The Count of Monte Cristo

Amazotheamazing · 28-07-2009 12:26am #1

Just finished the Count de Monte Cristo, what a book. The way Dumas builds tension at various points in plot is excellently done, and manages to the bring it together well at the end.

Any fans?

Who got the worse deal?

dioltas · 28-07-2009 3:14pm

Read this years ago, I remember loving it! Can't remember the details of it that well though...

TedB · 28-07-2009 3:41pm

I've always wanted to read this. Several times I've went into a bookshop looking for a cheap version of it but can never find the Wordsworth cheap ass version. My day will come!

turgon · 28-07-2009 3:56pm

You gotta start buying online TedB(undy?)!!!

Ive never read it, its on the shelf though. I heard a rumor that the reason its so long is that Dumas was getting paid by the page so it was financially better for him for it to be longer.

s_carnage · 28-07-2009 4:05pm

TedB wrote: »

I've always wanted to read this. Several times I've went into a bookshop looking for a cheap version of it but can never find the Wordsworth cheap ass version. My day will come!

€4.07 delivered. Ya can't go wrong with that now.

BookDepositoryThe-Count-of-Monte-Cristo

Dades · 28-07-2009 4:26pm

turgon wrote: »

Ive never read it, its on the shelf though. I heard a rumor that the reason its so long is that Dumas was getting paid by the page so it was financially better for him for it to be longer.

In the same boat!

Have a copy at home I bought last year. Then the sheer size of the bastard thing put me off. Damn you, lack of time!

Vim Fuego · 28-07-2009 4:29pm

On my shelf as well, I've only heard amazing things! I'll read it soon.

Amazotheamazing · 28-07-2009 6:18pm

Ah lads, time to get it off the shelf and read it, took a small bit of time to get into it, but pretty soon I was reading 200 pages at a time.

Chumpski · 30-07-2009 11:43am

Great novel, very long and the middle section drags a little. Still though the second half is brilliant. Very easy to read.

As for who got the worst deal:

I think Mercedes got it from all sides. First she was manipulated into a marriage by Fernand by conspiring to have Dantes thrown in prison. Then her son is manipulated by Dantes and almost destroyed. Finally, at the end Dantes (as i remember) can't forgive her for giving up on him and goes off with a younger woman.

The Recliner · 30-07-2009 11:46am

Great book and well worth a read

The size of it is off putting and it is very disheartening when you have read loads and still not made a dent in it

But it is easy to read and you will fly through it once you get started

The story and the sense of time passed is handled really well, highly recommend it

MagicMarker · 25-04-2012 1:22pm

Thread mega-bump!!

Finished this off last night, an incredible book, absolute incredible. I want to watch the movie adaption but I know already that it will pale in comparison.

dr gonzo · 30-04-2012 5:24pm

MagicMarker wrote: »

Thread mega-bump!!

Finished this off last night, an incredible book, absolute incredible. I want to watch the movie adaption but I know already that it will pale in comparison.

The issue with the movie version (Pearse and Caviezal version) is not that its bad by comparison, just different. Not a spoiler but just in case...

Specifically the film is afraid of maintaining certain aspects of the story with regard to Dantes' ruthlessness in certain scenarios

. Other then that I quite liked it. Must watch the original movie.

Really is a fantastic book, and despite its size I never once stopped and sighed at what I had left to go. I can be a slow reader, and certainly some sections are a little slower, but I flew through it.

ntlbell · 30-04-2012 5:26pm

MagicMarker wrote: »

Thread mega-bump!!

Finished this off last night, an incredible book, absolute incredible. I want to watch the movie adaption but I know already that it will pale in comparison.

which version of it did you read?

mathepac · 30-04-2012 5:37pm

Get your free software Kindle for Mac or PC and download the book for as little as $1.22 Inc VAT from [url][/url]www.amazon.com - there are lavishly illustrated versions as well as 1,250+ page annotated versions

tHE vAGGABOND · 30-04-2012 5:39pm

Would be one of my "desert island" books, I love it - on kindle clearly, as its bloody huge

Carawaystick · 06-05-2012 10:33pm

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1184

Pretty impressive book, thought it flagged a bit where Dante escaped from the jail and then start of the bandit section, but the finale was unbelievable good stuff, tying up soo many threads

Nody · 07-05-2012 12:58pm

Carawaystick wrote: »

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1184

Pretty impressive book, thought it flagged a bit where Dante escaped from the jail and then start of the bandit section, but the finale was unbelievable good stuff, tying up soo many threads

Perfect timing; now I can bring it along for my vacation reading (listened to it as Audio book already).

Jimmy Iovine · 22-05-2012 1:36am

I bought this a few days ago. I found it on sale for €3 in a shop so I had to buy it.

Does it take long to get hooked on it? It's such a long book that I don't really want to start it at this moment unless I know that it's not a slowburner. If it is then I'll probably leave it for another day.

Ormus · 29-05-2012 4:53pm

Jimmy Iovine wrote: »

I bought this a few days ago. I found it on sale for €3 in a shop so I had to buy it.

Does it take long to get hooked on it? It's such a long book that I don't really want to start it at this moment unless I know that it's not a slowburner. If it is then I'll probably leave it for another day.

Personally I thought it had great pace all the way through, although some people think it has a lull in the middle. It does go off on some tangents after a few hundred pages but its all very necessary and the tangents are exciting too.

It depends on your point of view. If you read just to get a book finished then this is not the one for you. I found the story so entertaining that I wished it was a thousand pages longer.

eire4 · 30-05-2012 7:05pm

Read this a few years ago and loved it. Definitely a book I will read again at some point.

Jimmy Iovine · 31-05-2012 10:54pm

Ormus wrote: »

Personally I thought it had great pace all the way through, although some people think it has a lull in the middle. It does go off on some tangents after a few hundred pages but its all very necessary and the tangents are exciting too.

It depends on your point of view. If you read just to get a book finished then this is not the one for you. I found the story so entertaining that I wished it was a thousand pages longer.

I often buy books for the sake of buying them, but I read them for the sake of being entertained or learning about something new. I got through LOTR years ago in no length and, from what I can remember, Tolkien went off on a lot of tangents, so I shouldn't have too much trouble with them I hope.

I've to get through a bit of Dostoyevsky first and then I'll try a few chapters of it. If I like it I'll keep going. If not then I'll wait for a rainy day further down the line.

MagicMarker · 01-06-2012 8:03am

It's definitely not a slow burner, in fact for such a long book I was surprised at how fast it got going. A lot happens within the first 100 pages for instance.

Believe me when I say I do not like writers going off on tangents, but I still very much enjoyed the chapters that seemingly had little impact on the overall story.

01-06-2012 5:12pm

TCOMC is one of my all time favourites and for anyone else who enjoyed it, I can guarantee 100% that you will get the same level of enjoyment out of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

fitz0 · 03-06-2012 7:58pm

Funny, I don't recall it being that long. I think I read it in just under two weeks I enjoyed it that much. In the same manner it only took me 6 days to read Game of Thrones I got that absorbed in it.

TCOMC is such a fantastic tale of revenge that I don't believe I've ever read another book that does it so well.

Ormus · 03-06-2012 8:00pm

fitz0 wrote: »

Funny, I don't recall it being that long. I think I read it in just under two weeks I enjoyed it that much. In the same manner it only took me 6 days to read Game of Thrones I got that absorbed in it.

TCOMC is such a fantastic tale of revenge that I don't believe I've ever read another book that does it so well.

That is some fast reading.

fitz0 · 03-06-2012 8:08pm

Was working in a quiet bookshop and commuting over an hour daily so plenty of time to read. Then again it takes me ages to read some stuff, about 6 months for LotR and about 3 for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I guess it just depends on the book.

Jimmy Iovine · 04-06-2012 10:49am

fitz0 wrote: »

Funny, I don't recall it being that long. I think I read it in just under two weeks I enjoyed it that much. In the same manner it only took me 6 days to read Game of Thrones I got that absorbed in it.

TCOMC is such a fantastic tale of revenge that I don't believe I've ever read another book that does it so well.

2 weeks is good going. My best effort was probably reading The DaVinci Code in 4 days. I read it in the week that we had off before my Mocks back in 3rd year. The book is pants but I got so tied up in it that I couldn't put it down. As a result I bombed in the exams.

I'm looking forward to this now. I bought War and Peace a few weeks ago. I've gotten through a good few pages. I found that a long process though with all the translating and checking up of references that goes on. I could never really get into a proper flow with it.

clsmooth · 24-07-2020 8:27pm

Had to bump this thread. Cracking book, just make sure you get the Buss translation. I've read (and bought) it a few times tried another translation once and struggled a bit. But get it, read it and thank me later. One of the best revenge books ever written.

The Count of Monte Cristo

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