I remember loving the movie in high school and vaguely thinking about reading the book but being intimidated by the page count. My edition was just shy of 1250 pages, so I set out a plan to read 50 pages per day to make sure I didn’t get overwhelmed. I needed that resolution in the beginning, as the book is a slow starter in setting up the story of Edmond Dantes, a young sailor who is on the verge of a good life: he’s about to be made captain of a ship and wed his beautiful fiancee, Mercedes. He is betrayed by rivals and sent to prison for the sake of a lawyer’s ambition, being consigned to a dungeon in the dreaded Chateau d’If. There he meets an Italian priest, Abbe Faria, who gives him a broad classical education and tells him the location of an enormous secret treasure. When Dantes escapes and recovers the bounty, he remakes himself as an aristocrat, the Count of Monte Cristo, and sets about destroying his enemies. There are so many characters and plot elements in this book (it was, after all, originally published as a serial) that it doesn’t drag, per se, but the main narrative takes a while to really pick up steam. I found that the last third or so of the book was the most enjoyable for me, as the various lines of dominoes finally start falling and create some real momentum. There’s something for everyone here: a tale of adventure and revenge, stories about families both warmly connected and coldly alienated, young couples falling in love, human frailty, hope, philosophical musings about the nature of happiness. It’s very long and the interest level it’s able to sustain waxes and wanes, but in the end I enjoyed it! ( )

Very rarely are stories of vengeance told with such support for said vengeance. This story is a classic for a reason. Never boring for a moment. ( )

Dieses Buch, oder in diesem Fall diese beiden Bände, muss man einfach gelesen haben. Der Graf von Monte Christo als Figur ist wohl eine der berühmtesten Vorbilder, wie man Rache an seinen Feinen, einst Freunden, nimmt. Wie man ihnen alles nimmt - Geld, Ansehen und die Frauen.
Man muss halt wissen wie man es macht.
Alexandre Dumas hat hier wirklich ein Meisterwerk geschaffen. ( )

A 1000 page revenge journey filled with the most clever, well-designed, carefully-crafted plans and set-ups. A master-class in pay-back, The Count of Monte Cristo is witty, and surprisingly fun. And that is for sure a weird comment considering the painful ordeals to which the protagonist is put through. How surprise and ashamed I am to say that revenge can be lots of fun (at least in fiction)... ( )

I have fond memories of an elective course I took in college on classic literature that exposed me to Dickens and the Bronte sisters. Occasionally, I will read a classic novel for a break from the popular fiction I consume. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas has been on my radar since the release of the movie The Shawshank Redemption, which is based on the short story by Stephen King, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. You know, the scene where Andy tells his friend he would like the book because it’s about a prison break?

Every time I watch that movie I think, “I really need to read that book!” The movie was released in 1994, so I’ve been thinking and saying this for a few decades. I finally purchased the audiobook from Audible, narrated by Guy Mott. Surprisingly, it hasn’t stared at me from my ridiculously long TBR for too long. I decided to participate in a reading challenge this year organized by another book blogger, Runalong the Shelves, they named the 2024 Book-Tempter’s TBR Challenge. The April challenge is to read a book more than 60 years old. The perfect nudge I needed to read this door stopper of a book.

And I mean a DOOR STOPPER! I couldn’t imaging reading this book in print. I would need some serious help holding it. I’m happy with my decision to read the audiobook; it’s 55 hours! I think it’s the longest book I’ve ever read! I listened to this book for varying amounts of time every day and it took me three weeks to complete.

I truly enjoyed my time with the Count of Monte Cristo/Edmond Dantes. The story was captivating from start to finish. I anxiously awaited the famous prison break, which was everything I hoped for. There are so many characters, at times it felt like I was reading several different stories. The book pretty much covers Dantes’ entire life, yet at the end I wanted there to be more. I liked the ending, and yet, I feel like there is more story to be told. I don’t mean that anything was left unresolved, just that Dantes’ story wasn’t finished.

I quickly learned that this book is more than the prison break scene. It’s about love, suffering, and revenge. It’s a piece of literary art. I’m happy I finally read the book and feel inspired to read more classic literature.

I have photos, videos, and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog ( )