IELTS book report task on Phantom of The Opera

1. The book I chose was ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, originally known as ‘Le Fantome Le
I’Opera’, written by a French author, Gaston Leroux. It was first published in English in 1911, and
originally published in French in 1910 as a serialisation in Le Gaulois.
I choose this book as the title seemed a bit mysterious and it built up my curiosity to know
more about the book. The book can be classified as a gothic novel which mainly focused on romance
and mystery. My first expectation when I chose this book was to provide some uniqueness that hardly
can be found in any other books. Actually, there were so many ideas in this book related to detective
fiction, urban fantasy, thriller and pulp fiction, altogether in this book. This book surely for me who
really wanted to know the truth behind the phantom character. The English used for the translated
version was not too difficult for me to understand. Simply saying it was understandable to read.
The author used a descriptive and figurative language to associate different levels of the
Opera House with Heaven, Hell, or realms between them. The novel resonates with allusions to angel
and demon.
‘I had, no doubt, to do with a terrible, eccentric person, who, in some mysterious fashion, had
succeeded in taking up his abode there, under the Opera house, five stories below the level of the
ground.’ P105
Christine Dae when she first came down to the basement area of the Opera House described the
realms between the Heaven and Hell of the Opera House.
“He no longer doubted the almost supernatural powers of the Angel of Music, in this domain of the
Opera in which he had set up his empire” P130
Here the Angel of Music referred to the Phantom who had living in the opera for such a long time.
The Angel of Music was the one who taught Christine Dae to sing perfectly for the sake of the
performance even though they had never met, even once. This very effectively shown how the
different level of the Opera House filled with allusions to angel and demon, as the phantom named
Erik had both angel and demon characters within himself.
One of the characters that attracted me the most was Erik. Erik, the phantom, also known as
Christine’s Angel of Mus ic was the character that I always looked up to when reading this book. Erik
might be disadvantageous for his appearance but it does not bother a bit. For me, beauty is from
within, not on the outside. Sure his face may put a few people off, but he is so beautiful, because of
his love for music, and also Christine. ‘He accuses himself, he curses himself, and he implores my
forgiveness! He confesses his cheat. He loves me!’P107. Without Christine, there is no point in him
living, and let's face it, he's the hero of the whole show.
A major theme of this book is there is hidden beauty inside everyone. This was explained well
by Erik’s character. Erik, who was lacking in appearance and a bit harsh towards others, he always
showed his hidden beauty when he with Christine Dae. "...A wedding ring, you know...I slipped it
into her little hand, "There!...take it!...take it for you...and him!...It shall be my wedding-present...a
present from your poor, unhappy Erik...I know you love the boy...don't cry anymore!” P253.
This was the loveliest extraordinary display of inner beauty that I have ever read in a book. This quote
truly displays Erik’s true nature, and how beautiful he was on the inside, though he might be terrible
to look at on the outside, here he proved that he was not the emotional monster Paris made him out to
be, but a sweet, gentle, loving man, who cared for his love for than himself, and willingly to let her go
for the man that she loved. That is a true display of true inner beauty.
This book is quite mysterious and getting more exciting as one reads it. You will never expect
what will happen next. Once you read this book, I am surely believe that you will hardly to put down
this book to know more about tricks that the genius Erik had planned, also the storyline will never

2. make you regret once you read the book.. This book, even if written in the twentieth century, Gaston
Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera belongs to this era where everything was larger than life. It is also
a work of great pertinence today, because it is a gothic novel that branches in many directions. There
were paranormal, crime, romance and the good-natured pen of Gaston Leroux was prescient to pulp
fiction. I would definitely recommend this book to others as the reasons above.