I've first read Count of Monte Cristo in highschool, and fell in love with it. I've since then been devowering every book by Alexandre Dumas I can get my hands on. Unfortionately, it not easy.

Two things on my List of Things to Do Before I Die is (1) own all fictional works by Alexandre Dumas, and (2) read all of them. A rather unattainable goal since no one can seem to agree on exactly what all he has written. But I'm still trying!

Ebay seems to be my best bet with this, but I thought I'd try here first. See my signature for a list of books I'm currently looking for. Any other books I'm also willing to gobble up if someone has them.

Also, are there any other Dumas lovers out there?

The Count of Monte Cristo is hands down my favorite fiction book, and my number 2 favorite book period.  I've read the Man in the Iron Mask, which was good but no where near Monte Cristo, and I've read bits of the Three Musketeers, always meant to finish it but never have.  I've heard that the Black Tulip is excellent so that's on my TBR pile too.

I adore Dumas.  My favorite book as an adult is The Black Tulip (favorite over all books, not just Dumas' work).  Have you read that one yet?  Which of his have you already read?

Barnes and Noble is starting to carry a line of "obscure" works by authors such as Dumas who have one or two very well known works.  He also wrote one called Georges that I picked up in that line, though I haven't started it yet.  You could always check there. They might also be able to order things for you. (I have the same issue with books by Daphne du Maurier.  She's hard to find outside of Rebecca and Jamaica Inn) You can also try garage sales or those $1 bookstores that are popping up all over...I've found a lot of old books there (printed in the 60s) and you'll find a different variety than what you get today in the bookstore.

Thanks for all the info Hannah! Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite book ever, not just of Dumas'.

I'm only a few chapters into The Black Tulip and it's VERY good so far. I haven't read Camille or Man in the Iron Mask yet. I have read Three Musketeers but I'm waiting on Iron Mask because I want to read Ten Years After and Twenty Years Later first. Camille, I'm planning on reading after I finish The Black Tulip. I really want to read Georges. I'm planning on tracking that one down after reading Camille. I'll probably track down Ten Years After and Twenty Years Later once I finish that. 

Do you guys have any translations that you prefer/dislike? I really hate Oxford Press translations. I love the translation I have on my Count of Monte Cristo... not sure which press that is, though. Lol! I'll have to check. I think it's Modern Library...

I highly recommend the Pevear translation of The Three Musketeers. It's far superior to the others.

The Three Musketeers and The Black Tulip are both on my TBR - I find what I have read of Dumas has been accessible and a pleasure to read. Interesting stories with good character development. I will have to check and see what translation of the Three Musketeers I have - I picked it up at a library book sale for a whopping 35 cents.

The Count of Monte Cristo has been one of my favorite novels since I was 10 or so, but somehow I've never gotten around to reading any other Dumas. The Three Musketeers never appealed to me I think because of all the pop cultural references -- I love the fact that I can list a more obscure tome as my favorite novel. And of course, since I never read The Three Musketeers I never read The Man in the Iron Mask either. I had never looked up whether Dumas had written anything else, so now I'm going to have to look for these other novels you all have mentioned.

As for translations, I first read Monte Cristo in an abridged form which was quite good, but I don't remember whose it was. In college I finally picked out an unabridged version and absolutely fell in love with the novel all over again -- the abridged version got the flavor and the plot, but when I read the unabridged version there was just so much more. . . things like Danglars fleeing the city and shouting "allegro" to the coachman because the only Italian he knew was from attending the opera. Brilliant. That was the Modern Library Edition, btw.

Oh, and have you read One Thousand and One Ghosts? I just found that a week or so ago in the bookstore.  It was first published in France in 1849.  It seems like a horror novel as opposed to his normal historical fiction that we are used to.  I'm going to start it as soon as I've finished The Eyre Affair and Farenheit 451.  I think he's written a lot more than what we have access to these days.  Hopefully they'll keep re-printing some of his lesser known books.

I've been pleased with Barne's and Noble's classics translations so far.  I also usually like Penguin, though I HATE the footnotes that Penguin uses.  They usually put in way too many and half the time they give away plot points to the story.  drives me crazy!

I have heard of One Thousand and One Ghosts. It sounds insteresting. Let me know what you think of it!  I'm also intrigued by the Marie Antoinetter romances. Amazon seems to have the first two books (Memoirs of a Physician and The Queen's Necklace) and the last book "The Knight of Maison-Rouge." I'm having difficulty locating the two books in between (Storming the Bastille or Six Years Later and The Mesmerist's Victim).

Other books of his that I've heard of and sound interesting are "The Regent's Daughter" and "The Wolf-Leader."  It's so hard to find a list of his works! Wikipedia has a list that I like because it divides all his writing into nonfiction, fiction, and drama. And it also tells you what books go together like the Three Musketeers stories and the Marie Antoinettes. The list also provides you with various titles of the books, which is very helpful. I found another list online created by scholars who believe they have complied a list of all of Dumas's works. I don't like this list as much because it's mostly just the French titles and the works are simply listed by years. However, after looking over both these lists, I noticed that neither one of them has Camille listed!

I, too, had trouble with Three Musketeers. I couldn't get into it as well as I had expected, but I kept going because it's Dumas's and I really wanted to be able to say that I read it.