The Phantom of the Opera
1910
The Paris Opera House in 1910: a world of gaslit corridors, hidden passages, and a terror that stalks the catwalks. When Christine Daaé, a young Swedish soprano, begins hearing a voice that teaches her to sing with supernatural beauty, she believes her father's promise has been kept, that an Angel of Music watches over her. But the voice belongs to Erik, a deformed genius living in the shadows beneath the opera, and his love for Christine crosses the line from devotion to obsession. As Christine is pulled between her childhood friend Raoul, who offers her a life in the sunlight, and the Phantom, who offers her artistic perfection in darkness, the opera house becomes a stage for kidnapping, murder, and a psychological game that no one can win. Leroux's novel is far darker and stranger than any adaptation has dared to be. It's a story about the monster who was never taught to be loved, and the woman who saw him as something more than a horror.
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“If I am the phantom, it is because man's hatred has made me so. If I am to be saved it is because your love redeems me.””
— Gaston Leroux
“All I wanted was to be loved for myself." (Erik)””
— Gaston Leroux
“Erik is not truly dead. He lives on within the souls of those who choose to listen to the music of the night.””
— Gaston Leroux
“I tore off my mask so as not to lose one of her tears... and she did not run away!...and she did not die!... She remained alive, weeping over me, weeping with me. We cried together! I have tasted all the happiness the world can offer.””
— Gaston Leroux
“He had a heart that could have held the entire empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar.””
— Gaston Leroux
“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 entire empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar. Ah, yes, we must need pity the Opera ghost...””
— Gaston Leroux
“Are people so unhappy when they love?""Yes, Christine, when they love and are not sure of being loved.””
— Gaston Leroux
“Know that it is a corpse who loves you and adores you and will never, never leave you!...Look, I am not laughing now, crying, crying for you, Christine, who have torn off my mask and who therefore can never leave me again!...Oh, mad Christine, who wanted to see me!””
— Gaston Leroux
“You are crying! You are afraid of me! And yet I am not really wicked. Love me and you shall see! All I wanted was to be loved for myself.””
— Gaston Leroux
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Leroux, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-phantom-of-the-opera-e13dd345-41a2-4d12-85ea-0397dd668966.Leroux, G. (1910). The Phantom of the Opera. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-phantom-of-the-opera-e13dd345-41a2-4d12-85ea-0397dd668966Leroux, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-phantom-of-the-opera-e13dd345-41a2-4d12-85ea-0397dd668966.
