The Count of Monte Cristo

  The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Edmond Dantes is framed by two jealous men, one of his love for his intended, the lovely Mercedes and one his coworker who doesn't want Dantes to wind up the next captain of their trade ship.  Dantes winds up imprisoned at the Chateau d'lf for a crime he never committed and knew nothing about, based on an anonymous letter written after a number of bottles of wine and sent to a man trying to distance himself from his father's reputation as a Napoleon supporter, but still protective enough to try to keep his father out of additional trouble, Dantes is shuffled off to prison and then sent to the dungeon. 

In the dungeon he befriends an abbey thought to be mad, but who winds up not only brilliant,  but resourceful and the rightful owner of a fortune hidden in a cave on the island of Monte Cristo, a fortune which no one believes really exists.  After 15 years, the abbey dies and Dantes escapes in the dead man's shroud.  Once he succeeds in getting free he is on a quest to make his enemies pay.

Dantes, now going by the name of The Count of Monte Cristo manages to insinuate himself into the lives of all the assorted characters from his past and their poor children.  He discovers who is responsible for his imprisonment, who was on his side and who stood by his father when he disappeared all those years ago. 

Despite the warnings of the Abbey, Dantes uses his education and fortune to seek out his revenge on his enemies.  Sure, Dantes has a legitimate bone to pick and he does dig up plenty of dirt on his enemies, but what kind of a life is that? He already lost a huge chunk of his life and then he spends years on revenge.  He systematically puts himself in the midst of these people and then he picks them off, one by one. 

I know this is considered a great work of literature, but it's seems like an awful waste of a life. I can't imagine anyone who would want to live that way. He had a promising future which was cut short by being wrongfully imprisoned in a dungeon for 15 years. He had a reason to be pissed off, certainly.  But he spent the rest of his life plotting and then getting revenge.  He had his freedom and all the money in the world and instead of living a good life, he wasted so much.  I would understand if he did some digging and made things tricky for the people who caused his woes, but he had to destroy everyone, including families. He was a complete mad man.

I guess I just didn't get it.  I think life's way too short to spend it plotting and scheming. Not only does it hurt others, but it certainly doesn't make you look very good.  I found Edmond Dantes and his tale inscrutable. 

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