After reading the script from the TV pilot, offered as a promo by ABC TV on Amazon long before the TV series Revenge began, I already caught that the writers were rehashing one of my favorites: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
I'm not the only one who thinks so: HitFlix agrees (and isn't impressed), and a blurb at E!Online calls Revenge "a modern reimagining" of the Dumas novel.
Over at Shnugi.com, they are monitoring Revenge as it plays out every Wednesday, tracking how the show follows along with the Count. It's fun; check it out at their post, Characters from ABC’s Revenge compared to the Count of Monte Cristo. In fact, knowing the Dumas' novel may help make Revenge a better show for those of us that know the book than for those who haven't read it. (Or I suppose, seen one of the gazillion movie versions of it.)
I agree with Shnugi: Emily Thorne is the revenge-seeking Count of Monte Cristo; however, now she's a girl, Amanda Clarke aka Emily. That's not hard. After that, it's still early -- and very fun to try and figure out how they're going to cram all that good stuff from the book into this miniseries. Like how Edmond Dantes sought his own revenge, but here you have the victim of betrayal dead and his daughter planning vengeance. (Sure, the book is better.)
For instance, is Shnugi right: is Emily Thorne going to be Benedetto? Hmmmm.......
Meanwhile, if you want to read the book upon which Revenge is based, you can read the Count of Monte Cristo right now, for free. It's available at Amazon, for example, as a freebie (there's lots more freebies and great deals there, by the way: check out my post over on my simplicity blog on that score, "Amazon's Top 100 Free EBooks - There are Some Great Bargains Here.")
I'm not the only one who thinks so: HitFlix agrees (and isn't impressed), and a blurb at E!Online calls Revenge "a modern reimagining" of the Dumas novel.
Over at Shnugi.com, they are monitoring Revenge as it plays out every Wednesday, tracking how the show follows along with the Count. It's fun; check it out at their post, Characters from ABC’s Revenge compared to the Count of Monte Cristo. In fact, knowing the Dumas' novel may help make Revenge a better show for those of us that know the book than for those who haven't read it. (Or I suppose, seen one of the gazillion movie versions of it.)
I agree with Shnugi: Emily Thorne is the revenge-seeking Count of Monte Cristo; however, now she's a girl, Amanda Clarke aka Emily. That's not hard. After that, it's still early -- and very fun to try and figure out how they're going to cram all that good stuff from the book into this miniseries. Like how Edmond Dantes sought his own revenge, but here you have the victim of betrayal dead and his daughter planning vengeance. (Sure, the book is better.)
For instance, is Shnugi right: is Emily Thorne going to be Benedetto? Hmmmm.......
Meanwhile, if you want to read the book upon which Revenge is based, you can read the Count of Monte Cristo right now, for free. It's available at Amazon, for example, as a freebie (there's lots more freebies and great deals there, by the way: check out my post over on my simplicity blog on that score, "Amazon's Top 100 Free EBooks - There are Some Great Bargains Here.")