I'll second the recommendation of The Count of Monte Cristo.
There's a user on HN who learned French just so he could read it in the original, and I can see why.
If you read it, make sure to read the unabridged edition, and not any of the many abridged editions, which are often targeted at children and are a travesty to the mature themes in the original.
I can personally recommend David Clarke's reading of it on Librivox,[1] who does an excellent job.
He was paid by the number of lines -- which actually does show by, for instance, the number of dialogues with Noirtier, a mute who mostly responds "yes" or "no."
There's a user on HN who learned French just so he could read it in the original, and I can see why.
If you read it, make sure to read the unabridged edition, and not any of the many abridged editions, which are often targeted at children and are a travesty to the mature themes in the original.
I can personally recommend David Clarke's reading of it on Librivox,[1] who does an excellent job.
[1] - https://librivox.org/the-count-of-monte-cristo-version-3-by-...