The Count of Monte Cristo

I remember loving the movie in high school and vaguely thinking about reading the book but being intimidated by the page count. My edition was just shy of 1250 pages, so I set out a plan to read 50 pages per day to make sure I didn't get overwhelmed. I needed that resolution in the beginning, as the book is a slow starter in setting up the story of Edmond Dantes, a young sailor who is on the verge of a good life: he's about to be made captain of a ship and wed his beautiful fiancee, Mercedes. He is betrayed by rivals and sent to prison for the sake of a lawyer's ambition, being consigned to a dungeon in the dreaded Chateau d'If. There he meets an Italian priest, Abbe Faria, who gives him a broad classical education and tells him the location of an enormous secret treasure. When Dantes escapes and recovers the bounty, he remakes himself as an aristocrat, the Count of Monte Cristo, and sets about destroying his enemies. There are so many characters and plot elements in this book (it was, after all, originally published as a serial) that it doesn't drag, per se, but the main narrative takes a while to really pick up steam. I found that the last third or so of the book was the most enjoyable for me, as the various lines of dominoes finally start falling and create some real momentum. There's something for everyone here: a tale of adventure and revenge, stories about families both warmly connected and coldly alienated, young couples falling in love, human frailty, hope, philosophical musings about the nature of happiness. It's very long and the interest level it's able to sustain waxes and wanes, but in the end I enjoyed it!