I reread the Count of Monte Cristo, there was a penguin edition on a garage sale table for $2. I found it much more enjoyable than I did the first time around. (it also shows you how much of our current storytelling was influenced by the themes in this book)
I am not sure, it makes a lot of '100 books to read before you die' lists[1]. Perhaps the best evidence to support it as worthy of the 'classic' moniker is perhaps the CSMonitor review [3] which points out that it has held up as a great story over several hundred years.
How would you define a "classic" and what books would you put in that definition?
[3] "Dumas published the book in 1846. It is no exaggeration to say “Monte Cristo” still ranks as one of the most exciting stories imaginable, one every bit as good as anything Steven Spielberg or J.K. Rowling could ever conjure up." -- https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2011/0206/Class...
