The Count of Monte Cristo
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| The Count of Monte Cristo |
One of the most must-read books, at least once in your lifetime
The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (père) completed in 1844. It is one of Dumas' most popular works
Review by Brian Yan
This book is long. Everything about it feels long--from the words to the sentences, to the scenes. Given that it was serially published -- meaning Dumas made his money by the word -- it's obvious why it's so damn long. But trust me, this story is NOT a waste of time.
What it is--is everything. What starts as a thriller, becomes a Game of Thrones-style soap opera, and finishes as a murder mystery. It's a revenge story, in theory, but more than anything it's about love. It's really an existential coming-of-age for adults. The length of seven books, The Count of Monte Cristo contains nearly as many themes and plots and characters. Probably, it covers twice as many subjects. It's basically a Bible.
Something tricky about it is that the first hundred and some pages are absolutely phenomenal. The story starts better than just about anything else, which kind of surprised me.
For something of this length, I expected it to be slow--and at times it is--but the beginning is definitely a page-turner, one that doesn't read dated at all, which again surprised me.
This book is like two hundred years old and translated from French--and while at times it's as head-scratching as Shakespeare--the beginning feels like reading a really good Michael Crichton book.
Edmond Dantes.
The Count of Monte Cristo is, logically, the first character introduced. He's incredibly likeable from the start: he's 19, has his shit together, treats his father like gold, is madly in love, and is excellent at his job. In short, there's a Disney story ahead of him. Just thinking about it is exciting, until in quick succession several extremely unlikable characters are introduced who all conspire against him.
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