The Lowdown

This is a version of The Count of Monte Cristo written by Stephen Fry. It's set in the present day and (unlike Jeffrey Archer's present day version) directly translates many of the characters and plot elements. In this one, Dantes begins as a teenager at a posh private school, and is imprisoned not in a castle but in a mental hospital.

Some Observations

• Despite being set in the present day, it follows the plot quite closely. Coincidentally, this was the next book I read after reading The Count of Monte Cristo for the first time, and I didn't know it was an adaptation or in any way related. The whole time I was reading it I had a strange feeling that I'd read it before.
• In this version, Dantes is sent secretly to a mental hospital by a British secret service agent after becoming unwittingly embroiled in an IRA plot, and held there indefinitely, and escapes to assume the persona of an eccentric dotcom billionaire.
• Many of the character names are anagrams of the original characters. So Edmond Dantes becomes Ned Maddstone, de Villefort becomes Oliver Delft and Fernand Mondego Gordon Fendeman. There are a few other similar things e.g. Mercedes is Portia (Mercedes-Porshe).
• The characters are much less broad-brush than in Jeffrey Archer's. We get to see the story from the point of view of Danglars and Fernand, and it's much more nuanced. We can see more how their plot against him was motivated, and was a prank which got out of hand, making it much more tragic.
• The sequence of Danglars (Ashley Barson-Garland) masturbating into a boater hat is particularly striking.

The Verdict

Of the two book versions set in the present day, this one is by far the superior (although, as Jeffrey Archer wrote the other one, that's not in itself a huge accolade) and is genuinely a very entertaining read. As is often the case with the shorter adaptations, the first half is much better than the second, with the revenge portion seeming a little rushed. I'm always reminded of Luis Guzman in the 2002 film version saying "So we go up to Paris, bam-bam-bam-bam, we're done by week's end." But a worthy effort nonetheless and nice to see it competently done after the sour taste Jeffrey Archer leaves.

Characters and Plot Elements