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The Count of Monte Cristo

Alexandre Dumas

Start date: May 3, 2020

Finish date: December 22, 2020

Discussion: The Count of Monte Cristo

Discussion leader: Lorna

Why we're reading this: Spring Classic
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The Count of Monte Cristo

* The Count of Monte Cristo - Chapters 54 - 59
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last updated Aug 13, 2020 09:46PM

* Reading schedule
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What Members Thought

Jun 02, 2025 chickenbox T-Man rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A great long story of a betrayal on the precipice of a happily ever after and following revenge. The setup and revenge actually being the long part. Revenge didn't even fully kick in until quite later in the book and in my opinion was applied unevenly. My favorite things of this book was definitely how intricate it was. It really felt like everybody was a part of this world and all had their affects. The imagery was also so powerful and gorgeous I would have to pause occasionally to fully take i A great long story of a betrayal on the precipice of a happily ever after and following revenge. The setup and revenge actually being the long part. Revenge didn't even fully kick in until quite later in the book and in my opinion was applied unevenly. My favorite things of this book was definitely how intricate it was. It really felt like everybody was a part of this world and all had their affects. The imagery was also so powerful and gorgeous I would have to pause occasionally to fully take in the image. My favorite one; " Bit by bit , the sun, whose last rays we were describing, fell below the western horizon; but as though confirming the brilliant fantasies of mythology, its prying flames reappeared at the crest of every wave as if to reveal that the god of fire had just hidden his face in the bosom of Amphitrite, who tried in vain to hide her lover in the folds of her azure robe." !!SPOILER!! There was another depicting the image of Valentine praying at her grandmothers corpse that was equally beautiful but it is 1:20 and I can't be bothered.

I don't have many critiques of this book. The only real one being that it feels like some sections were unnecessarily long. The two I felt like it turned into a slog was when he was first put in the dungeon before meeting abbe Faria. Maybe he meant to give us a taste of his torment. The second was the initial scenes in Italy where we follow this group of tourists who are having trouble with finding transportation among other trivial scenes before meeting the count. A nitpick I have was that after a thousand something pages you pick up on the writing habits of the author. For Dumas, he seemed to use 'Hardly as this person/thing left/started, when another entered/begun". It was an interesting thing to imagine how providentially things occur in this book but it felt bland and overplayed by the time I got to the end.

All in all, this book gets 5/5 from me and I suggest that anybody that has an interest in literature to pick this book up. ...more

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