Btw, that "introduction" is just a reprint of his 1978's "Praise of Monte Cristo" Larry was quoting from.

Eco proceeds to "trash" it as a "work of art" (as such its mediocre) before turning things around and praise it as great storytelling, and developing the idea that a great narrative is not directly tied to the esthetic quality of its vehicle and has actually little to do with what modern sensibility calls "art".


Eco also said (in a recent interview discussing his History of Ugliness) that Monte Cristo is Dumas' best novel and a work of genius and at the same time it's Dumas's most badly written novel. He is fascinated with this paradox that Monte Cristo is of little interest as literature but one of the most fascinating story and character to have come out of the XIXth century.