The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Edmond Dantes, a naive young man with a bright and happy future seemingly stretched out before him, is betrayed and imprisoned without trial on the day he was supposed to be married. Locked for years in solitary confinement, Dantes eventually makes contact with a fellow prisoner - Abbe Faria, whom everyone believes to be mad.

The 'mad' priest is in fact highly intelligent. He helps Dantes work out why the 'friends' he had counted on betrayed him, whether it be for love, ambition or simply out of cowardice. The Abbe then leaves Dantes with the location of a fabulous treasure, and provides him with means of escape.

Upon escaping and uncovering the fabulous wealth he was promised, Dantes becomes the Count of Monte Cristo. He has transformed from an optimistic youth, to a forlorn and desperate prisoner, to an implacable and highly capable man. Using his fabulous wealth and powers, Dantes sets about avenging himself on those who were the cause of his misfortune.

The basic plot is fantastic. It pulls the reader in and keeps them fascinated with it's twists and turns. Foreshadowing of the coming catastrophes throughout the novel never stops them from being interesting as they occur, and the Count's sudden lapse from omniscience just when he is at the peak of his powers sends a powerful message about the ultimate fallibility of the mortal man.

The religious overtones of the work are strong and it is no co-incidence that the most intelligent, resourceful and forgiving character, Abbe Faria, is a man of God. However, even to the non-religious reader, the basic concepts of vengeance, of right and wrong, and of erosion of the human spirit by overwhelming negative emotions such as greed, anger or hatred, are shown in an intelligent and thoughtful light.

Perhaps the least satisfactory element of the piece is the way in which Dumas treats his female characters. In particular, the reader cannot help but feel sorry for Mercedes. A destitute woman, believing her lover dead, mourns for him until she is persuaded into marriage by her closest friend, who will care for her and look after her. She does not know that the man she marries is one of the conspirators who condemned her one true love to imprisonment. Dumas provides plentiful evidence that she continued to mourn Dante's supposed death throughout her marriage, and yet she is written off as fickle and unfaithful and punished for her part in Dantes' unhappiness.

Overall, this book is a great read. It is full of action, adventure and intrigue. The characters are all incredibly well drawn, each unique and captivating in their own way. The moral and philosophical content is interesting and is complimentary to the ongoing plot instead of impeding it's flow. Alexandre Dumas has written one of the most complete novels of all time.