I'vereviewedthisbookbefore.I'mwritinganotherreviewofitnowsothatitwillappearonmylistofreviewsnexttomyreviewofthebutchered2002screenadaptationofthisepicwork.

　　AlexandreDumas's_TheCountofMonteCristo_isoneofthegreatestnovelsofalltimeandinfactstandsatthefountainheadoftheentirestreamofpopularadventure-fiction.Dumashimselfwasoneofthefoundersofthegenre;everyothersuchwriter--H.RiderHaggard,C.S.Forrester,ZaneGrey,LouisL'Amour,MickeySpillane,IanFleming,TomClancy,JohnGrisham--isdeeplyinhisdebt.

　　Thecold,brooding,vampiricCount(bornEdmondDantes;knownalso,amongotheraliases,as"SinbadtheSailor,"LordWilmore,andarepresentativeofthefirmofThomsonandFrench)istheliteraryforebearofeverydarkherofromSherlockHolmesandtheScarletPimperneltoZorro,Batman,theGreenHornet,andDarkman.Andtheintricateplotprovideseverythinganyreadercouldwant:adventure,intrigue,romance,and(ofcourse)theelegantmachinationsoftheCounthimselfasheexactshisterriblerevengeonthosewhohavewrongedhim--therebyserving,orsohebelieves,asanagentofdivinejusticeandretribution.Brrrrrrrr.

　　Thebookisalsoagooddeal_longer_thanmanyreadersmaybeaware.Eversincethemiddleofthenineteenthcentury,theEnglishtranslationshaveomittedeverythinginthenovelthatmightoffendthesensibilitiesofVictorianreaders--including,forexample,allthesexanddrugs.

　　That'swhyIstronglyrecommendthatanyoneinterestedinthisnovelreadRobinBuss'sfull-texttranslation.Unlike,say,AynRand(whosecardboardhero"JohnGalt"alsooweshisfewinterestingaspectstoMonsieurleComte),Dumaswasentirelycapableofholdingareader'sundividedattentionforoverathousandpages;Buss'stranslationfinallydoeshisworkjustice,restoringallthebitsomittedfromtheBowdlerizedversions.

　　Theheartoftheplot,asmostreaderswillalreadyknow,isthatyoungsailorEdmondDantes,justashislifestartstocometogether,iswrongfullyimprisonedforfourteenyearsinthedungeonsoftheChateaud'IfasthevictimofamonstrouslyevilplottoframehimasaBonapartist.WhileinprisonhemakestheacquaintanceofoneAbbeFaria,whoservesashismentorandteacheshimthewaysoftheworld(science,philosophy,languagesandliterature,andsoforth),andalsomakeshimagiftofafabuloustreasurestraightoutofthe_ThousandandOneNights_.HowDantesgetsoutofprison,andwhathedoesafterthat--well,that'sthestory,ofcourse.Sothat'sallI'mgoingtotellyou.

　　However,I'llalsotellyouthatthe2002screenadaptationdoesn'tevenbegintodoitjustice.Theplotissofar"adapted"astobeunrecognizable,exceptinitsbroadoutlinesandthenamesof(someof)thecharacters.PrettymucheverythingthatmakesDumas'snovelsodarklyfascinatinghasbeensuckedoutofit.It'snotabadmovieonitsownterms,butifyou'reexpectinganadaptationofthisnovel,you'llbedisappointed.Andifyou'vealreadyseenit,don'tbaseyourjudgmentofthenovelonit.

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　　TheCountofMonteCristobyDumasisanamazingstoryofrevenge,hatred,loveandjustice.Muchcanbelearnedfromitsmanypages,insightstohumannatureandphilosophiesarepresented,givingopportunitiesforindepthdiscussions.TheCountofMonteCristoisclassicaboutayoungmannamedEdmondDanteswhowaswrongedbyhisenemies