'The Count of Monte Cristo' has everything a novel needs to be exciting!

Poison, love, betrayal, and secrecy are just a few words to sum up "The Count of Monte Cristo." *Slight Spoilers

I watched the 2002 movie starring Jim Caviezel as Edmond Dantes and I absolutely fell in love with it. This reminded me that I had the unread book sitting on my shelf for years. Why had I gone on with my life without having read it?

This 1844 novel takes place during the Napoleonic era, a time when nearly everyone in society had secrets up their sleeves and nobody could be trusted. Edmond Dantes had it all: a kind heart, good looks, a beautiful fiancé named Mercedes, and a chance at becoming captain of the ship, The Pharaon, at just 20 years old. Unfortunately, his thriving life comes to a complete halt when he is falsely accused for treason and thrown into the Chateau d'If. After 14 years of imprisonment, he manages to escape and seeks out revenge on those responsible. 

Dumas succeeds at character development. This can be observed in the transition from Edmond Dantes to The Count of Monte Cristo.

From the time that he was Edmond Dantes, the protagonist is a man that only one could dream of! Dantes was successful, honest, loyal, and a good son. One of his negative traits, however, was that he lacked to see the bad in people. One can say that his gullibility most certainly did not help him during this time period! When Dantes developed into The Count of Monte Cristo, he most definitely changed, but was it for the better or for the worse?

He still carried with him that charismatic and caring quality, but being that he suffered so much and after realizing who caused his 14 years of imprisonment, he changes, and the readers begin to see this new identity, a dark side of the former Dantes. In the novel, there is a theme of the wicked being punished and the good being awarded. After TCOMC discovers the treasure, readers discover his trait of cleverness as he carries out his revenge plot. Throughout the novel, the changed man has all of his enemies wrapped around his fingers so well that it's almost like he's looking down upon pawns on a board game. Checkmate.

My opinion of one character in particular that shifted a bit is Villefort. Villefort has a scandalous secret and though he believes his past is buried, it will come back to haunt him. Readers will absolutely hate him at first, but will eventually see another side of him later on in the novel.

Set aside your judgement of how different the movie is from the book (Is that even possible for bibliophiles?)

Book lovers say that the movie industry ruins the story. Although I absolutely enjoyed the movie, I can attest this common phrase. The movie lacks so many, and I mean, So MaNy DETAILS! That is not to say, however, that the movie didn't capture the essence of the setting of the book. Long story short, if you loved the movie, read the book. If you read the book, still watch the movie, but don't let the fact that you read the book first affect your judgement of the movie. Despite the differences, I still love the film and recommend watching it.

If you dread books with a lot of characters, keep a character chart as a guide.

There are quite a lot of characters, but it's bearable. All of them are significant and connected, so be careful not to passively read them! Dumas succeeds at pointing out how flawed and sinful that society was during the Napoleonic era.

Here's the edition that I read!

Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo. Bantam Books, 1981.