Following Edmond Dantes as he grows from a naive, kind guy to a jaded man is so frustrating to watch. I'm normally one for revenge stories, but this one has been particularly hard for me because it's so frustrating to see what Edmond's life could have been. All he wanted was to marry the girl of his dreams and to spend time with his father. This is brutally ripped away from him, along with the years of his life, all because of the greed of other men, and Edmond spends so many years thinking there has been some grave mistake, some error that will set him free if found, that it isn't until his friend the abbot walks him through it that he finally realizes just how thoroughly he's been betrayed. (That scene is such an underrated comedic scene, by the way! Edmond is having a breakdown after realizing how many people he trusted turned on him and the abbot is just gleefully telling him how badly he got screwed lol) It's so painful when he escapes and finds out how much things have changed, how many of his enemies have prospered while he spent years rotting. It's so sad to think that this happened to some regular guy without a mean bone in his body.
I think it's also interesting how the author uses themes of death and re-birth. Dante's Inferno is mentioned continuously and biblical imagery of angels and Hell are also frequent. Edmond Dantes goes into that prison and he doesn't come out. The Count of Monte Cristo does. And, of course, you have that scene where Edmond pays off his old boss's debt and he explicitly states that his last ties to humanity have been severed. Ugh, it's just so good.
I enjoy it when I read it, but the size of the book has made it a little difficult to get in the mood for it. (And I don't mean that literally. I'm reading it on my phone.) I would really love to start making some more progress on it, but every time I think of picking it back up again I remember the page count and how far I have to go and it's a little daunting. Also, the pacing has seemed to slow down a little, with Edmond taking on the persona of Sinbad the Sailor (yes, love that for you king!). I stopped where those two rich guys have been listening to the story in the hotel and honestly,
