An enjoyable read overall, although its potential was somewhat hampered by its length.

The basic plot was very good, if not complex. The tale of Dantes' revenge against those who wronged him is both fun and extremely satisfying. Dantes is established as a good, honest, innocent, loving, generous, and handsome young man - everything the reader wants to see themselves as. Through no fault of his own malicious men plot his downfall and cause him to lose everything that was good in his life - maybe the reader has never been unfairly imprisoned in the Chateau d'If for fourteen years, but they've certainly felt unfairly wronged at some point in their life, and imagined how good life would be if not for the actions of others. Those two points are what the reader finds to relate to in Dantes, and then the rest of the book is compelling not because it is relateable, but because it's pretty much the ultimate revenge fantasy, and nothing could possibly be more satisfying than toachieve immense power, knowledge, and wealth and use it to cast down your enemies, drive them before you, and hear the lamentations of their women. Dantes achieves all of this, and the fact that the means through which he does so are so outrageously unlikely doesn't matter. We know that we'll never become the richest man on earth, but if someone has to be then Edmond Dantes is certainly a worthy choice, and his revenge is so extravagant that it almost doesn't matter that it's not you reaping the reward. Dumas appeals to the downtrodden in the world - even if they have no money or education, he tells them that love is more important, and if they lose that, well you can always hope to miraculously receive the world's best education and the world's greatest fortune.

I'm being a bit trite. It's certainly not the deepest of stories, but it is a good one. I mock the appeal, but that doesn't mean it isn't both there and near-universal.

The prose was also pretty good. Didn't feel too dated despite its age, and there were some nice passages. I listened on audiobook, and the narration was excellent.

However, I felt that the novel's origins as a magazine periodical began to show too strongly in the second half. All the main plot points are set up, all of the characters introduced, and all that remains is for the Count to take his revenge. Obviously some time is needed before he achieves it to make the payoff more rewarding, but not so many hundreds of pages. And those hundreds of pages weren't filled with the Count's exotic adventures, but with a Parisian soap-opera with bland characters and minimal plot development. Realistic characterisation is not this book's strong suit, and yet the latter half of the story is almost entirely character-driven. The Count is not realistic, but he is still a somewhat compelling character with his mystery and righteousness of cause. Villefort was, I thought, the best character in the book. He managed to display more than one side to himself, his actions seemed reasonable (even his initial betrayal of Dantes was pretty understandable, if not morally pure), and when he finally had his comeuppance I genuinely felt sorry for him. His father Noirtier was also enjoyable to read about, although not amazingly well developed, and the same goes for Cadareuse and Albert. But I'm not exaggerating when I say that these were the only characters I cared about, and considering how many are in play, that's not a great score. Mercedes almost makes the list, but she should have been made more interesting and given more agency. We're repeatedly told how she's not like other women, she has a spark, she's intelligent and witty etc., but we're never shown it. Show don't tell is pretty basic stuff. Also, the Count should have ended up with her at the end of the book. We are told constantly how much he loves her and misses her, but then he meets her (and it is obvious that she recognises and loves him), but he still acts as if she is lost to him. I don't know the intricacies of divorce and remarriage in Restoration Paris, but an ending of Edmund and Mercedes riding off into the sunset after being separated for so long seems like the obvious (even only) option. Instead the Count rides off into the sunset with Haidee, who he has repeatedly described as a daughter to him, but who (to Freud's presumable delight) decides she loves him as more than just a father, and he decides he loves her as more than just a daughter. Haidee was another character who we were supposed to think highly of, but then given no reasons to do so. At no point did I find her compelling. The same goes for Maxamillien Morell, Valentine, and half of Paris, many of whom were not only uncompelling, but mutually indistinguishable.

However the Count starts to wonder whether his revenge is truly justified, and his doubts cause the reader to start doubting, too. The fact that he lets almost the entire Villefort family die because Villefort is his enemy was taking things a bit too far, and I didn't understand why he had to let Morrel think that Valentine was dead for a month just so that he could do a dramatic reveal. This all taints the purity of the revenge somewhat, and so the ending wasn't as satisfying as I hoped. I was willing to ignore the unrealistic characters and far-fetched plot to just enjoy the ride, but the ride could have been more enjoyable. I also disliked the Count's use of providence as an excuse for his cruelty.

As always, I find it easier to speak about what I don't like than what I do like in books. Despite everything I've written, I did enjoy this.

7/10

The first love of my life

I weak for a good revenge plot.

4.5*
This is the best corruption arc I've ever read.
People from the nineteenth century have no right to be this funny.
Also I think it's a good thing he ended up becoming so filthy rich, his flair for drama would've been wasted as a sailor.