Sign in with Facebook
Cynthia's Reviews > The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
by
by
** Spoiler alert**
First, make sure you find a copy that is unabridged. Most editions in English ARE abridged, but usually don't say they are. Not sure if this Penguin edition is, it's not the one i read.
Readers generally think of this as a tale of revenge. For me, it was much deeper. I'm not a religious person at all, but for me this is a book that makes you question the existence of God or a god. Edmond Dantes is without flaw, a truly good person, and his life is ruined because a) others envy him and b) he was the victim of an unfortunate coincidence.
Even when he escapes prison and finds a monumental treasure, it is years before he finds peace (I dont think he ever finds happiness).
The questions it raises are: why are good people so often punished by horrible tragedies when truly bad people are so often able to float through life with all the rewards that this world can bestow?
The other question: Dantes spends much of his life after prison seeking the people who tossed into the oubliette � not to get revenge but to punish them. He believes he is the angel of god and that he has been freed from prison so he can do god's will by punishing these evil men.
But as he proceeds in his quest, he begins to question whether any man can actually be the angel of god, whether it's a sign of mania or even insanity to think you can possibly know what is god's will.
In the end, evil is punished, and it is because of wheels that Dantes sets in motion. But I don't think he is ever able to know if he is just another man seeking to ruin other men, or if he is in fact the angel of god. It's a question that, as a journalist, I try to always remember: we are none of us the angel of god. All we can do is try to live the best life we can and not decide who deserves to be punished or even ruined.
First, make sure you find a copy that is unabridged. Most editions in English ARE abridged, but usually don't say they are. Not sure if this Penguin edition is, it's not the one i read.
Readers generally think of this as a tale of revenge. For me, it was much deeper. I'm not a religious person at all, but for me this is a book that makes you question the existence of God or a god. Edmond Dantes is without flaw, a truly good person, and his life is ruined because a) others envy him and b) he was the victim of an unfortunate coincidence.
Even when he escapes prison and finds a monumental treasure, it is years before he finds peace (I dont think he ever finds happiness).
The questions it raises are: why are good people so often punished by horrible tragedies when truly bad people are so often able to float through life with all the rewards that this world can bestow?
The other question: Dantes spends much of his life after prison seeking the people who tossed into the oubliette � not to get revenge but to punish them. He believes he is the angel of god and that he has been freed from prison so he can do god's will by punishing these evil men.
But as he proceeds in his quest, he begins to question whether any man can actually be the angel of god, whether it's a sign of mania or even insanity to think you can possibly know what is god's will.
In the end, evil is punished, and it is because of wheels that Dantes sets in motion. But I don't think he is ever able to know if he is just another man seeking to ruin other men, or if he is in fact the angel of god. It's a question that, as a journalist, I try to always remember: we are none of us the angel of god. All we can do is try to live the best life we can and not decide who deserves to be punished or even ruined.
Sign into ŷ to see if any of your friends have read
The Count of Monte Cristo.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Started Reading
January 1, 2004
–
Finished Reading
August 30, 2007
– Shelved
April 17, 2010
– Shelved as:
dumas-et-al
Comments Showing 1-50 of 72 (72 new)
message 1:
by
Jennifer
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 12:15PM)
(new)
-
added it
Aug 30, 2007 07:45PM
I love "The Three Muskateers" but I haven't read this one. I'm putting it on my to read list.
reply
|
flag
Great review. This is one of the best books ever written, as far as I'm concerned.
Thanks Nate! I'm trying to get a Dumas group going, but I'm not sure what to do to make it interesting to other fans. Check it out, join if you like, let me know if i should add something to make it fun to visit.
I wish I would have seen this review before I purchased my abridged copy that I didn't know was abridged until I was two-thirds into it.
this particular edition is unabridged.#
I saw that the first question raised by the book for you was why good people are so often punished by horrible tragedies when truly bad people are so often able to float through life. If I may add my own opinion, good people face hardships that they may realize just how 'good' they truly are. They have a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses that they wouldn't have received had things not gone wrong for them.
As for bad people, I believe things often work out well for them in the beginning just to show how fragile and shallow all their 'accomplishments' really are. By the end, their entire world is turned upside down once they realize how temporary worldly gains and possesions are.
A book is used to show a good character grow in strength and understanding,whilst a bad character slowly degrades away, losing what they thought to be permanent and worthwhile.
It is my belief that in all books, an ending doesn't necessarily have to be happy or decisive, it just has to make sense.
Your review of the book was also quite good I might add.
Wow! Who knew? I thought this was just a pot boiler suitable for movie or tv adaptations every ten years. I will definitely put it on my to-read list. Thanks for the informative review.
Marius wrote: "What, exactly, is the difference between abridged and unabridged? I never really heard those terms until I started my GoodReads profile."Hi Maurius, abridged means that it's shortened. Which is fine if you're looking for more of a fast adventure read; but I think you lose a lot of the beauty of this book, which comes from the emotions of the Count and the reasons why he's seeking revenge, and his reflections on god or a god and whether there is true justice. So, obviously, I liked the unabridged. : )
The book seems very long. I am in middle school and I thought I had better books to read then that long one. i mean...it looks good but I wanted to read The Alchemyst by Paulo Cohelo and The Pillars of the Earth by Ken somcething. I think I will read Monte Cristo during the summer. Right now my to-read list is just real huge. I am also in the process of Sence and Sencibility. There are just so many books and so little time...:)
@Marius - An abridged book is always labled "Abridged" somewhere. My advice is to, always, stay away from them. I just finished the Count of Monte Cristo last night...what an epic read! I'm going to start The Three Musketeers ASAP
@Jose- haven't read Coelho yet but Ken Follett is excellent! Pillars of the Earth is similar to CoMC by Dumas in that it is extremely detailed and very long. It is an epic story that will stay with me all of my life.Now... Addressing the unabridged version. Is there a way to determine this when reading an eBook? Got mine from manybooks.com and reading it through Stanza.
Thanks, Karen
Thanks for your thoughtful review Cynthia. I have not finished the book yet. But thus far I have not drawn the same conclusions. This may have to do with the fact that I am also reading C.S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain at the same time. I do not want to write much more now but I did find that I think may be of interest to you and others. I will try to write more when I have finished the book. Which may be a while as I am reading the unabridged version recommended. Thanks again.
Good article, thank you! I hope you enjoy the Count and I am eager to hear what you think of it when you're done, you're obviously a thoughtful person. :)
Sadly, abridged books are not always marked as such. I assume that when a book is out of copyright, the publisher has a free reign to do what s/he wants, with no obligation to publicize any changes. This is particularly true of children's books. For instance, any later editions of Enid Blyton have been tidied up to suit the sensibilities of modern readers.Kat
I got the Barnes and Noble and copy and found out its abridged though. Why is it bad if it is abridged, it's like 600 pages?
When they abridge it, they just leave in the adventure parts but they take out all the philosophical spiritual parts. So it's still a fun read if it's abridged but you lose all the parts that make it an amazing, thoughtful, profound book.
Well shoot I thought I was reading a very high level book, it's still very good though
Also good to get a copy with explanatory notes for all of the classical references Dumas uses - especially all the Danté and Homer!
Can someone tell me whether Wordsworth edition is abridged or not. Because I have read the book but I do not want to have read the abridged version
This is one of favorite books, first read when I was 11 or 12. I read the abridged version, and at that age, it was the best version for me. I later read the unabridged and like them both. It depends on your mood and what you are looking for in a book at the time. The abridged is still 400 pages long, and leaves out very little of the sub-plots. It takes out alot of extraneous material that, though interesting,really has very little to do with the adventure/romance, character development
i have a barnes and noble classic version of the book and i don't know if its abridged or not
You would know if it were unabridged, because the book would be HUGE! The copy I read was abridged and did not say that anywhere on it. I was very surprised to find out later that it was an abridged version.
It's Abridged. I Googled your edition. But like I said, if you read the abridged version, I doubt that you will feel cheated. It's not like a condensed version, after all.
I loved Isaiah's comment.
I have the Barnes and Noble hard back classic version. It has 1065 pages. I admit there were times I was a little lost. I kept thinking today's editors would take this out of the book. In the end Dumas brings everything together beautifully.
I agree with definitely reading unabridged, especially this book, abridged leaves out so much. Fantastic book, the way Dumas weaves the different characters together.
I'm glad it is not only a story about revenge. I just bought the Penguin edition translated by Robin Buss which seems unabridged.
I loved your review! I have only read the abridged, and now I definitely feel like I need to read the unabridged. I don't think that Dantes ever finds happiness also. I'm not sure if its different in the unabridged, but his gradual evolution of recognizing at first his idea for his crusade of punishment ( I like how you distinguish between vengeance and punishment) is his own, then he calls it "satan's tempation", and then he begins to cling to the idea that it was God who shaped him to be an angel. What do you think is the extent of God in Dantes trajectory, and do you think his actions really reflect or try to reflect the will of providence, or more himself?
This is an abridged edition.
Hi Annalee, wow great question! Um, I think he THINKS that he's actually carrying out God's will. And in a sense, we all have our "own" God so I guess he's right, that he's carrying out the will of his own personal god. But that's always the question with religion; if we in a sense create our gods, then we also create what we think that our gods want us to do. Man is not created in god's image, then, but vice versa. I think in a way that's the question Dumas is asking, whether we can actually know and understand what the Real God wants and thinks, with our limited human understanding.
*picks my copy of the book*Translated and abridged--
NO!!!!! I shall hunt for an unabridged version today.
I started reading a translation, realizing about 50 pages in that it's abridged. That will not do. I started over with an unabridged translation. Translator anonymous, which is annoying, published in like 1847 or something. Only cost me a buck on Amazon, so...
I happen to agree with isiah's comment
The unabridged is a door stop and is addictive as hell. I read It in federal prison doing 10 years. Its a great book for inmates. I know i always fantasised about coming home and controllong the lives of all the people who turned their eyes since i was gone. But.on top of that its an excellent book full of history drama and attn to detail (for the most part). Sure there are parts that are.unbelieveavble. Just Let it all wash over u and enjoy.
Wow! Informative review. I have read the children's edition as a kid and then an abridged edition. Also seen a movie based on this. It's one of the best novels. I really want to read the unabridged edition now. I can see a Read Now icon on ŷ for this book. Do u think that's the unabridged edition?
Hard to say ... i don't see the icon. I hate to say it but as a general rule, most translations are abridged. Probably in this wonderful age of the Internet, you could do a search for "unabridged English translations of..." and it should give you a sense of which publishers have unabridged editions ... and how many pages they run, for comparison.
Really? Without flaw? I feel like Dantes is full of flaws, and I thought he was a total narcissist. He is totally egotistical, and can't see the world from any perspective other than his own, and plots this insane and over the top revenge on not just the people who screwed him over, but their whole families, too. I loved the book, but I don't see him as a godlike character in any way.
Dantes revenge was 100% justified. Not only was he ruined, but his family and his friends. If he had slaughtered all his tormentors Kill Bill style, he would have had my full backing!
What Dantes said to Maximillion his his final letter says it all! This is my all time favorite story.
While reading this book, the parts that make us smile - even cry with joy and compassion, are the parts focused on Morrel - the simple man trying to mete out a name for himself while maintaining his integrity. When the parts of vengeance are narrated, we feel a smug sense of righteousness, and it feels satisfying that evil was rewarded with punishment. If we sit back and think about it though, when we've taken our own revenge, it never feels good - and it can sometimes backfire and make us feel horrible. And I think this is the point Dumas is trying to make: Satisfaction for meting out justice is usually only felt from the anticipation leading up to it, whereas the pure joy that comes from innocence, love and compassion is continuous even in the face of disaster. What I have taken away from this truly deep story about man's inner desires, is that it is our higher self that chooses forgiveness over revenge, and the reward for it is always greater - whether you believe in God or not.
Hello! I just bought the book published by Modern Library! I'm really excited to start as I love the story, but now I'm worried I bought the wrong one. I was wondering if anyone knows whether my copy is abridged or not because I read somewhere that it is :( I'm not completely sure and would love it if anyone can help me out! It's really long though, about 1448 pages, which led me to think that it is one of the unabridged versions. Hope to hear from you soon!
Penguin is unabridged. It says so on the back cover
I agree. Unabridged is the only way to read this. It seems like a lot more pages, but it builds suspense to a level that if someone touches you in the middle of reading it you just might explode!
I read Penguin as it say unabridged at the back and what a read. This is the second book that I'm so addicted to and feel miserable every time I have to stop reading to do something else.Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget that until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words - "Wait and hope."'
The most
I just click post without finishing my sentence there. Anyway, the last paragraph of Dantès letter to Morrel and Valentine is I suppose the wisdom I learnt the most.
This book very much not draggy, even it is a very long one, very detail because everything just add up to the suspense and thus the cause of the addiction
Now I'm sad. I am into the philosophical and spiritual adventures in good reads as Dumas' works. I just found out that my copy I read in my sophomore year is abridged. I feel cheated. If you are looking for an translated and abridged version, then look for one by Lowell Bair.
