The Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas (translated by Robin Buss)
Penguin (21 July 2003)
What’s it about?: A revenge novel, originally serialised between 1844 and 1846. Set during the Bourbon Restoration in France, it tells the story of Edmond Dantès, a Byronic hero of sorts, who seeks revenge after he is unjustly incarcerated. It is one of Alexandre Dumas’s most famous works, along with The Three Musketeers.
My opinion: The Count of Monte Cristo was one of many classic texts I’d always intended to read, but never got around to for the longest time. But in 2016, I was reading an essay by Ryan Holiday, on the revelation of Peter Thiel’s financing of Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker Media. Which might seem like a weird place to start, but in it, Holiday refers to Dumas’s epic novel:
“After needlessly outing and maliciously antagonising the billionaire Peter Thiel in 2007, Gawker made an enemy whose patience and dedication to responding tit for tat rivals the Count of Monte Cristo.”
I decided to bump the Count up to the top of my to-read list right then and there. For those who followed Bollea v. Gawker, there might be no better comparison. A revenge plot entails coordinated action, and this is certainly true of both Dantès and Thiel. I was not disappointed; if anything, I was kind of pissed at myself for not having read it sooner. It is considered a literary classic, and for good reason. 1,200+ pages of a riveting story of revenge, and its consequences. And so many themes within those pages: Dantes’s struggle with his faith, the Hundred Days of Napoleon’s return, his suspicion of new technology and of the media, and the influence of ancient philosophy.
And if the Count gets your juices flowing, I’d also recommend The Revenant by Michael Punke, Lancelot by Walker Percy, Mr. Eternity by Aaron Thier, and Holiday’s nonfiction masterpiece, Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue.
For those looking for an epic tale of revenge and adventure, look no further than The Count of Monte Cristo. Epic journey, epic book.
Lawrence Deveney 