A Doorstopper of Western Canon You’ll Fly Through

I’m not alone in learning too late in life that Alexandre Dumas was of African descent. I grew up believing that, like the vast majority of writers of the Western canon, he was white. When I finally saw a picture of the famous novelist and playwright, and read that his father, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, was a famous French army officer during the French Revolution who commanded armies, including the Black Legion, and was born to an enslaved African woman and a French nobleman, I was gobsmacked. Sadly, it’s a rare thrill to find a beloved writer of widely-read classic literature who also happens to be Black. I had previously dismissed the works of Dumas because they’re long and felt like approaching an assignment, but this revelation gave me the enthusiasm I needed to finally pick up one of his books and, wow, was I surprised to discover a page-turner in this tome.

Even if you haven’t read the book or watched that early aughts film starring Guy Pearce and Henry Cavill, you probably know the vague shape of this story. A down and out dude breaks out of prison, gets his hands on treasure, seeks revenge on his enemies, and attempts to reclaim the love of his life. Those are the main features of the story, but it’s the breathless pacing, the potent emotions, the detailed machinations of deceit and retribution that bring this epic adventure to life and make it so readable even today. I hesitate to write this for fear of it sounding like an insult, which I promise it is not, but The Count of Monte Cristo is low-key soapy. The writing, the character development, the pacing are all superb, and those spot-on elements paired with the drama of it all give this story teeth and timelessness.

Now I join the chorus of all those saying, “No, really, it’s so good.” If you’ve been wanting to get into a meaty classic, I highly recommend this satisfying read.