Why Are The Films Never As Good As The Books?

[Aemilius Paulus]

[QUOTE=Sasaki Kojiro;2439332]Yeah, I read the book and saw the movie.

But the fact that the movie changed things is not a flaw. It does not make the movie bad. There's nothing wrong with taking the name and basic plot elements and creating a new story with them. It was a lot like the Zorro movie I thought.

I read the abridged version, that's how it's almost always sold.

Oh, I weep for you. As I said, the unabridged one is what became one of my favourite books of all time. The abridged one? Well, it was nothing much. But you are right, it does seem to be difficult to get hold of the real thing. What really bugged me was the claim that those ridiculously shortened version were 'unabridged', as their label said.

I think the unabridged goes into his adventures in the east at great length, or something like that.

Well, that is what one would first expect from reading the abridged version, but I read the abridged version after the full story. The original version actually has absolutely no mention of the eastern adventures, save for the few times the Count recounts (hehe) some of his experiences there in conversations. Dumas did not write it as a mere adventure book - he simply stuck the east as a backdrop. The abridged version cuts all of the crucial details of the revenge. Really, unlike most books of its time, Count of Monte-Cristo was not abridgeable by modern standards. The book was all action, basically, for its time. It still is. It was not an awfully serious book, and Dumas was not a serious writer. He was a giant, as J.K. Rowling would be today. Some during his time managed to be both brilliant and popular. Some did not.

Dumas was brilliant, but not in the thought-evoking or revolutionary manner. It was not the style or the message of his work, but the content. He simply wrote adventure novels. That is what made is such a good children's book, especially in Russia, where it is still popular, and where I have not seen any abridged editions.

He ends up with some foreign chick as his companion kind of randomly in the abridged version I remember.

Gaide? The daughter of the Greek chieftain? Really? Yeah, there is a very long story behind her, and her confession was instrumental in bridging down Fernand (or was it Ferdinando?), Count de Morcerf.