The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumasby Alexandre Dumas
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 6 of 122 novels by recommenders
Recommended as a gripping revenge adventure with memorable characters and a strong payoff; critics say the middle third drags with repetition.
Recommended as a gripping revenge adventure with memorable characters and a strong payoff; critics say the middle third drags with repetition.
28 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 22
- criticize it
- 6
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 3 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 22 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Gripping adventure and revenge plot
“Best book ever. It's one of the few books that made me really feel like I was there with the protagonist.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “It's a great adventure, a page turner, and has interesting characters and sub-plots.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “they certainly held up in terms of being engaging”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” - Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?”
- Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?”
Timeless classic, one of the greatest
“Yet another generation proves that Dumas knew his way around the ink quill.”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “The End of an Era” “Get a long book, a timeless classic, and read one chapter a night.”
Comment from 12 Jul 2026 in “How to Read More Books” “time-tested and are greatly entertaining and nourishing”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?” - Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?”
Rewarding ending despite slow middle
“The Count of Monte Cristo is an investment, and the middle third drags, but it's necessary to set up the final third”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “Musketeer d'Artagnan's remains believed found under Dutch church” “I loved the first and last third. The middle is meandering and hard to get through.”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” “gets so good once you get past it”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “Every novel is boring until it isn't” Excellent Bill Homewood audiobook narration
“I made the mistake of reading the public domain version, which uses Victorian English.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “Do the audiobook then. That's how I read it.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Slow, drawn-out middle third
“The Count of Monte Cristo is an investment, and the middle third drags, but it's necessary to set up the final third”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “Musketeer d'Artagnan's remains believed found under Dutch church” “after the first third, I felt it devolved into a long, overly drawn out and predictable slog”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” “I loved the first and last third. The middle is meandering and hard to get through.”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” - Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?”
Repetitive, too many characters
“It was trash. So repetitive. It's clearly a product of its time and not a proper "novel".”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “I wasn't prepared for the sheer amount of repetition and drawn out bullshit.”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” “After about the 40th character introduction I just had to put it down.”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” - Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?”
Needs editing, verbose structure
“Like many major novels it needs a lot of editing,”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” “overly verbose/poorly structured/flat writing”
Comment from 4 Jul 2026 in “2026 Unslop AI-Written Fiction Contest Results (judged by Gwern Branwen)”
Other novels people recommend
The four most recommended other novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime and Punishmentby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 39 | 9 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 28 | 8 | 78% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Infinite Jestby David Foster Wallace | 26 | 5 | 84% | 9 | 10 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald | 24 | 9 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Count of Monte Cristoby Alexandre DumasThis page | 22 | 6 | 79% | 7 | 3 yrs3 owners | Approved |
What people said
28 of the 30 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I loved them all for wildly different reasons.”
“It was trash. So repetitive. It's clearly a product of its time and not a proper "novel".”
“one of the most overrated books I've read”
“Best book ever. It's one of the few books that made me really feel like I was there with the protagonist.”
“It's a great adventure, a page turner, and has interesting characters and sub-plots.”
“the Robin Buss translation was the only one I enjoyed”
“Truly a good read, although after finishing it I was craving some more family friendly stuff”
“Do the audiobook then. That's how I read it.”
“I'm also listening to the Victorian audiobook while I work out narrated by Bill Homewood, and it's fantastic!”
“I made the mistake of reading the public domain version, which uses Victorian English.”
“Kinda obsessed with it for a month”
“After about the 40th character introduction I just had to put it down.”
“turning out to be quite the epic tale of revenge”
“gets so good once you get past it”
“Yet another generation proves that Dumas knew his way around the ink quill.”
“Get a long book, a timeless classic, and read one chapter a night.”
“overly verbose/poorly structured/flat writing”
“they certainly held up in terms of being engaging”
“time-tested and are greatly entertaining and nourishing”
“I gave up multiple times when reading the first translation.”
“The Count of Monte Cristo is an investment, and the middle third drags, but it's necessary to set up the final third”
“Like many major novels it needs a lot of editing,”
“I loved the first and last third. The middle is meandering and hard to get through.”
“after the first third, I felt it devolved into a long, overly drawn out and predictable slog”
“I found the story disjointed, repetitive and very hard to follow.”
“I love the first third. Then it is a slog.”
“I wasn't prepared for the sheer amount of repetition and drawn out bullshit.”
“It's one of the greatest stories ever told.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.