It's been a long time since I last read this, and figured for the Halloween season, why not revisit it now (2019), though this time I listened to an audio version. I got the book once upon a time because I discovered Andrew Lloyd Webber's version, which I love, but of course wanted to read the original book. I think I liked it more back then (and I'm fairly certain I might have read it before I was able to see the movie/stage version).

First of all, I'm guessing there might be many audio versions of this, so no one narrator, but I wasn't totally thrilled with him. I certainly do not expect someone to do many different voices for many characters or something, but just not so monotone like.

The story itself - even back then, I kept thinking how so many of these characters felt childish. Yeah, they still are - and hearing it can make them more so, particularly Raoul. I did like once again all the familiar-ness of the story, such as hearing the phrases "angel of music" and "keep your hand at the level of your eyes", and the characters we know of. But of course, there are other things in the book that are not on stage - such as Raoul has a brother, the Persian/Daroga, Carlotta is mentioned but not a huge presence in the story. For me, this is one of those cases where the movie (or musical here) is better than the book. To me ALW basically fixes the story, makes more of the characters ones you can take seriously, particularly Raoul. Perhaps the stage makes the Phantom too human, less ghostly than the book does since the book pushes the "O.G., Opera Ghost" far more, but then in the end, he is just that in name only.