The Count of Monte Cristo

A fantastic story of retribution and revenge. I took the plunge reading the unabridged version and although it took a while to get into, I couldn't stop reading once the Count had been fully unleashed. I kept expecting negative things to happen to the protagonist but instead, pure revenge. It was great to read through and this one-sided dynamic didn't get boring at all.

Revenge is something best served cold, and when it has been twenty years in the making, its even better for the one who wants the revenge!
Edmond Dantes has such a promising future ahead of him and a wonderful girl waiting for him at home. On the day of his engagement he is torn away from her, and trasported to prison, where he is left to rot for fourteen years. He was punished for the crimes of others and for one who wished that no one know. He was sacrificed for the advacement of others and those who were jealous of what he had attained in his short life.

During his imprisonment, he is fortunate to meet the Abbe next to him, and through a tunnel, they are able to communicate. The Abbe passes on his knowledge to Edmond and after the death of the elderly man, Edmond takes his place and finally find the fortune that the man had been hiding. After reinventing himself, he begins the slow painstaking job of finding and extracting the revenge of which has for so long dreamt.

But at what cost does revenge come?

Loved this read! It was one of the better books I have read through in a while, and although long, it was worth every turn of the page and sleepless night I spent going through it! I recommend this read for all!

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Where do I start with this book? It's not by any means a perfect book - there are some flaws that simply can't be ignored, especially not when you're reading this from the 21st century. Even if we take out period-specific biases that litter throughout this book, it still has some flaws like overly convenient or just wildly unrealistic plot developments.

And despite all that, I still give it 5 stars for the sheer enjoyment value of it.

I'll admit that the first 20 chapters or so were pretty slow-going and I almost wanted to DNF. I took about 1-2 weeks to get till Ch 17, then I took a break from the book. When I picked it up again, I zoomed through Ch 18 to 117 (the end) in... 5 days. The book was un-put-downable at a very early point, every chapter was just so much juice and drama that I kept wanting to go on and on and on. I stayed up till 3-5am just reading this book because I wanted to know what was going to happen.

The Count of Monte Cristo has a very simple plot at its core, which is probably a huge part of why it remains so popular until today. A young man, Edmond Dantes, seems to have it all - at 19 years of age, he's an accomplished sailor well respected by his crewmates, he's on the brink of being promoted being naturally favoured by the ship owner, and he's about to get married to a beautiful young woman who has been faithfully waiting for him throughout his voyages. Of course, shit happens. Through a series of very unfortunate events and false accusations, Edmond ends up wrongfully imprisoned for FOURTEEN years, after which he crafts an elaborate and comprehensive revenge for the people who had robbed him of his youth, his prospects, and his marriage.

All of this happens in the first 20-ish chapters, and I was thinking: how on Earth is this book going to drag on for another 100 chapters? But it does. Oh, it really does.

There's daring swordfights and pistol duelling, treasure hunting, multiple betrayals, multiple secret identities, manipulation, so much bribery and corruption, broken marriages and broken-off engagements, secret star-crossed lovers, kidnapping by bandits, and so much more. Dumas also clearly has a penchant for only doing things at the last possible and most dramatic moment, so once you can suspend that disbelief and go along with that ride, it'll suck you in for good. This book is a veritable soap opera in text form.

That is, perhaps, one of its flaws although it's one that I am quite indifferent about. The book isn't even trying to be realistic, Dumas flagrantly enjoys the dramatic and he's going into it unapologetically. Sure, there're a lot of overly convenient and crazy plot twists but the book is clear that this is just alllll part of the drama, it's deliberately shocking you, and I'm here for it. So if you're going into this expecting social commentary or like any kind of realism, you will certainly be disappointed. Instead, look at this book in the same light as you might look upon something like Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson or Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne - it's a rollicking adventure book that requires some suspension of disbelief.

OK, let's address the elephant in the room - slavery - which will unfortunately have to go under spoiler tags as it only really becomes a thing after the first third of the book.

The Count takes on two slaves and both of them are extremely problematic imo. The first is Ali, who is described as Nubian/black, mute, and basically submissive. The problematic-ness of this is fairly clear, although perhaps not at all surprising for the time the book was written, around 1840. Ali is apparently a very competant and diligent servant, but his muteness means that he literally has no voice of his own, and he is shown unabashedly grovelling at the Count's feet. In Ch 46, when one 0f the Count's actual paid servants (I can't remember the name) says that he should emulate Ali more since the Count clearly favours him, the Count says no, because if the servant made a mistake, he would only fire him, but if Ali made a mistake, he would kill him and that Ali's life belonged to his simply because he saved his life. I get that this is probably regular fare for 19th century standards, but man is it discomfiting to read in this time and age.The second slave we get to know is Haidee, who is even more problematic to read about. Haidee is a Turkish/Greek young woman of only about 18 years old, who had once been a princess but when her father was killed, she was sold into slavery, whereupon the Count eventually bought her. From the very beginning, the Count refers to her as his "female slave", although it's clear that she is treated on a different level than Ali. While Ali does actual work for the Count, Haidee is referred to as "the young mistress" by the other servants. She keeps to her chambers and does nothing. At first, I was worried that there was some kind of sex slave situation going on which would be extremely gross, but luckily that didn't come true. When we first see Haidee interacting with the Count, she is joyfully relishing in their relationship as master and slave, always speaking submissively, worshipfully, and reverantly to the Count. We learn later on that the Count apparently looks upon her as a father would upon a daughter, which is honestly a bit weird as well, but OK. From the very beginning, there is a power dynamic between them that is significantly more unequal than even the standard imbalance that would already exist between men and women at the time. I was really disappointed when the Count ended up with Haidee at the end - even discounting their large age gap (the Count is in his early 40s while Haidee is still not even 20), I just can't get behind that ship at all with the grovelling way Haidee talks to the Count and how she relishes in submitting to him as her master in all senses of the word.

Some other notes about characters, which will also have to go under spoilers:
- Eugenie Danglars: Probably my favourite character of the book. It's left fairly open to interpretation whether she is homosexual or asexual, but she rebels against patriarchy and the institution of matrimony and doesn't get punished, which is amazing. Too bad she only appears for like 2% of the book or less, but I'm really happy that her character existed. I love that conversation she had with her father Baron Danglars where she coolly asserted her independence and self-will despite his threats. She was frequently described as being "manly", even by other female characters like Valentine de Villefort, just because she actually relished in having a strong personality of her own, but I'll overlook that because she is great and such a breath of fresh air.- Morrel and Valentine: I was OK about their romance, it was very Romeo & Juliet-esque and I feel like Morrel was such a drama queen almost all the time about this relationship, but it wasn't obnoxiously annoying.- Grandpa Noirtier: Amazing. Loved how he didn't let his physical disabilities and paralysis hold him down and stop him from executing some beautiful vengeances of his own.

Finally, my thoughts about the ending: The ending chapters were, for me, a little weaker than the vast middle of the book. I didn't like how a lot of characters ended up, to be honest. I was super psyched when Cadarousse got his come-uppance and loved the dramatic way the Count went about it. I loved that the Count didn't just go around killing his enemies willy-nilly, but set things up properly so that they still had the option to take second chances and redeem themselves, but if they didn't then they would end up exactly where they belonged. The endings for Count de Morcerf and Villefort were pretty brutal, especially with Villefort, but I thought Danglars got off WAAAY too lightly, considering that he was literally the person who hatched up and instigated the whole scheme against Edmond in the first place. He not only escaped with his life and his sanity, but even 50,000 francs that Edmond gave him.A huge part of the ending that I wasn't too happy about was Mercedes. While she got off pretty lightly compared to some of the other characters, I couldn't help feeling that the book was still criticizing and punishing her in very mild and subtle way, but the punishment was still there. And all this, just because she was "faithless" and married Fernand when everyone around her (including Edmond's own father) convinced her that Edmond was dead after he got hauled off to prison? That is some shitty misogyny right there. I suppose it plays into the whole code of conduct system in that society, where people get laughed at for being cowards just because they apologise and call off a duel at the last minute because they realised they had been at fault after all. Also similarly, how committing suicide is more "honourable" than actually facing up to things like bankruptcy or just the consequences of your own actions. So I suppose it would've been seen as more "honourable" for Mercedes to have remained forever unprotected and alone, or even commit suicide herself, rather than marry someone else. Still though... I disagree with all of the above, and think that Mercedes deserved way better. I'm glad that the Count and Mercedes didn't part on bad terms, but I really wish that they had reconciled more intimately (even if not romantically). It's clear that both of them spent almost their entire lives living for each other even though neither of them knew what had happened to the other, and I don't think that kind of bond is broken off so easily. And in the Count's case, certainly not with a teenage girl who just wants to be his slave in every respect. Ugh.A minor point that was annoying about the ending was how the Count kept dragging revelations to "test" people, particularly with Morrel and Haidee. He made Morrel go through an entire month, and then go through some song and dance about suicide and whatnot, even giving him a vial that he pretends to be poison, before he reveals that Valentine is in fact still alive just before Morrel loses consciousness. Now, that is bringing the dramatic way too far imo, and all just so that the Count can "test" Morrel's strength of feeling for Valentine. Why is it up to him to test that?! Then he also goes through another song and dance with Haidee, giving her back her freedom just so that she can be all like, "I'll kill myself if I can't be with you." Errrr. How much stroking does his ego need? Apparently Haidee's feelings for him catches him by surprised cos he hadn't realised fully up to that point that she loved him romantically, but.. just how?!

Tl;dr of this book: Despite a lot of flaws and problematic bits in this book, it's still such a fun and dramatic soap opera of a novel that'll suck you in for hours. In terms of enjoyment level, this book is almost unsurpassed in recent memory. Close one eye to these problems and suspend some disbelief before you tune in!

I reread The Count of Monte Cristo every couple of years. It is my favorite book. Whatever you want–a love story, pirates, bandits, social satire, a twisty plot—is all here. Every time I read it, it seems like something new comes to the surface.

In the shadow of the Trump election, I couldn't help but think about the way that Monte Cristo (Edmond Dantes) is basically a superhero of the Enlightenment. He accomplishes things that small minded, superstitious people cannot conceive of because he has unlimited amounts of the two resources of Enlightenment (and therefore the emerging global regime of capitalism): scientific knowledge and money.

Right now, we may be looking at the end of the Enlightenment project, or conversely the rebirth of it. Enlightenment virtues of progress over tradition, knowledge over dogma, curiosity over taboo, cosmopolitanism over parochialism, are all headed toward a moment where they must be defended or abandoned.

Even Monte Cristo has his limits. His progressivism did not overcome patriarchal tradition, and as elsewhere in Western culture, scientific knowledge is used by the Count to reinforce existing prejudices against undesirables. In the end, money does not triumph over death, and knowledge does not heal wounds.

Dumas was the first master of escapist fiction. The novel stands, but what we escape from seems to be shifting radically.

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!

Vraag mij niet waarom ik dit herlezen heb. Ik herinner me vaag dat ik het zeer indrukwekkend vond toen ik het een eeuw geleden las, en ik zal wel iets gedacht hebben als “in de rapte eens lezen, tussen twee andere dingen door”.

Ahem ja. Dit is een lang boek. Serieus: een te lang boek. En het is echt wel wijs om lezen, maar dan toch wel vooral als een tijdsdocument — want echt literatuur zou ik het niet durven noemen.

De personages zijn meer dan karikaturaal, het verhaal is bij momenten zó ongeloofwaardig dat het ongewild humoristisch wordt, en de voorafschaduwingen zijn zo voorafschaduwend, dat er bijzonder weinig verrassingen te rapen zijn.

In het kort: Edmond Dantès heeft alles om gelukkig te zijn: hij heeft een beetje geld gespaard, hij staat op het punt om kapitein van een schip te worden en hij staat op het punt te trouwen met de mooie Mercédès. Danglars, die met Dantès vaarde, is jaloers. Fernand, een visser, is verliefd op Mercédès.

De dag voor Dantès' trouw schrijven Danglars en Fernand samen met de dronken Caderousse (een buurman die de vader van Dantès woekerrentes vraagt) een brief als zou Dantès een Bonapartist zijn (zéér not done in 1815). Dantès wordt gearresteerd op zijn verlovingsfeest, en ondervraagd door Villefort, de substituut van de procureur.

Villefort is een royalist, maar ziet in eerste instantie niets zwaars aan de hand met de loze beschuldiging , tot blijkt dat Dantès wel degelijk een brief op zich heeft: het was de stervenswens van zijn kapitein dat hij die brief zou bezorgen aan de Noirtier. Noirtier is een hardcore Bonapartist en — hier komt de clou! — de vader van Villefort, die Noirtier de Villefort geboren is.

Daarop smijt Villefort Dantès meteen in de gevangenis, zonder enige vorm van proces, in het Château d'If, de maximum security prison van die tijd, op een rots in de zee een paar kilometer voor de kust van Marseille. De brief zorgt ervoor dat Villefort op de hoogte is van de nakende terugkeer in Frankrijk van Napoleon en geeft Villefort meteen een zware promotie.

Dantès blijft jaren in eenzame opsluiting in het Château d'If, Ondertussen sterft de vader van Dantès, geraakt Fernand aan macht en geld door zowat iedereen voor wie hij ooit gewerkt heeft te verraden aan hun vijand, is Villefort na de tweede terugkeer van de monarchie na Waterloo procureur des konings, wordt Danglars een rijke bankier, en trouwt Fernand met Mercédès die het opgegeven heeft te wachten op Dantès.

Als Dantès op de rand van zelfmoord staat in de gevangenis, hoort hij lawaai dat blijkt een collega-gevangene te zijn, abbé Faria. Faria is belezen, intelligent, weet van geneeskunde en scheikunde af, leert Dantès talen en wetenschap, en samen reconstrueren ze hoe de vork in de steel zit met Danglars en Fernand en Caderousse en Villefort.

Tien (tien!) jaar na hun ontmoeting en veertien jaar na zijn gevangenzetting, slaagt Dantès erin te ontsnappen. Faria heeft hem vanalles geleerd, en ook en vooral verteld waar er een immense schat begraven ligt, op het eiland van Montecristo.

...en dan begint de wraak van Dantès. Eén voor één verschuift hij pionnen, tot hij uiteindelijk iedereen die hem gevangen gezet heeft, kapot heeft gemaakt. De zaken worden een beetje gecompliceerder omdat al die mensen getrouwd zijn en ook kinderen hebben: alleen daardoor is Dantès geen allesvernietigende wraakengel, maar enkel bijna-allesvernietigend.

Kluten en esbattementen, moord, vergiftiging, vermommingen, personages die blijken personages uit lang vervlogen verledens van elkaar te zijn, drama, melodrama, pathetiek, avontuur, duels, subterfuge: dit is geen boek, dit is een telenovela.

Zoals ik zei: wel leutig om lezen, maar dit is écht iets dat beter tot zijn recht komt in een tv-serie, denk ik.

Easily the longest book I've read to date.

I know a lot of people really really liked this book, and I definitely see what appeal this book has to everyone. Personally, I really enjoyed the beginning, and up through the part of the book we spend with Alfred, Franz, and The Count in Italy. After that, though, I felt like the book really dragged a bit in the middle. There was so much in the way of convoluted plotting that I kept getting mired in the detail and losing sight of what the goals actually were.

That said, I enjoyed my time with the book. I'm not a revenge person (I honestly don't see what it gets you, because it doesn't ever fix the original problem), but there's a lot for even someone like me to find and enjoy here.

I finished the count of monte cristo. I..finished..the count of monte cristo, i finished the count of monte cristo – hold on, i am not done, i FINISHED the count of monte cristo!

inspired by lorelai gilmore when she realized she was no longer held bound to friday night dinners when rory made the deal about yale

This was everything. I have absolutely no words to describe the spectacular way the story was told. Dumas' incredible brain, the easy and well translated words and such brilliant characters. I loved Edmond, I adored Valentine, and I despised Fernand and Danglars with all my heart.

There are no words to describe the love I came to have for this book and though I am feeling accomplished that I finished this book but I am saddened to know it has come to an end.

More than 2⭐️ but not enough to round up to 3.

Okay, am I the only one who though this book was very frustrating and uncomfortable?

It started so promising - an innocent man is betrayed by envious and jealous fake friends and ends up in a terrible prison. There was some great adventure, some nice secrets and some interesting characters. I was affected and engaged and had such high hopes.
And then it turned into this strangely sadistic tale about a guy whom I simply could not, for the life of me, understand. I am gonna say it here - the reformed Dante acted with absolutely no empathy. And not just towards his enemies. Even when he was attempting to do good, he was doing it in such a strangely sadistic way that I honestly felt uncomfortable reading through it. For example, the way he brought both the old and the young Morels to the brink of suicide before he intervened, despite his ability to do so earlier, was absolutely unnecessary and baffling. It only makes sense if he did it because he enjoyed the drama of it more than he cared for the wellbeing of his only real friends and that is nothing to admire him for. And what was even more frustrating was that the author tried to play it as "they knew the depths of despair so they could experience supreme happiness" which is simply dishonest. Indeed, overcoming troubles does help one experience higher levels of happiness, but in these cases it was unnecessarily prolonged to the point of doing irreversible damage.
Everything good Dante does is tainted by his less than respectable motives and villainous manner of execution.
The author also seems to have a strange obsession with suicide and murder as forms of preserving one's honour. I assume that it's probably dictated by the morals of the period this book was written in, but it still made me extremely uncomfortable to read about it.

Not to mention the insane amount of exposition. And while I can acknowledge that this was typical for the writing style of the time, I still found the book somewhat bloated.

I had quite high expectations of this book and I'm a wee bit disappointed.