What are your thoughts on abridged novels?

Today a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo arrived in my mailbox. It's 1276 pages long.

I originally read The Count of Monte Cristo when I was in high school, or at least I thought I did. My copy was about 500 pages. I only learned recently (over 20 years later) that the version I read was abridged. I had no idea at the time, but I have to say, it was still a thrilling reading experience and gave me a love for the story.

It also got me wondering about abridged books. I ordered my new unabridged copy because I do want to read the complete text, but I don't really regret having read the version that I did. I have no idea what was cut, but it seems to me that the editor did a good job of somehow removing ~2/3 of the text and arriving at something that felt complete and coherent.

I have heard that Les Miserables and Moby Dick are both books that can justify abridgment. If I ever read them I'll probably go for the complete version, but being a very slow reader the idea of going for an abridgment does have a certain appeal.

What do you guys think of abridgments? Have you ever read any that you thought were as good as, or even better, than the full text?