31) The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux definitely not my usual read here, but I was curious about the original story after watching the YouTube stream of the 25th anniversary production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s beloved musical. I felt though that it dragged on longer than necessary and therefore made it less suspenseful than the show. What also made it less enjoyable was the fact that it jumped between perspectives of a third party observer to that of a first person’s recollection of the events towards the end which ends up being confusing especially when you get right to the last chapter. I am happy though that I watched the musical first because it allowed me to see why things are often left out of movies or changed when books are adapted into movies and in this instance I vastly prefer the show to the novel which is rare for me.
Ooh! I read that one about 10ish years ago after seeing Phantom on Broadway for the second time. I remember the book having some enlightening moments (the hand at the level of your eyes as mentioned by Madame Giry is because the Phantom might throw a noose over over head and hang you, which is not elaborated on in the show, and I think the book shows Meg as Madame Giry's daughter, which I don't remember the show touching on, but it's also been 10 years...I really should bust out the dvd). But overall, I enjoyed the show more than the book.
Side note: The show you watched on Youtube is available on DVD. So is the sequel, Love Never Dies, which I watched on Youtube over the weekend and did not like, although a few of the songs are still haunting my brain.
