Rereading the Count

After reading The Knight of Maison-Rouge, I had the urge to read more Dumas, so I carted The Count of Monte Cristo back with me to school. I say "carted", because it's frickin' huge at 1,462 pages long. I've read it before: the abridged version at 13 or so, and the unabridged a few years later. It remains a favorite of mine even though I haven't picked it up in years. I figured that after so long, perhaps I should reread it.

I don't know if I've talked about this before, but I am a horrible rereader. My ex-boyfriend was an avid rereader. He would finish a book and start right over at the beginning. I almost never do this. Sure, I reread favorite parts over and over and over, but rereading a book front to back frustrates me. It's just not my reading style.

Knowing all this, I was a little hesitant to try with CoMC, with, as it turns out, good reason. (Warning: spoilers) I picked it up yesterday and got through the first 20 or 30 pages fine. It was nice to meet Edmond Dantes again, and Mercedes, and Mr. Dantes senior. However...once it got to to plotting of the conspirators, my attention waned. Those nefarious deeds were necessary during the first read, but now that I know the plot, they're boring. So I skipped ahead a little. Why bother forcing myself to read bits that I frankly don't care about?

I skipped through the plots, Dantes' arrest, and Villefort's betrothal dinner. I ended up stopping at Villefort's questioning of Dantes and his talk with his father, Nortier. Villefort is much more interesting than Danglars and Fernand, and Monsieur Nortier is awesome. I forgot that the reader gets the chance to see him before he is imprisoned in his own body.

After that, it was smooth sailing. From Edmond's imprisonment to his escape, I only skipped a few pages, when Abbe Faria was explaining the history of his treasure. It makes me sad to think of Edmond's ruthlessness after his escape from prison, and I don't think the Abbe would've wanted him to act that way. It is interesting to draw parallels between Abbe Faria's "revenge" of witholding information of his treasure from the government out of disgust with humanity and Edmond's more active lust for revenge; and Faria's reconciliation with humanity through Edmond and Edmond's eventual reconciliation through what's-his-name, Mercedes' son. If I'm remembering correctly.

I hope this sustained interest continues! I do plan to continue reading, although some books I ordered last week may slow or postpone it.