine totes loved Erik more than him, which, regardless if it's true or not, feels like a thing Raoul "then say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime" de Chagny would decidedly NOT say.
And now for what was REALLY good:
Charles "Cholly" Bloom is the one narrator character original to the story that I actually liked. I found myself laughing at his arguably cliche but no less charming New York reporter antics. Saying "mon-sewer" to a Frenchman in an effort to be polite really got me. Unlike the other characters that made me want to fling myself from the Empire State every time they started navel-gazing about their backstories that never ended up mattering, I liked hearing him talking with his buddies. I also really liked having him as the last POV character in the deep dark drama at the end and the idea that he became a professor later in life. One additional star for Cholly.
Great googly moogly this was not great. Right from the get-go with the condescending preface about how much holier than the source material this is. Y e e s h.
I've heard it oft-repeated that this novel lent some inspiration for Love Never Dies, but in all honesty it only lifts some very basic elements (the setting, Erik's successful business,
Spoiler
Christine and Erik's illegitimate child, Christine getting shot)It takes darn near a hundred pages for the de Chagny family (minus Raoul who might as well be a side character for how much he gets mentioned, I think the poor guy only has two bits of dialogue) to even set foot on American soil.
Easily the best scene is when it's just a stripped down script of Erik and Christine talking back and forth for a couple of pages. I don't know that that's saying much, but there you go. (There's another scene later that's just the two of them talking that's also very good. If this book had just... you know... been about their relationship... the thing everyone cares about... but alas.)
I do have one issue with that bit, though:
Spoiler
Not for one second to I buy the idea of Erik wanting Christine to leave Pierre (their aforementioned illegitimate son) with him. First of all, you don't know a darn thing about children, Erik. Secondly, do you really expect to be able to foster a good relationship with him as a daddy after you tear him away from the rest of his family? Third, and most importantly, he's obsessed with Christine. He wants her more than anything. I don't think that their spawn would be a good substitute for him.And just to ramble about the end for a bit--
Spoiler
Darius is a comically one-note villain, but better him than Meg, I suppose?Listen, I understand that the term "biological father" almost certainly wasn't a thing back in 19-whenever-this-takes-place-the-00s-I-think-I-couldn't-be-assed-to-pay-attention, but it was infuriating for Christine's last words to be about how Raoul isn't Pierre's "real" father.
Then again, Raoul did a heck of a dick move right after that by putting Pierre on the spot to make a choice between him and his "natural father" so what do I know? Extra points for the wooden and unnatural rambling about how Christine totes loved Erik more than him, which, regardless if it's true or not, feels like a thing Raoul "then say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime" de Chagny would decidedly NOT say.
And now for what was REALLY good:
Charles "Cholly" Bloom is the one narrator character original to the story that I actually liked. I found myself laughing at his arguably cliche but no less charming New York reporter antics. Saying "mon-sewer" to a Frenchman in an effort to be polite really got me. Unlike the other characters that made me want to fling myself from the Empire State every time they started navel-gazing about their backstories that never ended up mattering, I liked hearing him talking with his buddies. I also really liked having him as the last POV character in the deep dark drama at the end and the idea that he became a professor later in life. One additional star for Cholly.