The Count of Monte Cristo

Author: Alexandre Dumas
Published: 1844 (in French)
Genre: Adventure
Pages: 1,312 (Abridged version available)
Target Age: Teens and older
Other books by Dumas: The Three Musketeers
Movies: Has been adapted for film (television and the big screen) in every decade since the 1930's--most recently in 2002 starring Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, and Richard Harris.

Synopsis:
Set in France following the turmoil of Napolean's first fall, Dumas' tale of revenge centers around naive sailor Edmond Dantes. He is engaged to marry the kind-hearted Mercedes but, betrayed by jealous friends, is falsely accused of treachery and imprisoned for many years. While captive in the Chateau d'If, Dantes befriends fellow inmate Abbe Faria, an Italian priest who teaches him how to read and helps him discover the cause of his imprisonment. Before his untimely death, Faria tells Dantes of a hidden treasure and where he can find it. Dantes escapes from the Chateau d'If in Faria's 'coffin' (i.e. canvas bag) and goes out in search of the legendary riches. Upon finding the treasure, Dantes hatches a plot to exact his revenge on those who betrayed him...

My Thoughts:
After refreshing my memory (I read Monte Cristo over the summer and needed some help reconstructing the synopsis) on Wikipedia, I realized that I read the abridged version of Dumas' book, as some of the plot twists were new to me(unless there are some good liars on Wiki who slipped through unnoticed, which is possible). Either way, the abridged version still topped several hundred pages and bore little resemblance to the 2002 film, my inspiration for reading The Count of Monte Cristo. It pains me to say this (as a "bibliovore"), but I enjoyed the film more than the book. This is only the second time I've felt this way (the first being J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring--that wasn't a novel, it was a textbook) and it was likely due to the fact that I had seen the movie so many times before reading it and usually I read the book first. My complaint with most movies is that they cut out too much and over-simplify, but that came as a relief in both The Count of Monte Cristo and The Fellowship of the Ring. Perhaps most significantly, the film's resolution was much more satisfying than Dumas'. (Had I read it before watching the film I'd probably be saying the exact opposite, but I suppose we'll never know.) I realize that this says very little about the book itself, so let me expound a bit. Dumas' book was readable (unlike Tolkien's) and entertaining. That being said, Dantes' revenge was at points so convoluted as to lose its potency. Okay, so that still isn't much, but it's better.)

My Recommendation:
Read this if you're looking for a classic adventure and are willing and able to invest the time to finish it in a relatively short period (if drawn out, it could become harder to follow).

Historical Note:
"In 1838 a police archivist named Jaques Peuchet published six volumes of crime stories taken from the files of the Paris police. In one file was the story of a young shoemaker from Nimes who in 1807 became engaged to marry a rich and beautiful orphan, but because of a despicable practical joke played by four jealous friends was falsely arrested as a spy for the English against Napoleon and imprisoned until the empire fell in 1814. While in prison he had met a dying Italian priest who told him where a great treasure was buried. Upon his release he found the treasure and, using various disguises, cold-bloodedly wreaked his vengeance on those responsible for his misfortune, one of whom had married his fiancee." (Robert Wilson, in his forward to The Count of Monte Cristo)
Sound familiar?

Selected Quote:
"The sea is the cemetery of the Chateau d'If."