Review: The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I'm so glad I'm finished with this book! It had its great moments, but for a 1200 page book, they were too far between. Much of this was a real slog to get through. There are long conversations about who knows what, and it's often overly descriptive to the point of needing to skim to get to the next scene. My mind wandered a lot, and I had to force myself back on track. I even took a break about half way through and read and couple of other books. I feel like I've been reading it forever.

Like I said, it had its moments. The prison and escape, and then the hammer of vengeance falling on the guilty and taking a few others with it - those parts were good. A lot of what came between was boring setup with a lot of new characters whose viewpoints weren't as interesting as the Count's, and whose importance takes a long time to discover. In the meantime, they're going to parties, attending festivals, and dining with friends. Talking, talking, talking of the society of the day.

While we're thrown in with these strangers at parties, the Count becomes this mysterious figure who we only see observed by others looking on events with a strange smile, or mysteriously knowing and anticipating everything everyone does. He becomes an exotic god, not the person we got to know in the prison at all. It's not until near the end that we return to his viewpoint again, and he betrays some human emotion.

I have to admit that the way he orchestrates the fall of his enemies is brilliant - obviously that is why this is such a well-loved classic. But I guess complex revenge isn't enough for me. There are times when the Count put his true friends through hell by withholding information from them that was really cruel for someone who is supposedly not punishing them along with everyone else. Especially at the end, I thought he took it too far, and so the ending was not as satisfying to me as it could have been.

Overall, I found this to be overrated. I would have enjoyed the story a lot more if it was significantly trimmed. My patience didn't come to fruition until the last 200 pages, and right now I'm not sure if it was worth it. I wish I'd found an abridged version to read - or just watched the movie. It is far, far too long for the payoff.

I'm so excited I can read something else now.



View all my reviews