The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics) by Alexandre Dumas père
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Book Reviews of The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: Nothing short of my new favorite book.
Summary: 5 Stars
Reading classic fiction entails a fascinating insight into human nature. So often, we're intimidated by the "classic" status of a book, assuming it's going to be long, dry and inaccessible. With some exceptions, what you typically find is the opposite; a book that is just as engaging today as the day it was written, something that strikes you as a piece of pop culture that has endured because it was done so well. It's a real testament to the idea that some elements of human nature transcend time and place, staying fresh across generations.
So it is with the Count of Monte Cristo. Add its massive length to its classic status and you have a book that a lot of people might be hesitant to pick up. I implore you to abandon any hesitancy you may feel and read this book immediately. It is nothing more and nothing less than the ultimate tale of love, betrayal, revenge and redemption. You will find yourself wrapped up with the characters, shocked by revelations and uplifted by the care lavished on the tale by Dumas. It's really that good.
This book is obviously the inspiration for many popular stories that have followed in its footsteps. The one I couldn't get out of my head was The Princess Bride, which boils the story down to some of its most critical plot points and then plays them for laughs quite well.
Now, stop reading reviews, order the book and start reading it. You'll be thrilled that you did.
Book Review: Typical: One of the best books ever
Summary: 5 Stars
I first read "The Count of Monte Cristo" in fifth grade. I started with a five hundred or so paged version, knowing that it would be too hard for me to take on the entire book. I fell in love instantly. Unable to rip myself away from the book, I actually got yelled at by my parents for not coming to eat dinner.
Two years later, in seventh grade, I decided that it was about time for me to read this entire, unabridged version. I sat for days, doing nothing but reading, and when I reemerged, I found that I was just as much in love as I had been two years before. I also found that this was going to be a long, wonderful relationship between myself and Dumas.
"The Count of Monte Cristo" is a wonderful book for several reasons. One is that it is exciting. There is constantly something going, and the story never fully stops (though it certainly slows at certain points in comparison to others). Another reason is that the characters are beautifully made. You have a wonderful main character; a young man who seems to have everything, but then everything crashes on him, and he is instead left a slightly sinister, frightening man. Another wonderful thing is that every character has their virtues, and their flaws, including our main character, whose need for revenge leads him to do not-so-noble things.
There are few books that top "The Count of Monte Cristo". Read and enjoy. There's no way you can't help but fall in love.
Book Review: Easily The Best Book I've Ever Read
Summary: 5 Stars
The Count of Monte Cristo is far and away the best book I have ever read, and considering I read about a book a week, that is definitely saying something.
I'm not going to give you another review of the storyline because there are probably a hundred others on here already so to do it again would seem quite pointless. What I want is to give people a couple of reasons why this book is so great. One of them is that the book is so well balanced and what I call an "everything book" because it has a great balance of everything in it: adventure, romance, mystery, humor, etc. There is really no one category you could put this book under which I think makes it even better.
The other thing that makes this book so great (along with the great storyline) is the writing style of Dumas. First of all, he is never overly descriptive which is something that a lot of authors tend to do. He uses just the right amount of description on the scene and then lets the characters take over from there. Also, he has this wonderful way of always making the reader want to continue on to the next chapter. You just can't put the book down! Everything just seems to flow in such an effortless manner. Many nights I was up at two in the morning because I just couldn't put the book down.
Do yourself a favor and read this book (unabridged penguin classics version, of course) and I can promise you that you will not be disappointed.
Book Review: A Masterwork for the Ages!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Hello again, friends,
Having just completed reading "War & Peace" (translated by R. Pevear and L. Volonkhonsky )and "The Count of Monte Cristo",( The Penguin Classic edition) in less than 2 1/2 months. I have to say that these two novels are the greatest ever written. The 2,400 pages, combined, were read so swiftly,( for me !) I scarcely had time for anything else. I am going to read "The Three Musketeers"( Modern Library), next. I bought this edition before I knew about the recently published, Penguin Classic Deluxe Edition. I dont know, but I think the Modern Library edition is an abridgement. Let me know if I am wrong.
The character Edmond Dantes is one of the greatest ever penned. He rises off the pages and dwells in your mind and you become "one" with him as he leads us on the journey from star-crossed young sailor in love with Mercedes to the fabulously wealthy title character. Most of the people you meet along the way are so well conceived and drawn you"d think you know them. As others have written, I wish this book didn't end. Amazon shows a sequel to this book published in 1849, but it is currently unavailable. Maybe someday it will be re-published.
Robin Buss did an excellant job translating this huge book.
JUst buy it. You will never finish it in the time allotted by a library.
Cest Magnifique!!!
Book Review: Worthy of a sixth star
Summary: 5 Stars
For a generation used to sound bytes and Cliff's Notes, this is an easy book to miss: the title sounds old-fashioned and boring. The setting (Napoleonic France) is an abstraction to most of us today. And at 1000+ pages, this is the antithesis of what the Sesame Street generation is used to.
But pick it up and you soon discover that people back then were just as devious, greedy, deceitful, and vengeful as they are today. In other words, the book is captivating.
This is a fantastic story in both the full and abridged versions. It is a study in what it means to have character: Dumas explores both the corrosive impact of petty and unethical indiscretions, as well as the awesome power born from personal responsibility. He keeps the protagonist human by tempering that power with a insatiable taste for revenge. As a reader, your heart breaks as you stand, helpless, while human weakness--greed, fear--bring ruin on a truly good soul. You find yourself oddly conflicted as that soul survives, strengthens, and flourishes while pursuing the dark goal of revenge... your desire to enjoy the journey is never without a nagging feeling that the evil that was done to the protagonist has left its mark...
I cannot recommend this book highly enough... if I had a sixth star to give one book and one book only, this would be the one.