Oct 12, 2003 11:27 PM
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(Updated Apr 01, 2005 11:26 PM)
Promoted as a sequel to “The Phantom of the Opera”, I was a bit apprehensive about reading this book, as I hadn’t had the chance yet to read its predecessor. The lingering doubt was, if I would be able to fully comprehend the storyline without knowing its foundation plot?
The preface though, laid all my doubts to rest as Forsyth in, what is the best part of the book, traces the origin of Gaston Leroux’s original work. He pokes into history as how folklore paved the way for Leroux’s tale, the construction of L’Opera Paris, circumstances of Leroux’s life, while simultaneously also lambasting his book for being bloated, loose and irregular in a well put critique. The only saving grace for him, being its underlying tragic plot of unrequited love and then detailing how through an arduous journey it finally achieved pinnacles of fame in the form of Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s famed musical.
The Story
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Erik Muhlheim, deformed beyond tolerance, Phantom, escapes the clutches of a revenge-hungry mob and flees to America. The land of milk and honey, where the only power is money, Erik the master craftsman, driven by an unbending hatred towards mankind, along with his malevolent deputy Darrius services the god of greed ‘Mammon’. Erik, mysterious owner of half the New York, masked and reclusive.
As Erik along with his contact to the world Darrius, reaches new heights of success, a mysterious letter arrives from Paris. A letter that changes his whole life, which brings back the old ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and brings his lost love Christine to the shores of America with her husband and son in tow. A maverick reporter Cholly Bloom and an Irish priest Joseph Kilfoyle add to the mayhem that the letter leaves in its wake. Thus unfolds the tragedy, misfortune that never leaves Erik’s side, because for everything that he gains he loses something more valuable.
The Book
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In this book of one sitting Forsyth displays his usual flair for story-telling, his effort in research is widely acclaimed and so does he prove himself here in detailing 1900 New York with great vivacity. The story unfolds in a sequence of chapters with each chapter narrated by a different character as an account of the event they are part of; this unique touch enforces Forsyth’s ability to innovate and entertain. But, his skill in prose notwithstanding the book loses out on its plot. In his attempt to manufacture mystery Forsyth alludes to the supernatural when Darrius converses with Mammon and the priest with God. Kilfoyle’s conversation with God plays no part in the story as it would like you to believe, it is an endless tunnel, which diversifies from the main path but comes to naught, leading to, disappointment and in a way sense of being cheated. The short book holds your attention until just about the end before its climax turns out to be a big bummer, lame and fraught with predictability it sticks out like a sore thumb in this otherwise appealing yarn.
