“all human wisdom is contained in these two words -“wait” and “hope”” – Guys, The Count of Monte Cristo is peak fiction 🔥🔥🔥

I have just finished Alexandre Dumas ' 1250 page epic "The Count of Monte Cristo" and I did NOT think I would love it nearly as much as I did: it is everything you could ever want in a novel.

At its core, it is the ultimate revenge story, and the book also perfectly blends genres of romance, mystery, thriller, and historical fiction/drama.

The characters that we see, whose lives and families we observe are well written and explored, and the transformation of the innocent, jovial, youth of Edmond Dantès at the peak of his happiness, to the aged, cold, unrelenting vengeance of The Count of Monte Cristo is some of the most compelling character design I have ever seen (especially towards the end where he contemplates whether his revenge was even worth it or not).

Some conversations, mainly those where Edmond talks to Abbé Faria, those where the count reveals himself to his enemies, or when Mercédès begs him not to kill his son (there are more examples but these are my favourite), feel like absolute cinema is unfolding Infront of my very eyes. I can feel the emotion and the passion and the delivery of each line of dialogue, each word, in my soul. It is like the book is a soap opera in my hand.

I was never bored or uninterested in the story, every single one of the 117 chapters (but especially the first 20 or so) had me hooked on what was going to happen next, which is insane because I am never this constantly engaged in a story ever.

Some people say the middle part gets a bit uninteresting and less engaging, and I can see where they were coming from (especially since Dumas was paid per paragraph and thus incentived to make it as long as possible), but I also think it was somewhat necessary to convey the meticulous planning and lengths that Edmond goes to to get his revenge.

Remember, his vengeance took him 10 years, during which he had to learn almost absolutely everything about the histories, personalities, connections, mysteries, strengths and weaknesses of his enemies and their families in order for his revenge plans to have the greatest chance of succeeding. Not to mention, I think the first few chapters that give us an entirely new pov (Franz and Albert) are important in conveying the mysterious and secretive nature of the newly emerging count of monte cristo AKA Sinbad the sailor: the reader knows who he is, but no other character in the novel does!

I doubt I will ever have a reading experience similar to this again: this book has reinvigorated my love for reading.

10/10 without a doubt the best book I have ever read.