The Count of Monte Cristo...

This time around, I watched the film first and read the book second. I just finished the book and it is quite an adventure. I was a bit sad that I could not read it in the original French because I have the feeling it's much better that way.
After reading the book, I was so impressed with the film makers. Just to think they could make this book into a film was quite ambitious and they did a marvelous job. In fact, I kind of liked it better. The film has a much happier ending. There is much more forgiveness and less revenge. The book is quite a lot about The Count taking revenge on everyone who has wronged him, not that you can blame him for it, but in the wake of his revenge he hurts a few innocent people and is responsible for a small child being poisoned and yet he still sails off into the sunset with a young princess. That part left a bad taste in my mouth. The revenge buisiness is just no good, but Dumas doesn't make that point as well as he should have because he was just having so much fun writing this fantastic story.
In the film they cut out most of the revenge bit, although the worst of the lot still gets it in the end. The Count learns to let go of the hate and true love conquers all.. in the film anyway and I like that better. Still, the book is a great adventure and I wouldn't miss it. If I were to read it again, I would get a character list from some web site because there are so many characters and they are introduced right off. It's nice to have their names and a small detail in front of you so that you know who is responsible for what (a good idea when you're reading Dickens and a few other authors as well). This is a great piece of French Literature and I am supposed to have read it long ago for a university course, but I skimmed and didn't remember a thing. Truly a great book and truly a great film, although they are almost not the same story.