# The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

22 Hacker News commenters recommended The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 3 years (3 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a gripping revenge adventure with memorable characters and a strong payoff; critics say the middle third drags with repetition.

## Why people recommend it

- Gripping adventure and revenge plot (5 comments): "Best book ever. It's one of the few books that made me really feel like I was there with the protagonist." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49912246)) "It's a great adventure, a page turner, and has interesting characters and sub-plots." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49905983)) "they certainly held up in terms of being engaging" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48669170))
- Timeless classic, one of the greatest (4 comments): "Yet another generation proves that Dumas knew his way around the ink quill." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49122792)) "Get a long book, a timeless classic, and read one chapter a night." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48883235)) "time-tested and are greatly entertaining and nourishing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48562702))
- Rewarding ending despite slow middle (3 comments): "The Count of Monte Cristo is an investment, and the middle third drags, but it's necessary to set up the final third" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47521807)) "I loved the first and last third. The middle is meandering and hard to get through." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46401301)) "gets so good once you get past it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49608694))
- Excellent Bill Homewood audiobook narration (2 comments): "I made the mistake of reading the public domain version, which uses Victorian English." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49902555)) "Do the audiobook then. That's how I read it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49902704))

## What people warn about

- Slow, drawn-out middle third (4 comments): "The Count of Monte Cristo is an investment, and the middle third drags, but it's necessary to set up the final third" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47521807)) "after the first third, I felt it devolved into a long, overly drawn out and predictable slog" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46400790)) "I loved the first and last third. The middle is meandering and hard to get through." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46401301))
- Repetitive, too many characters (4 comments): "It was trash. So repetitive. It's clearly a product of its time and not a proper "novel"." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49916737)) "I wasn't prepared for the sheer amount of repetition and drawn out bullshit." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46399063)) "After about the 40th character introduction I just had to put it down." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49900641))
- Needs editing, verbose structure (2 comments): "Like many major novels it needs a lot of editing," ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46450691)) "overly verbose/poorly structured/flat writing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48785818))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crime-and-punishment.md): 39 recommend
- [The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brothers-karamazov.md): 28 recommend
- [Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace](https://hackerapproved.com/p/infinite-jest.md): 26 recommend
- [The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://hackerapproved.com/p/great-gatsby.md): 24 recommend
- [Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atlas-shrugged.md): 23 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1447907604?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781447907602) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas", https://hackerapproved.com/p/count-of-monte-cristo/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).