Book Description

The Wordsworth Classics covers a huge list of beloved works of literature in English and translations. This growing series is rigorously updated, with scholarly introductions and notes added to new titles.

This novel is a tale of extraordinary events, tragedy, horror, pathos, humour and a gallery of minor characters. The portrait of the hideous musician, crazed by his extreme ugliness, shows compassionate insight into the criminally insane mind.

From Publishers Weekly

Gaston Leroux's famous gothic novel of intrigue and romance beneath the Paris Opera House has spawned a number of spinoffs; this storybook adaptation is not among the more felicitous. It tells, of course, of the beautiful opera singer Christine and the choice she must make between the disfigured Phantom, who taught her her craft, and the Viscount she has long loved. Leroux's is an intricate and complex story; here, it is given a summarized, reductive treatment. Characters and their motivations are scantily developed; the prose has a rushed, breathless quality that is overly melodramatic even for its subject; and, as presented, many specifics of the plot, as well as its eventual resolution and meaning, seem likely to leave children bewildered. The illustrations are stylized and garishly colored; they do not help to explicate the text nor do they make it inviting to the picture-book audience. No ages given.

From Independent Publisher

This children's version of The Phantom of the Opera may be of special interest to those adults fortunate enough to have seen the Broadway smash hit of the same name. Those attending will be uniquely qualified to compare the picture book to the musical production. Both works are based on Gaston Leroux's novel of 1911, as were several earlier film adaptations. For the majority of readers, those who have not seen the stage production, the book must be judged on its own merit whether or not it succeeds as a children's story. Author Peter Neumeyer admits that distilling the essence of this 300-page novel into a fairy tale was not easy. He has concentrated on the more dramatic scenes: the falling chandelier; the descent of the Viscount and the Persian into the dismal cellars of the Paris Opera House with all their horrors; and the conclusion, in which the tears of the Phantom and the heroine, Christine, mingle. Some may say the story is too sophisticated for young children, but it is no more so than some versions of Beauty and the Beast. The language used is that of a classic fairy tale. Don Weller's wonderfully flamboyant color illustrations, falling somewhere between great art and cartoons, add immensely to the book. 'Me interplay between text and illustration makes for a perfect format and a visual treat. Recommended for children of all ages--~'and their parents."

From the Inside Flap

In 1910, the mystery novelist Gaston Leroux, working from scraps of history, theatrical lore, and his own fertile imagination, created a masterpiece in Le fant?me de l'opéra, the story of a disfigured composer who lives in the labyrinthine depths of the Paris Opera. After the breathtaking debut of Christine Daaé, the whispers of an Opera ghost seem to become reality as the young singer vanishes. As the Phantom strikes again and again, targeting foes from a jealous diva to a romantic rival, Leroux spins a thriller of obsession and violence with, at its center, a tormented murderer who awakens our deepest fears and sympathies. The inspiration for Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running musical, Leroux's novel is still more riveting than anything Broadway could produce.

Book Dimension :

length: (cm)19.8 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)12.6

卡斯頓·勒鬍（Gaston Leroux, 1868-1927），20世紀初期法國最傑齣的推理小說作傢，在法國有“永恒的記者”之稱。勒鬍畢業後在一傢律師事務所做書記員，業餘創作隨筆和短篇小說。1890年開始投身報業，曾作為特派記者周遊世界各地。1900年開始創作長篇小說。他的小說風格詭異，擅長以不可思議的內容與場景營造恐怖玄異的氣氛，並且在恐怖中淋灕盡緻地錶達人性。他的著作《黃色房間之謎》被稱譽為“不可模仿、不可超越的推理小說傑作”。