The Count of Monte Cristo in Read a book from each country

Jan 27, 2021 Jimmy rated it liked it

Shelves: france, poc, male, novel, and-a-half-stars, year-1840s

Beware of Spoilers, you have been warned:

The first 30% or so (being thrown in prison, meeting the Abbe Faria, his miraculous escape, and his finding the treasure) was gripping and fun and the pages flew by FAST! I loved it!

The last 70% was slow going though. He really did embody the whole "wait and hope" message in that you as a reader really had to wait and hope for that payoff! Sometimes you have no idea where his little subplots are going.

I think the slowest part was when the Count first move Beware of Spoilers, you have been warned:

The first 30% or so (being thrown in prison, meeting the Abbe Faria, his miraculous escape, and his finding the treasure) was gripping and fun and the pages flew by FAST! I loved it!

The last 70% was slow going though. He really did embody the whole "wait and hope" message in that you as a reader really had to wait and hope for that payoff! Sometimes you have no idea where his little subplots are going.

I think the slowest part was when the Count first moves to Paris to begin his elaborate plans. There are so many characters that you are suddenly introduced to and so many polite society scenes where it's just really hard to remember who is who, and what relationship everyone has with each other, and what part of the plan is this again?

In addition, you have to really suspend your belief. Not only does Edmond Dantes pretend to be the Count of Monte Cristo, he also pretends to be at least 2 other major characters, and nobody ever notices that it's the same guy!

Some parts of the plot rely completely on the Count being some kind of god-like figure, which is hard to believe, but of course if you're along for the ride, maybe you don't mind. He plans things out in his revenge scheme that you really can't plan out, it's almost like he knows everyone's tiniest motivations, so that he can predict exactly how they would react to each little thing.

Towards the end, his god-like ability fades a little and you see him falter. His plan goes a little TOO far with the crown prosecutor Villefort, as he did not mean for his son to die as well. To make up for this, he goes a little TOO easy on Danglars... Danglars was the one who started this whole thing, and he didn't seem that remorseful at the end, but the Count just lets him off the hook after making him lose most (but not all) of his money. I think he should have at least taken all his money and kicked him out into the streets to become a beggar. I mean, the other two guys met much worse fates!

Oh and the whole thing with Haydee was weird. She was his slave! But then she fell in love with him, and he didn't realize that he was also in love with her. She says: "I love you as one loves a father, a brother, a husband!" But 2 of those things are SO not like the other thing... so which is it lady?

He tries to give her freedom but she won't leave him, she'd rather be by his side. I have a hard time accepting her attitude to everything after what she's been through... if I were her, I'd be like give me freedom, goodbye slave owner, no matter how good you were to me! So this part almost read to me like Dumas's own fantasy. Maybe he owned slaves and was hoping to alleviate his own conscience?

(I just looked it up... not sure if he owned any slaves, but his own grandmother was a slave... interesting) ...more

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May 05, 2010 Cheryl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, historical-fiction, wheel-a-thon

LOVED IT!!! I had been intimidated for too long by the length of the novel. Powerful novel of love/hate, justice/mercy, and loyalty/betrayal.

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Mar 29, 2009 Jodi rated it liked it

Shelves: classics, books-in-a-series, book-club-books, books-set-in-france

Loooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggg book!!! I now understand why some of the classics have been abridged. Authors in the 1800's were rather long-winded and tended to have A LOT of characters in their books (can I say Anna Karenina?!?). Anyway, the first 200 pages or so were fascinating with Dantes being accused of treason, imprisoned, his prison break, and then finding the treasure on the island of Monte Cristo. The next 600 pages were a little ho-hum and I skimmed a lot. However the l ...more

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Jun 05, 2013 Ram rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics

http://ram-books.blogspot.in/2012/03/... ...more

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Mar 13, 2010 Katy rated it it was ok

Such a fun story, except for the misogyny that makes me want to puke. I tried ignoring it, but I can't take it any more. Dante's arab servant woman's speech put me over the edge. Dirty french... ...more

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