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The Count of Monte Cristo
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The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
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I don't think it'll be that bad. I read it last year and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it flowed.
I'm listening to the audible for this and the narrator is fantastic! It's just taking a long time.
I read it a couple of years ago in a small reading group with some friends and all of us loved it. I remember that during one of the discussions we were trying to decide which of the villains was the worst and ended with almost a fight because all the different points of view... in other words, this book can arouse passions :-)
I am at the first scene with the king. He is portrayed as a real douche. It will be fun discovering the other villains. We watched the movie here a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it.
I watched the movie a few years ago and the very beginning of the story was confusing. In the book I had to reread a section a few times to finally get the point. Now it is smooth sailing, pun intended. I have been skimming the more verbose parts of the story. Alexandre Dumas is very wordy. It is totally understandable why this story has stood the test of time. When pared down to a more manageable size it is very captivating.
I am on page 333 and still working at it. I have now added it to week 50: A book originally written in another language than English.I had to return it to the library a few weeks ago and just checked it out again. Hopefully 3 weeks will be enough to finish it.
I was amazed at how nicely paced it was and how well it read considering when it was written.
The Count just have a lecture on corporal punishment. Wow, the debates have raged a long time.
Johnny Depp as the Count of Monte Cristo. His face keeps popping into my head during certain scenes. The book also feels like it is written as a play with acts and scenes. I wonder if, then as now, some authors wrote to have the book published as well as to cross entertainment lines. In this case a play instead of a movie. Just a passing thought.
I'm reading this for Week 23, a book from the BBC Big Reads list. I was hesitant to pick this at first because I'm reading the topics in order and I'm right on track, and since this bok is so long, I'm worried about getting behind in my challenge. But this book has been on my TBR since I first joined GoodReads in 2012, and I set a goal to read it in the next year or two, so now is the time. I'm listening to the audiobook. It's 48 hours! I'm already 10 hours in and totally hooked, but so much has happened already that I'm wondering what can possibly happen to fill 38 more hours.
Katie, the audio book is totally the way to go. I read the hard cover version and was bogged down close to the end. Now that I have listened to Tolstoy's books I wished that I had done so with this one too. Enjoy the adventure.
Katie if we are doing a buddy read I will try to start it today!
Sounds good, Heather. Sorry for getting a jump start, but it will still be fun to discuss as we go along, even if we don't end up reading at the same pace.
its no problem! I have a ton of classics I'm in the middle of reading
I read this as part of my Rory Gilmore Challenge, and I loved it! I have always enjoyed the movies based on the book, and was hesitant to read this for fear of no longer liking the movies, or not being able to lose myself in the reading. Thankfully, neither happened. I felt that book Edmond is so much more vindictive (cunning) than he ever was in the movies, and that he's a lot more brilliant. I know revenge isn't something that should be admired, and I can't say that I admired Edmond for that, as much as his resolve to stick to a plan for the long-term.5/5
Hello!I'm starting this one for Week 23: A book from the BBC "The Big Read" list (:
I'm reading this for AtY 2018, Week 18 (A book with a location in the title). This one has been on my must-read list for years now, but its length has put me off. However, I'm on a page-count kick this year, rather than purely number of books, and I'm determined to tackle some doorstops that I've been putting off. I'm about a third of the way through already, and I'm finding it reads very quickly and easily, even though it still has its dry spots.
I've moved this one onto Week 20 (A book rated five stars by at least one of your friends) as it's dragging, and I ended up accidentally reading another book for Week 18. Let's see if it stays there, or if it gets moved again!
Just started this, really looking forward to finally read it!:) I am also using it for Week 20 (rated five stars by at least one of your friends). Almost all of my friends who have read it have rated it 5 stars, so that certainly raises the expectations. I am off to a good start, it's quite entertaining so far (but I have only read 5 chapters). But, it is really looooong so I have a feeling this may take me some time!
I'm done! I did like it, but not as much as I'd hoped. I found it too long, with a few too many unnecessary side-plots. I also struggled with the characters, as in remembering who was who - I didn't find many of them distinct enough to be memorable.
Jody wrote: "I'm done! I did like it, but not as much as I'd hoped. I found it too long, with a few too many unnecessary side-plots. I also struggled with the characters, as in remembering who was who - I didn'..."I agree... I went into with fear.. but it was better than i thought but way too long!! I did read that it was a book that was released in installments so that kind of made sense to why he could make it so long and sometimes chapters felt a little disconnected.
It felt too long for me too. I feel almost guilty for not loving it, which I realise is ridiculous, but there you have it. 😂
This was one of the books that got me into reading. I must have been 13 or so... my mother had a collection of classics. At the time I would just sit and read a lot, so the longer, the better. I read it multiple times. I might find it too long now, too.... it perhaps helped that my version came in three volumes, so it felt like reading a series instead of one book.
I also read it when I was around 13 and really liked it. I wonder what id think of it now.
Reading this for a book from the 1,001 books list.Been meaning to get around to it at some point, but I had no idea how big this book is. The audiobook is 57hrs long. It was so big I had to delete a bunch of stuff just to download the book. This may take awhile to get through.
12.5% in and the story is only just now getting started. I’m having flashbacks to Les Mis. My only experience with the property is the slew of stories that nicked the plot, but they all start with the mysterious stranger returning for revenge before fleshing out why. This has really thrown me off-kilter. I’m hoping I become more invested once the plot starts moving.
It’s funny, I absolutely loved Les Misérables, but I find Dumas overly wordy and convoluted.
I didn’t mind Les Mis, but it took me about eight years to get through and it kept annoying me by jumping to a different plot thread every time things got interesting. Also doesn’t help that I’m not that big a fan of France (no offence to any French people out there), so spending extended periods of time ruminating in French history really dragged on for me.Hopefully this book doesn’t follow the same trajectory. At least I’m not stuck with a reading pace of 1% per hour this time.
Ha, that was me with War and Peace. Took me a year, but Les Misérables I read in about three weeks.
24% in and the revenge has finally started. I’ve been enraptured ever since the prison sequence. I really enjoy intelligent characters and thanks to his friendly prison advisor, Dante actually stepped up. Looking forward to seeing how things play out once he gets serious.
Finally past the halfway mark, right now it seems he’s putting more effort into messing with his servant than he is towards avenging his wrongs. He’s replayed an old kindness and screwed with the family of his former love, but by and large he’s spent more time acting mysterious and setting up a revealing dinner party than both those events combined.
80% through and his identity as Dante has been exposed twice with very little fanfare. In fact, one word from his former love is enough for him to want to give up his revenge entirely. Seriously had to force myself to keep going. Maybe it’s cultural dissonance, and maybe I just don’t get the Duelling Era, but that how subplot was stupid and went nowhere.Only two more sessions to go, but even at 3.5x speed I find myself wishing there was a higher setting to switch to. Uggh.
Finally. Finally finished. That was tedious. It was a great book when he was actually Count if Monte Cristo-ing, but he spent way too long doing nothing and what he did do was boring for the most part. Cut out all the crap before prison, the nonsense in a Paris, and all the side stories that went nowhere and it would be an interesting book.At least I’ve finished now.
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I’m so glad that I’m not the only one that thought it wasn’t wonderful. Not that I take it as gospel, but it’s touted all over Reddit as this incredible, engaging, adventurous tale that seems to be every man and his dog’s favourite book, like, EVER. I felt like it was probably twice as long as it should have been.
I'm about 1/3 of the way through this book and am really enjoying it so far. I find that Dumas is an excellent storyteller. Based on what others have said I'm a little nervous going forward that it's going to start dragging... It has definitely slowed down my reading pace so I'm no longer on track to finish the 2019 challenge!
Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas' epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialised in the 1840s.
I read Les Misérables last year and barley finished it in time. This book may turn out to be as difficult. I may need some help in getting through it. It does not seem to bad so far but the forward is not making me feel good about my chances. It mentions Dumas' tendency to repeat himself because he was paid by the word or sentence for this book.