Title: The Count of Monte Cristo

Author: Alexandre Dumas

Genre: Classics

Pages: 1276

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Classics -- Adventure; Mount TBR; Blogger Recommendations; Book to Movie; Fall into Reading; Rory Gilmore (perpetual)

How I Got It: iPad

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes 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 becomes determined not only to escape but to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. A huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s, Dumas was inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment when writing his epic tale of suffering and retribution.

I had put off reading this classic for far too long. When it showed up on the list for the Blogger Recommendations Challenge, I knew I had to add it to my 2013 TBR list. After taking forever to finish it (I blame the baby and Dumas' lack of brevity), I found that overall I really enjoyed the book.

The Good

Dumas can create very interesting and intriguing characters. I especially loved Dantes, but of course the audience is supposed to connect with him throughout the adventure. The other supporting characters play their parts well. I also enjoyed the storyline even if I knew it before reading the book. I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

The Bad

As this was published in serial form in the 1840s, the novel lacks any sense of editing. Dumas rambles on and on, especially the dialogue sections. Characters take 20 pages to say something that could have been conveyed in 2 pages. There were times that I had to put the novel down because I was getting tired of the slow pace. As such, it took me three weeks to finish it. Also, I loved the passages with Dantes as the main point of view, but felt distracted by chapters from the other characters. Those chapters just didn't seem as engaging. The switching of narrators was tiresome.

While, I had some issues with the novel, this is a classic that everyone should experience at some time in their lives.

Movie:

We happened to own the 2002 version of the novel, so I watched that one. While I enjoyed the film on its own, it definitely changes much of the novel. Dantes is still imprisoned and enacts his revenge once he escapes. But most of the other parts and even character relationships have been changed. I found the weird renewed romance between Dantes and Mercedes to be the most troublesome aspect of the changes. I just couldn't get behind it, even if they made Albert their son instead of Mercedes and Fernand's son. On a much happier note, I loved the action scenes and the introduction of the Count by way of hot air balloon. To any thinking they can watch this movie instead of reading the book, you will miss so much... Go read the book first!