LOADING IMAGES
Available on 
The Phantom of the Opera is a chilling tale interlaced with darkness, despair, love, and redemption. Gaston Leroux published Le Fantôme de l’Opéra in 1910. Over one hundred years later, the basic premise of the story is a worldwide phenomenon. The story never dies, having been published in a variety of forms and immortalized on stage and film. Writers continue to pen sequels, websites and forums continue to inundate the Internet, literature students dissect its hidden meaning in the classroom, and scholars and psychologists publish commentaries. The Phantom’s desperate search for love takes him down a road of obsession and violence, and the cry of his despair echoes in our hearts, “All I wanted was to be loved for myself.”
Lessons From The Phantom of the Opera steps behind the scenes and examines the characters, emotions, symbols, and events. Originally written in blog format by an admirer of the story, each post encourages readers to take a deeper look at the motivation of the characters and hidden symbolism. The author uses Leroux's original work but also touches on the stage and movie versions. Personal reflection is encouraged, and life applications emerge from a timeless masterpiece for everyone to enjoy.
The 3rd Edition of Lessons From the Phantom of the Opera expands the original paperback version released in May of 2009 and touches on the controversial sequel.
Lessons From the Phantom of the Opera started as an obscure blog and gained worldwide readership from Phantom fans. With over 110 posts and encouragement from readers, it was put into print and eBook formats to make it more accessible. The entire blog is still online and free to readers as well.
Those who have followed the blog from its inception know it was never written as a "literary" review of the original work, but focuses upon the emotions and delves into the reasons behind why the story touches everyone differently. Thoughts are taken from all versions - Leroux, Webber's stage version, and the Webber/Schumacher movie. To categorize the book as an attempt at a literary interpretation of Gaston Leroux's original work is grossly incorrect. The author has read Gaston Leroux's Phantom many times and is not ignorant of its setting or its contents, as well as other well-known critics of the story. The second edition of the book contains 11 additional posts with thoughts on themes from Gaston Leroux's work.
The author hopes you will find inspiration and life lessons hidden inside The Phantom of the opera, as you view it through your own opera glasses from Box 5. The Phantom of the Opera belongs to everyone - not just a few in the Phantom community who believe they are absolute authorities on the matter. It is a worldwide phenomenon that has touched the hearts of fans in many forms through the original Leroux book, the Webber stage play, the Webber/Schumacher movie, and other versions. Lessons From the Phantom of the Opera shows no partiality to any of those three forms because the author realizes that there are many fans worldwide who relate to the story on various levels.