I took a long time reading this book. I started it in the fall of 2005, but got only a third of the way in before I put it down. (Aside from the slightly tedious exposition introducing so many new characters at that point, I was going through a bad breakup, where I felt it best not to read about revenge lest I do anything rash.) I picked it back up a week and a half ago, and made steady progress...
more I took a long time reading this book. I started it in the fall of 2005, but got only a third of the way in before I put it down. (Aside from the slightly tedious exposition introducing so many new characters at that point, I was going through a bad breakup, where I felt it best not to read about revenge lest I do anything rash.) I picked it back up a week and a half ago, and made steady progress until I finally finished it last night. (I read the Buss translation, unabridged.)
While it's certainly obvious that Dumas was getting paid by the word, the book draws you in with its attention to detail, and at the height of suspense, it is absolutely gripping. Plus, the transformation of Edmond Dantès from his young, happy self, to the enigmatic Count of Monte Cristo, is both fascinating and a fairly astute psychological look into someone who has been betrayed. Granted, Valentine (among other female characters) is a bit too much of a Mary Sue for modern sensibilities, and the Orientalist attitudes towards anything East of the Danube is a bit too fantastical in a world where so much about the Middle East is (supposedly) common knowledge. But these are minor quibbles, really, and are a product of the time more than anything else. It's great fun.
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