The Count of Monte Cristo

I accidentally started reading The Count of Monte Cristo the other day. I'd read the book many years ago but my stepdad had taken it off the shelf and was reading it while he was visiting the other day. So instead of putting it away I started reading the first page and I was hooked. Seriously, on the first page. I had to read on. So now I'm about 150 pages into it, just by reading a little now and then. I'm not a big reader. I'm more like a wannabe reader. I love books and own bunches of them. I love book stores and libraries. I just don't like reading so much. It's always seemed like work. But more recently I've been able to make my way through several books very quickly. Part of the reason it often seems like work is because I normally choose non-fiction. But reading fiction is definitely more fun. The funny thing is, it's still challenging. In this book in particular, the story takes place in another century, in another country (and was also written in another century, country, and language) so I am having to infer a lot about history and geography based on the details mentioned. I have a pretty good-sized vocabulary and yet there are words I'm not familiar with, or sometimes usages that I'm not familiar with, so I'm learning all sorts of stuff as I read. And it doesn't feel like work. I haven't read a book like this in so long. The quality of writing is so much higher than what you get in a magazine, newspaper, or blog. (I've paused here for several minutes trying to figure out how to describe the writing.) It's poetic. It gets inside of me. It inspires me. The author has me wrapped around his finger and I will follow him wherever he takes me, no matter how grotesque a scene or suspenseful a moment. If you haven't read some good classic literature for a while, I highly recommend it. I think I am going to have to make sure I read a good classic like this every once in a while.

Just as a note: I am reading the abridged version. The reviews I read at amazon.com all recommended the full version despite its length.