Book Review: The Phantom of the Opera

B. J. Harrison Reads The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Really fun. Reading this on the heels of The Scarlet Pimpernel was interesting. Both had almost mythical, magical events that were generally explained by natural explanations. I was thinking about this especially with a Phantom’s name being something seemingly-mundane like “Erik.” I appreciated that there was one unexplained character and activity in the book – and the shadow had naught to do with Erik.

Turns out Erik means “eternal ruler” or “ever-powerful” and so he seemed with voices, chandeliers, and his access throughout the Opera. Erik is a Scandinavian name and Christine Daaé also has Scandinavian (Swedish) roots (view spoiler)[and Christine and Raoul go on a Scandinavian tour when they escape (hide spoiler)]; I wonder why. It could simply be that Christine is inspired by a real diva of Swedish background.

I remember reading and enjoying this book nearly 30 years ago and thinking it had little to do with the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical (which, let’s be honest, is the only reason I picked it up at the time); I see more of how the musical was lifted out of the story and reordered in places, now.

Leroux de-mystifies what was mystical and explains it as mundane through the Persian – who would probably seem exotic to most Parisians of the time. There’s an interesting juxtaposition there. Is he removing the supernatural to explain away all things as natural? I’m not sure – especially with the black shadow lurking in the cellars.

The reader knows and guesses the rest. It is all in keeping with this incredible and yet veracious story. Poor, unhappy Erik! Shall we pity him? Shall we curse him? He asked only to be “some one,” like everybody else. But he was too ugly! And he had to hide his genius OR USE IT TO PLAY TRICKS WITH, when, with an ordinary face, he would have been one of the most distinguished of mankind! He had a heart that could have held the empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar. Ah, yes, we must needs pity the Opera ghost.

I also wonder a little at his apology for the Phantom and his behavior in the Epilogue. Was Erik really simply misunderstood – thrown away because of his ugliness and incapable of understanding right and wrong and yet a master of puzzles and music and engineering? I’m afraid I have very little sympathy for him on that account. His parade as The Masque of the Red Death was a clue that he really did know what he was doing. Aside from that story and a tenuous connection to a Hans Christian Anderson Tale; I think Goethe’s Faust must be on my to-read list soon (and maybe an opera to watch) because that was brought to the reader’s attention over and over.

Leroux pulled fun tidbits – the 1870 siege, a rumored subterranean lake, a chandelier incident, a mid-Faust soprano replacement – into a seriously fun tale. Was he really pulling off the mask of the natural?



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