The Count of Monte Cristo

[Ashley Marie]

I'll probably be queuing up the audiobook sometime in February - Libby has a 47hr audiobook narrated by John Lee. I sampled it a few weeks ago and liked it enough to bookmark it. There's also the Bill Homewood recording on Hoopla, which comes out to 53hrs. Hmm.

[K.L.]

I'll probably be starting The Count of Monte Cristo toward the end of January, or the beginning of February.

[Sheri]

I think I started it in January, and finished sometime in June. I eventually got into a groove where I read a chapter or two in between each book I finished, just to make progress without feeling bogged down in it.

[Nadine in NY]

Ashley Marie wrote: "I'll probably be queuing up the audiobook sometime in February - Libby has a 47hr audiobook narrated by John Lee. I sampled it a few weeks ago and liked it enough to bookmark it. There's also the B..."



That was exactly the version that got me through it. If not for John Lee, I would never have made it to the finish line.


I know A LOT of people LOVE this book!!! I am just not one of those people. (And I not so secretly suspect that many of the fans accidentally read the abridged version and thought it was the complete novel - even the "abridged" version is about 1000 pages. Not everyone, of course. I know many readers legit love this book in its entirety.)

[Lin]

I started this book! I'm only 3% in, but hope to read and/or listen to at least 10% a month. I have both the book and audio.

I took Nadine and Ashley Marie's advice and found the audiobook narrated by John Lee.

Happy Reading!

[Ashley Marie]

Happy reading, Linda! I'll be along in another week or so!

[Britany]

I started too, just barely 3% in myself. Up to chapter 5 via the serial reader app.

[K.L.]

I'll be starting the book later this week.

[K.L.]

I have officially started reading The Count of Monte Cristo! I'm currently only three chapters in, and planning to read three chapters each night. I was feeling a little intimidated by the sheer size of this book (which is approximately the size and weight of a brick), but I'm actually finding it very interesting so far. I think it's going to be a good read.

Is anyone else planning to watch (or re-watch) the movie adaptation when they finish the book?

[Ashley Marie]

K.L. wrote: "I have officially started reading The Count of Monte Cristo! I'm currently only three chapters in, and planning to read three chapters each night. I was feeling a little intimidated by ..."

I most likely will. I love Richard Harris as Abbe Faria. Plus, baby Henry Cavill! Luis Guzman!

[Britany]

yes I will watch it too!

[Ashley Marie]

Starting today! My last audiobook took a bit longer than I'd planned, but I'm excited to finally be giving the Count a proper go :)

[K.L.]

It has been almost a week since I started reading The Count of Monte Cristo, so I thought this would be a good time to do a quick update...

I'm currently on chapter 34, and I've really been enjoying the book! Having watched the movie adaptation several times, I knew that I would like the story, but I've been really surprised by the book's quick narrative pacing. Given how large the book is, and the level of detail that Dumas includes, I never expected that I would be moving through this book so quickly. I am continuing to read three chapters per night, but I feel like I could easily lose track of the number of chapters and just keep on going.

I'm curious to know... How is The Count of Monte Cristo meeting (or exceeding/falling short of/etc.) your expectations going into it?

[Britany]

Oh boy- I'm still at 3% and completely forget to go back to it. I need to pick up the pace.

[Cadi]

I loved this book when I read it years ago. I thought it was fairly fast-paced. I'm curious to see what you all think of it.

[Ashley Marie]

I'm in ch19 now and enjoying myself considerably - the first half of the book is the portion of the story I'm most familiar with, so I'm looking forward to what happens later! I've also been surprised at how quickly the story moves compared to how large the book is.

[Sheri]

When I read it a few years ago I found it moved at a quick pace until it got to the bit dealing with Franz and then came to a screeching halt and I despaired of ever finishing until I finally got past him, haha. Then it picked back up.

[K.L.]

It has been a little over three weeks since I started The Count of Monte Cristo, and I'm still really enjoying it. I was reading three chapters per night, but decided to stop limiting myself to a specific number when I found that I just wanted to keep on reading. I'm currently on chapter 78.

Given the book's size, I figured that the plot would be far more complex than that of the movie adaptation, and it definitely is. What has surprised me is (view spoiler)[the scale of the Count's plans for revenge. The number of people he manipulates to bring about his revenge is much higher than I anticipated. He also uses so many different methods to bring about the downfall of the men who put him in prison.

I've also been really impressed with his patience. He's definitely following the old proverb, "Revenge is a dish best served cold," which is why I think he will ultimately be successful. (hide spoiler)]

Overall, I'm really glad that I'm taking the time to read this book, and I think I'm going to end up finishing it much sooner than I originally anticipated. I'll definitely be reading more of Dumas's work later this year as well. Both The Three Musketeers and The Women's War have been on my TBR for a couple of years now, and I think I will try to read them both before the end of 2023.

[K.L.]

It took me almost exactly one month, but I have officially finished The Count of Monte Cristo! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will definitely be reading more books by Dumas in the future.

[Britany]

oh bravo KL! I'm only up to chapter 10. I need to step it up. I'm mad that Dantes was imprisoned and the villefort is lying.

[Nadine in NY]

K.L. wrote: "It took me almost exactly one month, but I have officially finished The Count of Monte Cristo! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will definitely be reading more books by Dumas in the future."



One month is fast!! It took me eleven months.

[Ashley Marie]

K.L. wrote: "It took me almost exactly one month, but I have officially finished The Count of Monte Cristo! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will definitely be reading more books by Dumas in the future."

Congrats KL! Glad to hear you loved it!

This past week of vacation meant more print-reading than audio-reading, but I'm back at it today and excited to see what he gets up to.

[Ron]

I've been wanting to read this book. Just haven't had the time, especially since I'm more of a nonfiction reader.

Maybe I can add it for my April read since my reading for March is pretty full.

[Ashley Marie]

I'm at the halfway mark and I love Maximilian and Valentine so much!

[Ashley Marie]

Finished this afternoon and I loved it! The pacing was a little rough in spots but the story was phenomenalllll.

[K.L.]

Ashley Marie wrote: "Finished this afternoon and I loved it! The pacing was a little rough in spots but the story was phenomenalllll."

Congratulations, Ashley Marie! I'm so glad that you enjoyed it!

[Britany]

Way to go Ashley!!! I'm up to Ch 26.

[Ron]

I so badly want to get to this book! I wish I had the time, but I don't. :^(

[Ron]

Excellent, so for a group I'm in they will be reading this book next year. It will probably take all year to read it so that's okay. I broke it up by monthly page count.


This is the edition I got: