4.5
The Count of Monte Cristo
ByPublisher Description
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.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Count of Monte Cristo Reviews
4.5
“At the beginning of December, I gave myself a challenge - fully read "The Count of Monte Cristo" by the end of the year. I was going pretty solid to begin with, but as we drew closer to the holidays, I found myself getting less and less interested in actually finishing the novel by my end date. However, I am not a quitter, and found the passion I needed to get this novel finished.
And god, am I glad that I gave myself this challenge. To put it plainly, I fell in love with this novel. It is a slow burn, which I wasn't anticipating, since it's known to be one of the greatest revenge stories ever written. I was expecting a fast-paced novel, and was surprised to find that there is a lot of ground work that Dumas does to create a cast of characters that you feel like you personally know, and gives a great understanding of, at the time, current affairs that were influencing each chapter as it came out. Dantes is such an intriguing character, going through an arc that I wasn't expecting to find as captivating as I did.
I think one thing that this novel does well is pacing. We get to learn about the characters before the main plot of the story begins, which allows us to grow with the characters, especially once we get to see them again in the later portion of the novel. There were many chapters where I was wondering exactly the story was going, since it didn't seem like it was essential to the telling of the story. Little did I know that these chapters were essential for the long run, which I think was my favorite part of the novel. We get little bits of information at each time, but Dumas does a wonderful job at making you want to continue reading, which the serial publication of the story certainly helped fulfill.
This is a long novel, but I didn't necessarily find myself to be overwhelmed by it. I became personally overwhelmed by the amount of things going on in my personal life, but for the novel itself, I found it to be an invigorating read, even with the lofty page count. I had originally given myself the task of reading 7 chapters a day, which I found to be a bit strenuous, but if you're looking to actually pace yourself well, and get this book finished in a decent amount of time, I think 3 chapters a day would be a great amount, since some chapters are fairly quick, while others are lengthy, but it gives enough story to warrant continuing the next day without becoming overwhelmed by the amount of reading you're doing.
Going into this novel, I knew nothing of the story, and I think that is honestly the best way of experiencing this novel. It's a classic for a reason, and going into it with as little knowledge as possible makes for such a fun and exciting experience. From the look of the book, it feels like it would be a challenging read, but I've found that is far from the truth, and I had such a fun time getting to go on this journey of a read. What a way to end the year; this was a challenge I didn't think I was going to be able to complete in time, but I am beyond glad that I actually finished what I started, since this story truly was a remarkable one.”
About Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was a French novelist best known for The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. The grandson of a marquis and the son of a famous general, Dumas was a prolific playwright, travel-writer, and head of a production studio who chose his enslaved grandmother’s surname for his professional nom de plume.
Other books by Alexandre Dumas
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