PHANTOM

Rating:
Summary: Enchanting!
Review: The Phantom is by far one of the most enchanting books I've ever read. My fascination with Erik and envy of his talents (music, art, language, architecture, etc.) pulls me through the pages with such ease that I can hardly find myself putting the book down. The Phantom is written in such a way that you are told the story of Erik's life through several different people during different time periods (1831-1897). I find myself either loving and/or hating the characters that Susan Kay has placed throughout the book, and also sympathizing with Erik as he is continually left alone. In short, I highly recommend this book. It will keep you interested until the final page where you will then wish there were still more pages to be read.

Rating:
Summary: not quite the original, but excellent storytelling
Review: It is inevitable that adaptations don't have the same feel as originals, but plotwise, at least, Kay wove her interpretation into Leroux's story very well. Using the author's epilogue on Erik's background, she has fleshed out bare details into a story that allows the reader a fuller image into the depths of the soul of a man who is shunned for his looks, though "his heart could have contained the world", evoking compassion, horror, and pity. Kay does not take extreme literary license that shocks a devotee of the original, structuring her story within Leroux's. The style, true, is not classic material, written in a more understandable, direct fashion, but in reading it I was not distracted from the story by the writing. I am of the opinion that you should judge an interpretation's merit using the original as a base. Leroux's more constrained style of his era is "modernized" with this novel of Kay, who does a fine job. My advice is to read Leroux first in order to appreciate how much Kay portrays the Opera Ghost's tale.

Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking! Marvelously written!
Review: Susan Kay's understanding of Erik is beyond top notch. There is no putting this novel down once you pick it up. Kay surpasses Leroux in every way - and though I respect Leroux and his classic tale, Kay has gone in and added meat to the bones of the classic. They can STOP writing Phantom books now....none will EVER surpass Susan Kay's "Phantom."

Rating:
Summary: BUY THIS NOW, please
Review: This is one of the best books i have ever, ever read.
I am a devoted PotO fan, and this book is the best thing you could read besides the original novel...
Kay does abeautiful job wth the story. Every sentence draws you into the book. i read it in two days, and i haven't given it back to the library yet...
I have to admit, i cried so hard at the end. I have never cried at any movie or song, or book (withthe exception of the original Leroux novel) but this book was different...
I feel with and for the characters, it was just really moving...

Altogether you should buy this book, you will not regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Let your darker side give in
Review: Without a doubt the most beautifully written adaption of "The Phantom of the Opera" ever! I'm a huge fan (or 'phan' as we admirers of him are nicknamed) of the story and of the phantom myself so when I went in search of other phantom products (I had already fallen in love with the entire musical and had bought the 2 disk full soundtrack) I found this. Unfortunatly it is out of print. After buying it off of eBay I devoured it in a day and a half. Never in my life have I read a more hauntingly beautiful love story~! It is the tale of Erik (a.k.a Phantom of the Opera), whom was deformed at birth, as he lived his life full of hardships beyond imagination. It gives you a new perception of beauty because Erik is by far the most beautiful literary character I have ever seen (despite his deformation and warped imagination, which can be both beautiful and terrible). It makes you wish he were real so that you might wipe away his tears when he cries and you can almost hear him sing when he does in the book. A tale of sorrow, beauty, deceit, friendship, horror, imagination, love, you name it and this book has it. Just sit down in a comfortable spot, have a box of tissues handy, and your imagination run wild. Just make sure you start early unless you plan on reading throughout the night because it is near impossible to put this book down once you begin it!

Rating:
Summary: What?
Review: Am I the only person here who didn't like the book? I ordered this much touted novel based mostly on the repeated strength of the reviews here, and overall I'm disappointed. Susan Kay's writing style is puerile and simple, and out of place with such a potentially powerful story to tell. At times it reads no better than a Harlequin romance (and there are specific items to address with that in mind), and some of the more outlandish plot elements would, at least, benefit greatly from a more experienced storyteller in charge of this project.

On the positive side, having not read the Leroux novel beyond the first few chapters (and Kay's effort singularly defeats the original in terms of scope and readability), a number of confusing items were summarily cleared up for me. The lake under the Opera House, the manner of the Phantom's salary and his extravangant sense of dress all make sense! The Phantom's pyrotechnic tricks, Carlotta's stage croaks, and the mystery of the noises from Box Five are also summarily treated, turned from supernatural to singularly amusing deceptions. On a side note, Raoul's character is delightfully hateful and is the only narrative point of view which is not only uniquely voiced but uniquely carried; it's a shame that his part was so useless.

On the other hand, the book's failures are grievously exacerbated by the potential this book had. One of Andrew Lloyd Weber's successes with his musical Phantom were the quirks and peculiarities of the bit characters; Carlotta's aggravation toward the fawning advances of her admirers, the new management's exasperation at the initially benign antics of the Phantom. Kay drops a number of the amusing and revealing interchanges between the characters, even when they were potentially recordable through Christine's journal, and trivializes more. For instance, Carlotta's confrontation with Christine on the stage was, in Kay's interpretation, unprovoked (other than, of course, for Carlotta's crime of being Carlotta!).
A lot of good opportunities were missed. Furthermore, the novel continually mismatched clumsy and extravagant melodrama in the narrative with comparatively terse and clipped dialogue. The Phantom's fleeting jealousy over Christine's shawl was grossly mishandled, and comes across as juvenile. Also, Kay's insistence on using ... <-- periods to emote suspense and indecision in her characters grew tiresome by about page 10.

In my opinion, the book curled up and died when Christine, after the Phantom flies into a rage and terrifies her into her prepared room in his chamber, hears him playing his masterwork Don Juan; and, rather than finding it disturbing and strange, it thrills her into a sexual frenzy, and she masturbates (for the first time?). Kay's strained narrative finally breaks here, and the scene carries along in a jangling fashion, alternating between scrupulously descriptive and laboriously veiled ('a place I had never known existed...', and detours through an appalling number of cliches along the way. The book's already wavering credibility does not recover after this death blow, and reading the rest of the book became merely an exercise in completion.

Rating:
Summary: Darkly beautiful
Review: I first read this book when I was 12, and it quickly became my favorite. Well that was 10 years ago, and even with all the reading I do, that still hasn't changed! I've read this book at least 50 times (^_^) Erik is a character you get attached to...you care about what happens to him, and you really feel for him. It's too bad that this book isn't better known, It's so well written, and there's always something to keep you enthralled. I hope it comes back in print, My copy's just about dead!

Rating:
Summary: Best Book I Have Read
Review: I can't even explain how awesome this book is. If there were any book I would recommend to anyone, it is this one. I have read it many times and every time I pick it up I am moved to tears.
The story of Erik's life is told by many of the characters perspectives as Erik is growing up. Very beautifully written in every aspect. If you are looking for a book full of beauty, love, and pain this is most definitely the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Phantom
Review: Phantom was seriously the best book that I have ever read! Susan Kay did an incredible job with getting you envolved in the story! I fell in love with Erik (the phantom) and ended up looking at him as normal person. Kay did a wonderful job of rewriting the classic. Even though it is out of print it is compleatly worth looking for!

Rating:
Summary: A True interpretation of the Most Extraordinary Charector
Review: I have never in my life loved a book this much. Everytime you start to read it you will be mad when you have to put it down. If you ever wondered what happened to Erik before the Opera House this is the book for you. This book helps you to learn why Erik is the way he is. Every chapter will leave you stricken with a deep emotion. Susan Kay took great care in her research and it payed off. You can see every detail in your mind it's almost like watching a movie. She portrays colors, emotions, and every aspect of this genius's life.