history and criticism

Warning: Do NOT pick this book up and start it if you have something that you need to do in the next day or three. You won't be able to put the book down, or if you do, you'll move zombielike through your everyday tasks while your mind stays with the adventures of Edmund Dantes.

The Count of Monte Cristo is a delicious book, full of intrigue, great fight scenes, love, passion, and witty social satire. Dumas has a wonderful grasp of human nature and a talent for rendering all the follies of man in delightful, snappy prose. I immediately recognized people that I know (yes, even myself) in his vivid characters, which made the book all the more engaging to me.

Some people might be put off by the size of the book -- it's a pretty hefty volume -- an tempted to buy the abridged version. Don't! I've heard from people who've read both versions that the abridged version is a pathetic, washed out shadow of the full novel. At any rate, as thick and impossibly long as The Count of Monte Cristo may seem when you open it for the first time, you'll feel as though it's far too short by the time you get to the last page.

Monsieur Le Comte is incredible!!!! The best book I've ever read; I'll miss it... I could not tear myself away from this book... My two year-old recognizes it as "papi's book" because I could not put it down.... I kept my wife up with the story and got a chance to relive it that way. She loved it too.
Dumas makes you fall in love with his characters, with Mercedes, Edmond Dantes, Abbe Faria, Valentine, Haydee, M.Morrel.... and he makes you hate the bad guys, Danglars, Villefort, Morcef... But in the end you end up doubting just like M. Le Comte.... Every character has an incredible story and every story will take you deap into the time and place and the feeling of it all....

This book cannot be described. It must be read. If you will only read one good book in your life; make sure it's this one.

For the past year, I have thought that Austen's Pride and Prejudice would remain my all-time favorite book, but now I see that I am mistaken, as The Count of Monte Cristo has DEFINITELY topped P & P on my list.
This book, about the transformation of Edmond Dantes from an unsuspecting, guileless, innocent young man into a vengeful, dark, and clever man, and how the newly born Dantes uses his fortune and wit to avenge his past life, is one book that I shall never forget. I simply could not put this book down, and was even scolded by my family for neglecting my meals, sleep, and work to read this enchanting story. The details, the plot thick with intrigue and secrets...all of this and more were combined by Alexandre Dumas to create a masterful work of literature that one will surely come to appreciate greatly. I urge you, READ THIS BOOK! You shall not regret it!