It was time to read The Phantom of the Opera from start to finish, which doesn't sound like a big deal except that I was honestly unable to remember if I'd ever read it before. This is strange considering I've been a fan of the story for so long, and the events of the first chapter (which has little resemblance to the musical) certainly rang some bells. So did other bits and pieces throughout the novel, so I can't confidently say this was my first read-through.
It's also difficult for me to recall just when I became deeply interested in the story: certainly by high school, when a friend lent me her cassettes and libretto from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical (which among other things, led to our cat being named Phantom), but perhaps even a little before this, when my uncle sent us several computer games from Australia, one of which was called Return of the Phantom, set at the Paris Opera House and involving a time-slip adventure/mystery.
But I'll have more to say on that in my end-of-month log. This post is about announcing that I can now definitively say I've read Leroux's original novel. And it was a surprising experience in many ways.
More than anything else, I was hoping to garner more insight into the characters; delving into their backgrounds, personalities and inner thoughts - though in truth it's actually the musical that does a much better job of characterizing Raoul and Christine.
Yeah, I'm astonished too.
