It would be hard to summarize the plot of this book adequately in a
paragraph without completely butchering it since the text runs, in the
Oxford World Classic Edition, to 1,095 pages without including the notes,
the biographical information or the tedious and obligatory forward by a
literature professor. I will try.

Essentially, it’s a tale of revenge. Edmond Dantes is falsely accused of
treason on the eve of his wedding to the beautiful Catalan, Mercedes. I
won’t go into details about how or why. He ends up in the Chateau d’If, in
solitary where he goes thru a cycle of confusion, anger and despair. The
Abbe Faria tunnels his way into Dantes’ cell and over the next ten years
teaches him everything he knows. He also tells him the secret of the Isle of
Monte Cristo, containing an enormous treasure. Dantes escapes from the
prison, again, I won’t say how, and finds the treasure. He then goes about
exacting his revenge armed with unlimited wealth on everyone who had
anything to do with his imprisonment, which actually comprises most of the
book.

It’s not light or easy reading. There is so much detail that sometimes the
minute plot twists are not apparent. Read originally as a serial, which is
how it was originally published, that may have been easier to deal with.
However, I enjoyed it completely. I waffled from liking the Count and
feeling sorry for him to thinking him a complete jerk, especially in the
bits with Mercedes or Haydee. There were parts that were just a little too
fantastic to be believable and I thought the end, which I am not going to
divulge, just a bit too neat and tidy for a revenge novel. Overall,
however, it was a rollicking good tale that I was sorry to finish.