The more I try to think about what I want to say about this novel, the more one thought becomes crystal clear. Everyone in this book is completely crazy.
I mean, every one. Except maybe Morrel. That’s. It.
I read this when I went through my I-love-France-and-French-literature-and-Imma-gonna-read-it-all phase in my teens. I’m completely certain at this point that I read some sort of extremely abridged version, because all I remember is that I loved it and I read it extremely fast. This time, it took me over 2 months. And it was painful. I mean, really;
It got to the point where I was just, ugh.
Get to the revenge business already. Thank God, Dumas got some of that hot air out and got down to it. Were there editors in France at this time? Because there should have been.
Alas, another favorite is no longer a favorite. I didn’t hate it. I just wish it had been about 600 or 700 pages shorter. It would have been such a better book with quite a lot cut out. *sigh* At least I still have my beloved Three Musketeers. It hasn’t been that long since I reread it, so I know I still love it. Now, I’m curious about Victor Hugo. Will I love him as much as I did back then, if I reread some of his work? I’m almost afraid to try….
Kudos to you for suffering through it. I think I’ll skip it.
You have no idea how much better it makes me feel that YOU feel this way!!!! As you know, I flaked. It was ridiculously painful.
I think I read the same crazy abridged version that you did. I LOVED this book. It was my favorite growing up, and now quite frankly, the thought of reading it terrifies me. Maybe I will read an abridged version since I enjoyed it so much.
I’ve read the whole damn thing twice through as an adult. It is one of my favorite novels (except on the second reading I got bored with the last 150 or so pages). But then again, I’m crazy.
I still liked it the second time around, but it isn’t one of my favorites any more. I still liked so much about it, but, like you, a lot of things could be cut out, as they can out of a lot of big books. But I still really enjoyed it this time. I think it is interesting to re-read books and discover we don’t think the same as we once did.
I just read this one for the first time last year and loved it! I even read the unabridged version!
When I liked it, I really really liked. But when I didn’t? Zzzzzzzzzzz.
Dumas was a wordy mofo.
Sorry it turned into a book you don’t love any more. I actually really liked it which makes me feel kind of dumb since everyone else was bored. Does that make me boring? Probably. Oh well. If I ever do read it again, it will most certainly read an abridged version. There are so many unnecessary words.