From the Bookshelf of Giulianzo's Plato’s Academy of Florence and the Confraternity of the Magi…

"I know many of you don't particularly enjoy older literature, but I am here to beg you to give these books (we were also assigned "Jane Eyre" and a choice between two medical texts) a fighting chance," he began. "Not all of you read. A few of you read outside of class, most of you read the minimum require

"I know many of you don't particularly enjoy older literature, but I am here to beg you to give these books (we were also assigned "Jane Eyre" and a choice between two medical texts) a fighting chance," he began. "Not all of you read. A few of you read outside of class, most of you read the minimum required, and a few of you try to scoot by not even doing that. If you are a reader, well, you're a 21st century reader. Most of us have been accustomed to our books and TV shows being all action, but when these books were written, it was different. There was more time spent developing characters and intricacies than we're used to. 'The Count of Monte Cristo' is a wonderful example! In my opinion and in the eyes of its readers when it was published, this is one of the most exciting thrillers ever written, full of prison, escape, crime, and revenge. But to most teenagers, this kind of novel can seem extremely slow-paced because standards have changed. So please do yourself a favor and give yourself time to really delve into this book and savor all the details..."

My point is, he kind of scared me... Then I remembered that my taste in books (specifially, my love of historical works) isn't exactly typical of the average teenager, so maybe I'd like this book...

I did.

I liked it.

A lot.

I don't want to reveal too much, but the writing was brilliant. I like it when characters have double lives or mistaken identities (I was VERY pleased with this), and I also like it when authors don't treat their readers as if they're dumb. (view spoiler)[ A lot of authors would, perhaps as early as Edmond giving Caderrouse the diamond, include a line such as "The Abbé peered into the diamond's surface, and the face reflected was that of Edmond Dantès." Dumas didn't do that though; instead, he let us discover this on our own (which I did early on in that scene) and doesn't reveal the oneness of the Count and Abbé until later. (hide spoiler)]

This book epitomizes what a novel should be. The story is fascinating on its own, and raised important questions that keep me thinking.

Oh, and this quote really stuck out: "There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world; there is only the comparison of one state with another."