That's too bad. I remember liking this book quite a lot when I read it at high school, though that does have a lot to do with the teacher who lent it to me, whom I loved, and which I have never managed to read again, though most of the stuff she lent me I've managed to find again one way or another, so I suppose that's my subconscious telling me something.

And I love the musical, which is totally campy and schmaltzy and has terrible lyrics that frequently make no sense ("The moonlight on the bed will fade away/ Some day" -- what?) and uninspired music. And when I saw it, Douglas Sills was playing the Pimpernel, and he was amazing -- my contention is, people are interesting and worthy of respect by virtue of being played by Douglas Sills :)