I have heard rave reviews about The Count of Monte Cristo, and had read a highly abridged version of it, which I enjoyed.  So it was with great anticipation that I plunged into the story.

Unfortunately, I came to material that forced me to abort the reading altogether.  Alexander Dumas lived a life that was far from moral, and the things that he did not consider wrong, but are nevertheless terrible, made it’s way into both the books of his that I have read.  Suffice it to say that lust is a word that he uses shamelessly.

The version I was reading is toted to be the best translation out there.  As usual, it was unabridged.

Perhaps there is a well abridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo out there.  If you know of one that is lightly abridged, only enough to strip the immoral themes out of it (which would be pretty easy, as they are of little importance to the story) then it might be good to read.  But as I said, I have not read it all the way through, so I do not know if there is something else that should be avoided.  It was a disappointment, but I’m still on the lookout for an well abridged version.

However, I’m not sure that even with the obvious stuff cut, it is a beneficial read.  As far as I could tell, not having read the whole story, it was glorifying revenge.  And cruel revenge at that.  Is that something that I should be reading?  Is there anything for me to gain from dwelling on it?  I don’t think so.  Maybe I shouldn’t try to find a well abridged version and just skip it altogether.  It might be the best for me.