Reviews - Il Conte di Montecristo

8.66k reviews for:

Il Conte di Montecristo

Alexandre Dumas

4.32 AVERAGE

ibrumfie's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

yklee1's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

earnest's review against another edition

5.0

There are more than 1200 pages in this book and it still feels like Dumas still can write more out of the story. Although maybe out of the other characters as the Count's revenge story has come to an end. Through the entire book I never once felt it a slog to read through the pages. Dumas write in an interesting manner and even while digressing about various subjects like Orientalism or society he makes it relevant to the story at hand.

The book is divided into different sections based on primary location. Marseilles, Chateu d'If, Monte Cristo, Rome and finally Paris. Aside from the Count, different characters serve as the primary focus of the story. Sub-plots which are just as hooking as the main one. I think most of these are removed in the abridged editions. I cannot fathom those editions since the book is a unified whole where one action leads to the next. Others may be relevant only much later in the story. We are introduced to different chacracters who we will definitely like and others that we'd love to hate. The variegated relationship of these characters become focal points in the story and the episodes they star in gives us the deeper context that would otherwise be lost in a shorter book.

The character of the Count is very much an anti-hero. Though he does abominable things in order to take revenge on the ones that have wronged, in the end he is still symphatetic to me and I rooted for the success of his plans.

The book is definitely a precursor to the modern melodrama with all its scheming, faints, duels, kindnaps, mistaken identities, love stories and coincidences that takes a deft slate of hand to achieve, something that Dumas does with flourish to spare.