The Count of Monte Cristo

I just finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Seeing as how it's a "classic" and all, and that the movie was terrific, I figured I'd give it a try. I got a slightly abridged version, which cut it down to 550 pages or so. I'll assume that everyone has seen the movie, so you know the basic plot. Or, at least you think you do. In typical book to movie fashion, some things are trimmed out, and some things are changed all together, but, in non-typical book to movie fashion, they did an excellent job, and even after reading the book, I'm glad they made the movie the way they did. The book is roughly 1/3 Edmond Dantes, which is quite similar to the movie, except in some details regarding Edmond's "crime" and arrest. The 2/3 remaining are about the Count of Monte Cristo, and were quite different from what I expected. The first third moves very quickly, which is rather surprising for a book of this time. That changes in the latter 2/3 and strangely, the book isn't about the Count any more. Once he gets to Paris, the book becomes a high society bog of everyone visiting everyone else and servants calling for doctors and arranged marriages, and the Count is just one character of many.

Anyway, it's a good book. And remember, "We oughta file that under "Educational" too, oughten we?"