Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #401081 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 177 pages

Customer Reviews

Ridiculous plot, insult to original novel
Anyone who has read the original novel of The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux, will be extremely disturbed (if not angered and outraged) by Forsyth's sequel to the story, written with the encouragement of Andrew Lloyd Webber. In his preface, Forsyth explains to the reader how Leroux was 'wrong' in various aspects of his novel, and how the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on the work 'corrected' these errors (including the title character's death at the end). The reader is naturally left breathless at Forsyth's arrogance in claiming that the creator of the characters could be wrong about them.

Forsyth's Phantom was a young man at the time of the action of the story (and musical, who he both bases his work on and contradicts), with none of the life history given to him by the original author of the story, or even the show that made it famous. The sequel may be an enjoyable story to someone who does not know the original work and enjoys weak soap opera plots, but the Phantom he portrays bears no resemblance to the Phantom of the classic novel which gave him birth. Forsyth's Phantom lacks any sort of psychological depth. It is a great pity that such a highly regarded author apparently has no respect for other authors and thinks he can 'correct' their mistakes with such a weak novel. Do not waste your money on this book....