François “Pierre” Picaud (French: [piko]) was a 19th-century shoemaker in Nîmes, France who may have been the basis for the character of Edmond Dantès in Alexandre Dumas, père’s 1844 novel The Count of Monte Cristo.
Allut’s deathbed confession forms the bulk of the French police records of the case [about Picaud]. The detailed description of Picaud’s experiences in prison, which could not have been known to Allut, were supposedly dictated to him by the ghost of Father Torri.
Hmm, all sounds pretty sketchy. More like a screenplay itself than solid, verifiable facts.
Could be.
I’ll still enjoy the story.
Check www.abebooks.com they’re pretty good for finding obscure editions. The prices for some of the rarer items can be hhhhhigheee though.
amazon bought-out abebooks. Biblio.com is where its at.
Uuugh
This book was such an interesting combination between a chore and a joy to read. I remember audibly gasping at some of the twists, but the antiquity of the language made it a slow go, at least for me.
Crazy to think it might be based on a true story.
Understandable. I had that same issue with Frankenstein: great story, real work to get through.
Dumas’ work was printed in papers in episodes. He was paid by the word. That makes his prose bit long-winded and verbose.
I had no idea he was paid by the word! It’s been making me feel better that I’m not the only one who struggled.
Fantastic book. Might not be for everyone, as it was written long ago, so language and style might be an issue for some.
And, as with the book, this whole saga did play out over 10+ years.
Wild. I can honestly respect Pierre’s dedication.
This is one of those things where I have no idea how I lived this long without learning it, because I love the book, love the 2002 film, and watch it a few times every single year.
I read that book about 30 years ago. I was surprised how an old classic moved fast like "Die Hard’. It was a great read!
For the curious: The book is ok. The movie remake (there’s been two or three movies made, I think) from the early 2000’s is fantastic; but the thing is, it’s so different from the book that it’s barely deserving of sharing a name. Like, there’s an arching similarity in story, but that’s about it. The story in the movie is better.
