One does not make the decision to read this book lightly. This massive doorstop of a novel looks overwhelming and, having been written in the 1840, one has to wonder if there is any way to translate the original 19th century French to modern English in such a way that one would honestly want to power through over 1300 pages.
Turns out, this book is a classic for a reason. I DID want to power through. I made the important pivot to listen to an audiobook version instead of holding it in my hands. I knew I would have more time to listen than to sit and read and I was worried about my attention waning. This was the perfect choice for me. Even listening at 1.7x it was over 44 hours. You do have to know all this in your head before you start.
We don't know the Count at the beginning because, in fact, the Count doesn't actually exist. Who DOES exist is the earnest and very-much-in-love Edmond Dantès. This young man is an excellent sailor, a trustred friend, and when we meet him, he is returning home from a voyage overseas. He is eager to reunite with his love, Mercédès, who is anxiously awaiting his return. At this time, France is in political turmoil as Napoleon is plotting to return to power and men must choose where their loyalties lie. And thus the Count's origin story begins when he is caught up in a plot laid by three jealous and power-hunger men who ensure that Dantès ends up in a prison cell for actual years. And while our young hero is in jail, his pain and grief and rage turn into a resolute desire for revenge that will not stop. When miraculous circumstances lead to Dantès transforming into the man named the Count of Monte Cristo, that optimistic and innocent young man dies and the man that is left behind sees himself as the hand of God, destined to mete out punishments and enact the justice that he feels fits the crimes committed against him.
Because it was originally a serial, the chapters are good bite-sizes and it's super readable. In between all the plot and machinations of the Count, there are some really big and deep ideas here about justice and forgiveness and what is worth living for. Evil is so blatantly evil and it feels like everywhere you look, characters are weak and focused on the all the wrong things. There are certainly a lot of plot threads that have NOT aged well, especially those concerning slavery and opioid drug use, which caught me off guard. But when you let your brain acknowledge when this was written and then just lean into the time period, there is so much going on here that it's honestly sometimes hard to keep straight. You'll have CHAPTERS AND CHAPTERS of what must surely be a completely unrelated plotline and then somehow BAM. There's the hand of the Count AGAIN. As much as I'd occasionally get bored during these interludes, I did always enjoy when things tied back in again.
By the end? While there are so many literal villains, I also found that I cared about so many of these characters. The young woman who just wants to be with who she chooses, the grandpa who wants to use his voice to help the ones he loves most, the young man who has never forgotten the stranger who helped his family. I wanted to know how their stories ended! The last couple dozen chapters are like a giant showcase showdown of WHAT IN THE WORLD?? as all of the Count's plans come to fruition - and not always in the ways he'd anticipated. I appreciated HIS growth as a character as well, learning how to be not just a friend but someone who can truly let get of his deep and heavy pain.
It's a wild ride. If you like stories with disguises, untold wealth, hidden caves and mysterious poisons, secret plots, public revelations of one's darkest secrets and the kind of love that can stand the test of time, then hear me out. Read this book.
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