Currently, I am reading (or rather, almost finished reading) the book of the same name. The main character made a sufficient impression on me that I decided to mention him in this topic. The novel covers a long period of time, about 25 years, and under the influence of various events, the central character of the work – once a happy and young sailor, Edmond Dantès – transforms into a heartless and vengeful count, bearing the name of a small island he bought in the Mediterranean Sea ("A grain of sand on the Mediterranean, an atom in infinity," is how this island was characterized by one of the characters in the novel). The events unfold mainly in France (also touching upon other European countries) in the first half of the 19th century.
One of the first descriptions of Monte Cristo, already after the misfortunes he experienced:
Despite his deathly pallor, his face was striking in its beauty; his eyes were lively and piercing; the straight line of his nose, almost merging with his forehead, recalled the purity of the Greek type; and his teeth, white as pearls, shone dazzlingly in the frame of his black, tar-like mustache.
But the pallor of this face was unnatural; as if this man had spent many years in the grave, and the colors of life could no longer return to him.
He was not very tall, but well-built, and, like all southerners, he had small hands and feet.
<...> Yes, his manners are sharp and biting. In the company of this man, I often felt a chill run down my spine; and once, when we were watching an execution together, I thought I would faint, not so much from the executioner's work and the screams of the condemned, but from the sight of the count and his cold-blooded stories about all sorts of methods of execution.
This is all I wanted to say about Count of Monte Cristo. As for other characters, it is rather difficult to single out favorites. But undoubtedly, when watching movies, reading books, and playing computer games, you come across characters that make a very strong impression, so in the future, I will try to leave a few words about such characters in this topic.
Bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter,
Our people drift and die,
The walls of gold entomb us,
The swords of scorn divide,
Take not thy thunder from us,
Take away our pride.
G.K. Chesterton: English Hymnal