5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Don't Forget Edmond Dantès
To leave off Alexandre Dumas's 'The Count of Monte Cristo' from a list of the five best books about revenge is itself an offense provoking of vengefulness (Books, Aug. 16). Europe has never produced another literary castle of plot and counterplot to touch it. The offense is more egregious considering 'Romeo and Juliet'—as opposed to, say, 'Titus Andronicus'—takes vengeance in only obliquely, and 'And Then There Were None' isn't really a revenge story, as none of Wargrave's victims have personally wronged him. The author ought to be grateful that readers have neither Edmond Dantès's free time nor his disposable income.
Mary Halsted
