Count of Monte Cristo, The
From Zanecorpwiki
Thoroughly enjoyed it. Book and Kindle.
Summary
This is such a good book.[notes 1] Dumas' portrayal of Jacobin-Restoration France feels incredibly authentic. Not only do all the major characters feel alive and authentic, but I'm struck by how much they feel like different people.[notes 2] It really is a masterwork.
On the downside, the books extensive use of language and wit is something readers just have to accept. I love a good turn of phrase, but if you're not the kind of person to laugh at Shakespearian comedy, then this may not be the book for you.
It's a long book with lots of characters who have complex relationships that are only revealed as the book progresses. There's lots of details of which to keep track and since the Count is always ahead of the reader, you end up with all these isolated facts which become important only much later on in the story. There's about a dozen major characters and another dozen key supporting characters. The major characters rotate through the scenes every 2-4 chapters. Due to my schedule, my reading of the book has been very choppy and I often find it hard to pin down the details of what's going on.
Details and Notes
When I talk about the complexity of the book in the summary, I'm not being totally fair. Dumas is trying to communicate the awesomeness of the Count to the reader as well. I think Dumas would be happy to be asked, "How does the Count pull it off? I can't follow half of what's going on!" Obviously, getting this "dazzling intricacy" aspect balanced against alienating the reader is a challenge, and it's part of what makes the book interesting from a literary perspective. I believe most readers will get most of what's going on and be pleasantly surprised from time to time by the re-emergence of a detail or sub-plot that they'd forgotten about but which the Count has firmly in hand.[notes 3]
I found Chapter 57: Andrea Cavalcanti hilarious. It very much put me in mind that the book would do quite well as a faithful mini-series adaptation.
Notes
- ↑ I'm reading in the English translation found in Classic Novels iPhone app by Sun Scroll.
- ↑ The Separation of Psyches is one of the more difficult challenges in writing a novel.
- ↑ This brings up an interesting question about the modern reader vs. the reader of Dumas' time vs. the reader of the future. In most ways the "average" citizen of a developed nation is about as smart as the elite of the elite of a relatively rich nation circa 1850. I don't think The Count of Monte Cristo will ever be considered remedial reading, exactly, but some of the super-human attributes of the Count will probably fade as the story ages. Then it will be time to write a new, even more complex story.
