Title: The Count of Monte Cristo
By: Alexandre Dumas
Genre: Historical
Pages: 1276
Release Date: August 28th, 1844
Rating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads:
Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas’ epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s.
Robin Buss’s lively English translation is complete and unabridged, and remains faithful to the style of Dumas’s original. This edition includes an introduction, explanatory notes and suggestions for further reading.
Review:
I have always loved the story of the Count of Monte Cristo. The way the Count manipulated and schemed to take down those who wronged him, was genius, but I had mixed feelings about the writing.
This book is a big boy. As a reader who can blast through a 500 page book in a day, I found this read daunting and at times really bland. Keep in mind the year this story was conceived and it does make sense.
The first half of the book was compelling and really easy to follow. The story moved at a wonderful pace as the tale began to weave against Dantes, sending him spiraling into the depths of hell, but as the second part started, there was a lot of character development and backstory that brought the pace to a halt, this is where I had a hard time staying involved in the story. I knew though, the story would pick up again in the end when Dantes finally gets his revenge and reclaims his life.
Even with all the things that would normally make me put a recently written book down, I've learned over the years with these historical reads, you must push through the slow parts to really feel the excitement of the climax.
I'm glad I read this behemoth of a book.
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