The Count of Monte Christo

It had been a really long time since I read a classical novel. This while I do actually buy them and populate my bookcases with them. But somehow I never get around to reading them, probably because they are so heavy and must therefore take so long to read. I mentioned this to a friend, who told me she'd read The Count of Monte Christo, 1200+ pages, in two days. Two? Well yes, this was during a teenage summer when she had nothing else to do, but still, it was a pretty fast read to get through.
So I decided to give it a try. As usual, I was not hampered by any knowledge of plot, theme or characters, apart from that mentioned in the blurb. Man is falsely accused of being a spy and thrown into jail by three others who are jealous of his good fortune in love and work. Man gets out of prison years later and plots his revenge on the men who ruined his life. Just two sentences, but they basically sum up the entire novel. As with all of those classical novels I've read, the main story is simplicity itself. It is the way the story is told, the nuances, the characters, that make it come to life.
Needless to say, I read this story in an English translation, where Dumas originally wrote it in French. I read it in the shape of a novel, while it was originally published as a serial. Not knowing the original, I still enjoyed it a lot. Maybe not the way the original French readers did, knowledgeable of French customs and society, who got all the subtext. But the nuances of the revenge, the clever way in which the count slowly unravels the lives of the three men that undid his are a delight to read. There are some mistakes, some plot holes, some inconsistencies, but we can overlook those. This is a story of revenge, best eaten very, very cold, and it is universal as every proper classic novel is.
I did not read it in two days, but it took me a little more than a month. Compared to the number of pages I usually read in a month, that is surprisingly fast. I enjoyed the 'adventure story' parts on the islands and in Italy better than the 'social novel' parts in upper class Paris, so my reading speed depended on that too. But all in all it is a delight to read, and certainly a novel to read again at a later date, to enjoy the intricate plot even better.
When I put Dumas back in the bookcase, I found him next to Dickens and Dostoyevsky. Although my interest in nineteenth century literature has been reawakened, I'll focus on some contemporary literature first. But my classic vacation probably won't last this long next time around.