The Phantom of the Opera -- Week 15

Hi, everyone:) Today I have a test. This test is the last test of the freshman. I don't know if I can get a good score, but I'll do my best!!


I read The Phantom of the Opera by Jennifer Bassett. Publisher is Oxford University and the book has only 56 pages, so it was easy for me to read.

It is 1880, in the Opera House in Paris. Everybody is talking about the Phantom of the Opera, the ghost that lives somewhere under the Opera House. The Phantom is a man in black clothes. He is a body without a head, he is a head without a body. He has a yellow face, he has no nose, he has black holes for eyes. Everybody is afraid of the Phantom - the singers, the dancers, the directors, the stage workers...

Christine Daae is wonderful, the best singer in the world. All Paris says that Christine has the voice of an angel. In fact, she has a music teacher. She never sees him, she only hears his voice. He teaches her how to sing in her dressing-room on Tuesday night. He is a wonderful singer and makes her famous. Christine believes he is the angel of music, but in fact he is the Phantom of the Opera. He isn't a ghost, he's a man and his name is Erick. He loves Christine and wants her to be his wife. Chrsitine is fascinated and drawn towards Erick, but she falls in love with her childhood sweetheart, the Vicomte de Changy, Raoul. Erick is madly jealous and going to kill Raoul. Christine, to save Raoul, agrees to marry Erick and kisses him. Erick put his ugly face in his hands and cries because that is his first kiss from a woman. Even his mother never kisses him and gives him his first mask when he is two years old. Erick makes Christen go with Raoul and disappears forever.

It is a very sad story. I pity for the Phantom of the Opera, Erick. When I was a junior high school student, I watched the movie which was showed in 2004. The movie, especially the last scene moved me to tears. The soundtrack of the movie is also great. I want you to watch the movie or read the book.

Through this blog, I could know the pleasure of reading a western book and writing an article in English. This blog also makes my English skills including Reading and Writing improve. I was very glad to enjoy doing the assignment. Thank you very much for reading my blog for a year:)

Love Story -- Week 14

Hi, everyone:) Spring vacation is coming soon! Do you have any plans for? I have a lot of plans, for example, going to driving school, participating in English camp, meeting with my friends in Shizuoka, Tokyo and Kobe. I'm looking forward to them;)


Well, I'll introduce a new book. I read Love Story by Erich Segal. Publisher was Oxford University Press, so the book wasn't so long and difficult for me to read. 

This is a love story about Oliver and Jennifer. Oliver Barrett the Fourth is a big Harvard sportsman. He's rich, he's clever, he's good with girls. His father is a rich banker in Boston. Jennifer Cavilleri is a music student. She's beautiful, she's clever… and she thinks big Harvard sportsmen are stupid. Her father is a poor baker in Rhode Island. 

Oliver meets Jennifer at the library on the Radcliffe campus. They fall in love and get married even though Oliver's father informs him that if he marries Jenny, he will be cut off from the family fortune. One day, however, a doctor tells them that Jennifer has a fatal type of leukemia and doesn't have much time left. Jennifer becomes so ill that she agrees to be placed in the hospital. Oliver stops going to work, preferring to be at Jennifer's side as often as she will allow. Oliver wants Jennifer to have everything she needs, so he goes to his father and asks for five thousand dollars without telling his father why. However, Jennifer's health declines quickly and she died. When Oliver leaves the hospital after his wife's death, he finds his father rushing in. Oliver's father has just learned of Jennifer's illness and has come to support his son. Oliver allows himself to be consoled in his father's arms for the first time since he was a small child.

I was moved by the story. There are the words "Love means you never have to say you're sorry." in the book. I think they are so wonderful. In next blog, I will introduce another book!