there are a lot of things that are in the musical/movie that make more sense if you've read the book. It's actually a really good book if you can let go of the look and feel of the movie/musical. It actually made my hatred for Raoul increase. He's such a pawn in the book. He'd probably be dead 10 times over if it we're for Christine's intervention.

yeah, I'm going to stop now before this turns into a "why I hate Raoul" rant ^_^