Phantom of Manhattan [Paperback]

Frederick Forsyth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000

It was 1882 when Antoinette Giry, Maitresse du Corps de Ballet at the Paris Opera House, took her small daughter to the funfair at Neuilly. And there, in a cage, she saw a filthy manacled creature whose tormented eyes shone from a grotesquely deformed face. It was Antoinette Giry who saved him, freed him, cured his wounds and finally let him find a dwelling place in the labyrinthine depths of the Opera House. The creature - Erik - whose hideous face hid a brilliant brain of near-genius, was to become the Phantom of the Opera - magician, artists, musician, and lover. When he tried to lure the object of his adoration to his underground domain - it was to end in tragedy. It was Madame Giry who saved him once more, set him on a ship to the New World - and there Erik Muhlheim began a new and secret life, a life that began in misery and poverty but in which his incredible skills finally carved out an unexpected kingdom of power. And there it was he learned again of Christine, whose life had changed dramatically since that night in the Paris Opera House. Inevitably, their paths must cross again in the old sequence of tragedy and triumph. The Phantom, one of the most mysterious and romantic figures ever created, soars again in a world of his own making. Frederick Forsyth's magnificent and evocative story adds a new dimension to the legend of the Phantom.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The Phantom of the Opera goes to New York.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

The author of The Day of the Jackal (1971) and Icon (1996) steals more then a page from Gaston Leroux and Andrew Lloyd Webber to bring Erik, the Phantom of the Paris Opera, to America bearing his memories of Christine. Forsyth opens his continuation in 1906 with Antoinette Girya former Paris Opera ballerina who became mistress of the corps de ballet, now 58 and dying of cancertelling the familiar story of Christine de Chagny, the Phantom's beloved, currently the greatest diva in Europe. Giry first saw 16-year-old Erik as a cruelly deformed sideshow freak, with one side of his face looking like molten candle wax and maggots writhing in wounds caused by his chains. Later she freed Erik and nursed him, letting him wander the seven floors under the opera house. Having learned carpentry from his brutal father, who had sold him to the circus, Erik filched what he needed and built his own quarters, then taught himself all the works in the opera's enormous library. He fell in love with Christine, coached her singing, and abducted her once she became a star. When the police and pregnant Christine's beau Vicomte de Chagny saved her, Erik fled. Antoinette found him and, in Forsyth's point of departure from Gaston Leroux, put him on a freighter bound for New York. At this point Erik takes up the story. Starting as a fish-gutter, he becomes as wealthy as Croesus. At first he wants a screened and curtained box at the new Metropolitan Opera, but instead he joins Oscar Hammerstein as a secret partner in opening a house of his own. His eye is on the renowned soprano Nellie Melba. Just as his plans are ripening, however, Christine comes to Manhattan to sing at the Mets inaugural opera. Will she and the Phantom sing together again? Will he see his son at last? Forsyth captures the era with a brilliant series of pasteboard narrators who stand in for Manhattan's garish liveliness. Please understand, though, it's all perfectly operatic. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Corgi (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552147192
• ISBN-13: 978-0552147194
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 4.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (202 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,706,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Frederick Forsyth is the author of fifteen novels and short-story collections. He lives in England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Garbage, December 12, 1999

By 

ravenl4 (Birmingham, AL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Phantom of Manhattan (Hardcover)

I was so excited to find this book, hoping for another like Phantom by Susan Kay. Oh, how I was sadly, sadly mistaken. Please, don't be fooled by the pretty cover of this book or by Andrew Lloyd Webber's review saying it "captures the spirit and style of Gaston Leroux's novel, and the romance and thrills." Ha! That's laughable, and one can only wonder was Mr. Webber serious? He did *read* the book, right?

The book is a disgrace, it's terrible. I am just so sorry that I wasted my money on this garbage. Are you getting the picture here? The book is beyond terrible.

First the insults in the preface and I quote "The way poor Gaston tells it is a mess." And he goes on and on about the mistakes that were made in the original novel. And all I can say is it is you Frederick Forsyth who made the mistakes, and turned the story of Erik, into a mess.

Where do I begin? The first chapter had me PO'd, as Antoinette Giry tells her tale of how she rescues Erik from a cage at the age of sixteen, and of the history behind Erik. The rest of the book goes on to describe Erik as a tycoon (for lack of a better word) money hungry, and hooks up with some other money hungry soul.

The book had no feeling, and absolutely no trace of the Phantom we have come to know and love. None at all. Let me make it clear again. None.

So if you are thinking of reading the book, buying it, getting it for someone else. Don't. Don't waste your time, your money, and save yourself the disappointment. You would be so much better off to read or reread Susan Kay's brilliant novel Phantom. In fact, I'm going back to my well worn copy just to repair the damage Mr. Forsyth caused.

Don't read this book. And if you still have the urge to read it, look at the other reviews. I don't think there is a positive one to be found.

Oh and Amazon, I really wish you would let is have 0 stars... That's what I would rate this one.

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Phans worst nightmare..., December 1, 1999

By 

Crysania (Syracuse, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Phantom of Manhattan (Hardcover)

I would have given this 0 stars if Amazon.com would let me.

First of all, I would like to say that Forsyth's arrogance never ceases to amaze me. In writing a sequel to a classic book, perhaps he should have considered the debt he owed to the author of the original novel. Gaston Leroux has written not some obscure "slim little volume" (as Forsyth seems to think), but rather a wonderful and tragic story that has touched the hearts of millions of readers. There is no mention of Leroux in his acknowledgment section, and his preface is nothing but an explanation of why he (Forsyth) is correct and Leroux was wrong. An author of a fiction novel cannot be wrong, as these are his *own* characters. But Forsyth sits back and explains everything he finds to be incorrect in the Leroux during this preface. Erik (the Phantom) cannot have had a varied life, he explains, because surely he would have come to accept his deformity. Erik therefore must be younger...The list of things Forsyth thinks are wrong is absolutely endless and completely horrifying. He takes away everything that made Erik who he was in the Leroux and turns him into exactly what he claims he is not: a monster with no humanity. As for the book itself: The writing comes from several, unnecessary viewpoints and is often hard to follow. These characters, some who don't even play a major part in the book, really don't have any purpose in narrating this. There is too little of the story to go on. Put simply, this book was supposed to be about Erik, and there is very little of Erik in it. None, if you consider this isn't even the Erik most phans love, but rather some perversion of his character, one who only worships gold. Truly, this book is an awful read with no emotion attached. It's the first time I've ever read a book about Erik and not had tears brought to my eyes. If you want a good book about this wonderful man, read the original (The Phantom Of The Opera: Illustrated And Unabridged Edition), Susan Kay's Phantom, or An Wallace's Letters to Erik: The Ghost's Love Story. Those books, not Forsyth's, captured Erik's soul.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably BAD, November 16, 1999

By 

RuthAnn Anderson (Downey, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Phantom of Manhattan (Hardcover)

Do not waste your money on this book. If you want to read a more expanded version of the Phantom story, do yourself a favor and read, (or re-read) "Phantom" by Susan Kay. The "corrections" made by Forsyth are just plain maddening. (How can anyone have the nerve to correct fiction is just beyond me.) This is the proposed "sequel" to Phantom of the Opera? Where is Eric? Where is his passion, his pain? Who cares about this Phantom who lives in Manhattan? I certainly did not! This book is nothing more than bad melodrama. Save your money!