Great book, glad you liked!!

Did you read the unabridged version?

It's quite possibly the most perfect book written, ever page of this massive tome is engaging. I go back and read this every couple years and am always fascinated by it. Truly a masterpiece of literature.

The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas wrote this book as a dedication to his father. Whose life is far more wonderful than the whole novel. There is a story that he refused the invitation of the revolutionary leaders to take command because of his wife's tantrums and then they offered the same to Napoleon. Years later, Napoleon hated Duma's father and plotted against him. When Napoleon became Emperor, Dumas himself had to flee to Russia. Because of Napoleon's hatred of the family.

I love that Edmond Dantès is a much more human character than most of your heroes. You can see that being wrongfully imprisoned for 14 years has changed him a lot. He is still a good person with a good heart, but he is also much more hardened from his life experiences. He'll gladly kill a man in a duel and not lose a wink of sleep over it. The rush he gets when watching executions is something the Edmond Dantès before being imprisoned would have been repulsed by. I like the fact that he isn't the incorruptible hero that can be beaten and tortured to no end and still remain unphased by it, like you often see with fictional heroes.

I read it last year and can't believe I left it so long. I thought I knew the story from movies but as you say that's a tiny part of the book. The daddy of all revenge stories. So many other stories probably originate in this tale. It's a book I'm sure I'll read again one day to see what I missed.

this post is definitely in the /r/books starterpack

I read this this year and fell in love. I’ve always (I’m 35 with an ENGLISH DEGREE) thought it was about some posh old bloke cutting about having a big fancy posh time. Yawn. Then I read it. After about 3 chapters I wanted to beat myself around the head with it for never having read it sooner. See also: East of Eden

My favorite book ever!

Not quite. Napoleon was no great friend of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, but that only extended to ignoring him when he was imprisoned in Naples and later, when he was back in France and destitute.

Alexandre's flight from France was decades after Napoleon's fall. It was likely mostly to escape his creditors (he was not good with money). Also, his long-time patron, Louis-Philippe, the last king of the French, had just been deposed, and the first elected president of the republic, Napoleon's nephew, did not like Dumas much.

It feels quite amusing that I just finished watching the movie for the first time and had not actually read the book. All I can say was it was worth it and I enjoyed watching it. Perhaps I should go with the book too now.

This is exactly what I did. I refused to read it for years as though it's not the usual kind of plot I read and I'm not putting myself through a book that size that I wont enjoy. I read it for the first time last year and I was hooked from the start. Its absolutely one of my favourite all time books. I havent read East of Eden yet, its sitting on my 'must read' list and I keep avoiding it. I should have learned my lesson, I must read it soon.

Beautiful book. I read it last year and I wish I could read it again for the first time. Amazing experience.

My favourite book of all time. The revenge story is super cool but something people forget is that this book really details what it means to be super wealthy. He casually buys a premier place on the Champs Elysees and fills it with the finest furniture and tapestries known to man and doesn't bat an eyelid.

It opened my eyes and I still talk about it many years later.

If there's a better book about revenge, I haven't heard of it.

Book is awesome

The only one that comes close in my opinion is The Cask of Amontillado, but that is a short story.

Dante really ends up his own villain at the end. He ruined Mercedes out of narcissistic jealousy because for all intends and purposes, her and Fernand had a happy marriage. Fernand was absolutely deserving of his undoing; but Dantes could have spared Mercedes if he really loved her. She thought he was long dead for f*'s sake.

Danglers gets off fairly easy, but Mercedes cloisters. Then again, I guess I can't blame her much considering her life has been nothing but having the men she's loved lie and die.

I read it for the first time last year. I wish I could re-read it for the first time, it is my favorite book of all time. I'm still trying to find something to read that captivated me as much as this. Romance of the three kingdoms is close. Glad you enjoyed it.

Ha, I just finished it around 10 hours ago myself, great read.

Yes, I read the unabridged version. :-)

You perfectly summed up what I love about the character of Edmond Dantes. Quite possibly one of my favorite protagonists I've read about.

Oh, you most definitely should read the book. Funny thing is that hardly anything from the book is spoiled for you.

You're right, that's a part of the tragedy of the story, and Edmond doesn't realize it until it's too late. Only thing I disagree on is that Fernand and Mercedes had a happy marriage; I definitely don't believe she was happy, other than having Albert. But I get what you mean, it was more or less functioning.

"Happy" might be stretching it, ... ... "comfortable" might be more accurate, or maybe "secure". I went and looked up Fernand to see if he was worthy of forgiveness since it's been a while since I read the book.

Nope, pretty much just a solid bastard. Did he assassinate Haydee's father as well?

Good grief, YES ~~ especially the justice done to Danglars. Absolutely masterful from beginning to end.

I'm not sure he pulled the trigger or the guards away. Either way he was responsible

It seems to me every person who reads this book feels the need to make a reddit post about it. I see these post all the time and everybody praises it over the moon. It is tiresome. I too read it a few years ago and i can‘t even remember if I like it or not.

Right!?

And the funny thing is it's a book I really didn't enjoy and one of the only books I've ever stopped reading because I was so bored.

Yet I see posts weekly about how good it is and feel I've missed something.

I read this book this year and it also blew me away by how good it was. They really need to make an HBO-style miniseries like Chernobyl out of this story. No way a 2-3 hour movie could ever come close to covering all the material. If they adapted it faithfully to the source it could be incredible

The only thing I liked about it was just that it really sets the fact that pure revenge has no room for compassion, even towards yourself and those you actually love. It sucks but that's how badly he wanted it.

I finished it last year, supplemented some of it on long drives with the Librivox (free) audiobooks

Heck of a book. For a while I was irritated with some of the slower parts but they were all really just buildups to the final

I have 300 pages to go. Great read!!!

Not sure what to tell you except that you can choose to scroll past. Personally, I haven't read any other reddit posts about it. I just loved it and felt like sharing my thoughts. :-) EDIT: Downvoted for this? Some of you are grumpy gills lol.

Or maybe you just didn't like it. Not everything works for everyone.

It’s such an amazing book. I haven’t read anything else that manages to keep me locked in for over 800 pages. It just gets better when you read it again and again. Talk about playing the long game, whew.

There's also an excellent u abridged audiobook if that's more your speed. I thought it was wonderful and a great little way to trick my adhd brain into doing household chores.

Mercedes chose her fate. She and Albert chose to abandon Fernand rather than live a life earned through dishonorable action. Dantes didn't force that he just exposed the dishonor. Hell, he was ready to suicide so Albert could keep his honor.

They should really make a TV series IMO. Book is too long for a movie and its already serialized. They could actually let the plot develop like it does in the book

It is really the children that make him the villain and is why he is written so well. Seeing it all we can understand his actions but he consciously destroys the lives of many innocent people just for his revenge.

Felt like I just saw a post about cmc last week

But HOW did he ruin Mercedes? He already told her (in "bread and salt") that he's forgiven her for marrying another.

Fernand had plenty of blood on his hands... betraying Ali Pasha, a ruler that he served, resulted in the deaths of tons of Janina defenders. He took bribe money from the Turks and helped himself to "slaves" (like Haydee and her mother) and sold them to line his own pockets. That, plus ruining young Edmond's life with 14 years at Chateau D'if in order to get Mercedes for himself. Of course he deserved his fate.

Dantes (as the Count) wanted to help Mercedes. He offered plenty of financial assistance, but she refused it, only accepting the 3000 franc dowry and a roof (old Dantes' place). As the widow of Fernand, she voluntarily donated the Morcerf property and money to the poor and walked away from it all. Her own decision and choice. Not the Count's doing. If she wanted to, she could still be living in that nice house in Paris and not embarking on that pitiful journey to get to Marseilles to start over (from the bottom).

As we had left her, she would only accept the Count's help "if Albert approved it". So she was an indirect victim of the Count's revenge, but she had plenty of escape hatches and resources that she refused to take. Like the saying goes, "can't help those who won't help themselves."

IRL, people deal with this all the time. Family members die. Tragedies happen that might make you temporarily homeless (fire, flood, earthquake, disaster). You can deal with it, and tap every resource available (friends, relatives, existing bank accounts, insurance payout) and rebuild your life, or you can sink into a deep, dark depression and will yourself into an early grave. I am sad to say that for Mercedes, the latter is quite probable.

Agreed. It would make a great miniseries. It'd be a 4+ hour movie and would still be super condensed to get it right.

Give it a good budget and 10-12 episodes and I think it could be really special.

Yeah I know, but I did love it at the start, thought it was fantastic.

Then the whole Italy part happened and I struggled, finally got through it and it was more tedium, I wish I could have enjoyed it more, is a story that reads like something I'd love.

It was a bucket list read for me that I finally checked off this year.

It's crazy how many times my jaw would drop, or I'd audibly say "oh shit", or even have to push back a few tears in places, all from a book that's nearly 200 years old. It's an absolute masterpiece in storytelling and how pull off a slow burn. It's a long read, but so worth it, and I really wish I'd picked it up sooner.

The whole book I was thinking of how awesome it would be to see a TV adaptation on the scale of Game of Thrones or similar.

So many great pieces of art have borrowed from this book. I think it could really be something special if done right.

You can still get a lot out of the abridged version, or even the comic book version, or the one for kids. Just a case of getting the RIGHT one.

It's even possible to co-run a subreddit r/AReadingOfMonteCristo for an entire year and ONLY using abridged versions (on purpose) to summarize and discuss the book. I'm doing this to prove that "abridged doesn't suck" and nobody's complaining there.

Abridged gets a lot of hate because there are several poorly-done abridgements, but there are 2 excellent ones as well.

Absolutely a classic and a favorite. Went into it thinking bleh and came out extremely impressed. The slow burn of revenge is perfect. I wish they did a limited streaming series with the slow burn instead of the fast paced awful movie adaptations made.

I liked the beginning and the end but the middle 300 pages I could have done without.

It's called Criscutt. Know your fries, please.

Fair enough. I loved everything in between. I love reading about political scheming, or seeing a master plan slowly coming together. The middle portion/bulk of the book was that and I was riveted. I can see how it would be tedious if that sort of thing doesn't appeal to you. As for me, by the time I was approaching the end, I didn't want it to end.

I’ll just point out that it wasn’t (just) imprisonment that made Edmond so desensitized and thrilled by things like public executions. At one point in the story, he talks about how during his travels he forced himself to observe such revolting things in order to harden and prepare him for what would be necessary to exact what he believed to be a divine revenge.

Great point.

Probably did. I guess it's such a great book that people are excited to share their thoughts after finally reading it.

I agree that it broke my heart how Mercedes’ life fell apart far worse than she deserved. While she herself felt guilt for abandoning Dantes, I think the main betrayal Dantes felt by Mercedes was how she allowed his father to continue living in squalor and depression only to die pathetically and alone.

I just got a used version of this, but it's the abridged version (Barnes and Noble version). Is it worth it to get unabridged? Or does it matter? Either way, I'm excited to read this one.

I considered much of those immediate purchases coupled with immediate decorating to be part of the unrealistic fantasy world in which the Count had so perfectly plotted every precise piece of vengeance. Even with the mega-wealthy, so much of this stuff takes time and requires the expertise of true professionals in those industries …as opposed to slaves or former criminals who are merely so devoted to their new master that they’ve acquired such attention to his details that they’ve organically developed the skill set that would take real professionals years or decades to develop.

Robin Buss' translation of The Count of Monte Cristo is so beautifully written and a lot better than most of the direct English books. It's up there with the best books ever written.

You will NOT be disappointed. I recently finished the book after picking it up and putting it down over the course of a year (sometimes re-reading entire chapters when I’d forgotten some parts). I’m simply not much of a reader. Like OP, I think I can totally become an avid reader thanks to this book.

The important thing about the book is to enjoy the journey. Undoubtedly, the buildup of anticipation for what comes next is overwhelming and makes you want to fly through the very long book. I had to remind myself to enjoy the long ride because the buildups truly make the bits of relief sprinkled throughout and toward the end so much more rewarding.

Being a big fan of football (namely, fantasy football), I definitely see countless posts about CMC (Christian McCaffrey) every week.

Sometimes the story feels like a slough because various parts seem to be superfluous. One beauty I enjoyed throughout the book was trying to think about how the part I was currently reading could possible matter for the Count’s inevitable revenge. Invariably, every detail of the story had a purpose and wasn’t just filler even though sometimes Dumas was clearly disguising those parts so that we might forget about them only to be blindsided by those details later when he would suddenly reveal how those details truly mattered.

Slow burn is the perfect description, which I think I’ve heard others use as well.

I too was surprised by the emotions I felt, especially in the descriptions of Valentine and Morrel’s love for one another. I’m somewhat of a cold-hearted bastard when it comes to relationships, and this book definitely helped me start seeing the beauty behind an incredibly robust love and unconditional devotion.

Props for going into it with a bleh mentality and sticking with it! There’s no way I would’ve finished the book if I hadn’t glanced through a few of these types of Reddit posts with almost unanimous love for the book.

If you get the Robin Buss translation I would say absolutely. Not only does he do a fantastic job with the footnotes, but he adds things back in that were excised because of Victorian sensitivities. Is it enough to make it worth it? I like so, it is just much richer and fuller than any of the Victorian era translations.

That's one reason why I prefer the "alternate" ending where Dantes ends a broken man, where he is consumed with self-doubt about whether his actions were justified or not.

This has always been my favorite book—However, rereading it recently and I got stuck during the Albert and Franz sections. It really slowed down for me and I put the book down and didn't pick it up again.

It's been well over a decade since I read the book, and I really do want to give it another read because there is just so much detail in the story that it's impossible to remember everything. I'm sure that in many ways, it would be like coming back to it the first time, because I'm sure I'd be like "Oh, yeah! I totally forgot about this part!" Maybe this winter after the holidays I can give it another read! I know I would have no problem getting through it again!

There already is a TV mini series - French.

Gérard Depardieu played Edmund.

I used to watch that so much.

My Favorite quote from that whole entire book is, "All Earthly ills yield to two powerful remedies; Time and Silence." - Abbe Busoni / Monte Cristo

I can’t remember the timings of it all, but even though he spent 13 years in prison he still spent a lot of time afterwards gaining his knowledge of the world, and relationships. He spent a lot of time in Italy for instance before fully formulating his revenge plot and cultivating his life.

Count of Monte Cristo is also my favorite book. If you’re open to reading dark fantasy, the only other revenge story I have ever read that comes remotely close is Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. I would recommend you read his first law trilogy first, but I think it can be read standalone. It is an excellent revenge story as well, with a relatable and imperfect protagonist, though not quite as good as TCoMC.

I am about half way through it right now and absolutely love it, don't want it to end.

I already want to re-read the chapter in which we meet Villefort chatting with and bragging to his friends and family about wielding so much power in condemning people to prison or worse. I recall that chapter being pretty boring and confusing with the many fanciful names and virtually zero context of their interrelationships. No doubt this was by design. Now that we know the characters, I’m sure Dumas left tons of clues about their personalities and relationships that would actually make the chapter really fun to re-read.

I actually didn't like it much. It had too much "all-powerful main character" for me. It was just so completely unbelievable. The beginning was great, but there is just no person that is capable of doing all the things as amazingly as he did them while also thinking through every possible scenario while also being handsome while also being rich while also... etc.

It just got too convoluted and over the top, which took away from my enjoyment.

This true, but he acquired a level of knowledge about the world and borderline omniscience of the personalities and circumstances of the main people in France that to me exceeds what a motivated human could be capable of. (I admit maybe I’m just envious or being small-minded.)

In addition to that, the Count’s slaves invariably succeed at achieving the Count’s exact wishes from his often broadly-described requests. At one point he even comments about how that are so attuned to his needs that this type of perfect service is possible. These servants/slaves are in Paris (and working with the highest society) for the very first time, yet they still always manage to carry out the Count’s requests on expedited schedule and with zero hiccups.

It is also my fav comfort books. I love how Dantes transforms and how he handles his 'revenge'

On a parallel Virgil's Dante only had wisdom and love to make it out of hell into heaven, today we'd need money too, like Edmond.

This is my favorite book ever too. I reread it once a year or so.

I’m pretty torn at the moment between reading Count Of Monte Cristo or Lord Of The Rings both which I haven’t yet read.

I am going to sell my book to the recycle bookstore The Count of Monte Cristo. Only saw the movie.

I highly recommend reading The Black Count. It’s fascinating reading about the person who very much inspired Edmond - Dumas’s father.

I’ve had the unabridged version sitting here for years. I really need to dive in, but it’s in French and I know it’s going to take me a while and a dictionary to get through. But you’re inspiring me.

!RemindMe 2 months

OMG no, go and donate the B&N abridged version. That's one of the poorly-done abridgements. In the end, Dantes only bats .50 as far as getting revenge and TWO of the culprits are completely off the hook (due to selective editing and dropping of pertinent chapters).

Read these instead:

Unabridged- Robin Buss on penguin Books

Abridged- Lowell Bair on Bantam Books.

I've heard this opinion before and will respectfully disagree. The middle portion is what made the ending so sweet for me. Felt like a lava slowly boling to the surface, and the ending is the volcano erupting.

We stan Luigi Vampa

Personally this book such a slog after the first 500 pages. I first read this around 2015 and it was agonizing at points to get through it although I did overall enjoy the ending when everything came together.

But I just gave this a re-read recently and gave up around page 900. I just didn’t care anymore. It drags on and on and while there are occasional good moment they don’t outweigh the boring.

The first 500 pages are amazing though. When the Count goes back to France is when I stated to check out. If other people love this book that’s great but I personally am not a fan.

Try the 1970's TV version by Lew Grade with Richard Chamberlain as the Count and Tony Curtis as Mondego. It's my personal favorite. There have been many film versions. Robert Donat's portrayal from the 1930's is the film standard. Gerard Depardieu's French language version is the most faithful to the original.

Keep going! There are like 4 more books

Fair enough, I've heard this sentiment from people who don't love the book and I understand it. That said, I feel differently. I love everything in between, seeing the mental "chess matches" the Count is playing and trying to figure out his intentions, how he's gaining the faith of all the players on his chess board. I absolutely love all of it and found it riveting. And then the ending really sticks the landing. But I can understand how some would check out around the time he returns to France.

Four more books related to Count of Monte Cristo, or by the same author?

I just looked at my copy and it contains all 4 parts that were originally broken into a serial but there is The Son if Monte Cristo to carry on

My all time favorite book! I can’t think of any other story that has so much emotion. I put off watching any movies because I know it’s too complex a story to jam into 2 or 3 hours.

I've been wanting to read that.

I had the same thought about an HBO series! That would be most ideal.

Without a doubt, my favorite book of all time. I just re-read it again for the 30th+ time. It never gets old. Such a fantastic story. I read close to 100 books a year and this is one that is damn near an annual read. I’m very happy we’ve got a few new readers that have discovered the wonders of this story.

Both great choices. Ironically enough. I'm looking to re-read Lord of the Rings soon (read it back in 2009 or so when I was a sophomore in high school ). I'd recommend Monte Cristo first, just because Lord of the Rings is arguably more dense. Can't go wrong with either, though.

Thank you for the recommendation. I haven't read much if any dark fantasy, but I've heard of First Law. That definitely sounds appealing to me, as does Best Served Cold.

The only part where I may have felt a bit bored is the chapter that introduces us to Albert, I think. Franz is pretty fascinating to me because he's the first to meet the Count (albeit in his Sinbad the Sailor disguise).

You summed up why I loved the slower parts. It felt like there was a purpose to it all, almost like the reader feels the need for revenge the way Dantes feels it.

I love this comment! I had been planning to read it for awhile with some urging, and then just finally took the plunge. It wasn't long before I was hooked and, for me, it never let up. Also, it really hit me at the perfect time in my life. I look forward to many re-reads of it down the line as well. :-)

I haven't heard of that. The more I refresh myself on Fernand, the more that guy got everything that was coming to him, but ya, Count Dantes could have made a lot better choices.

I forgot about that part. Didn't Fernand have a hand in ensuring that though and probably actively prevented Mercedes from helping the father?

I need to check the version I've read because either it's been so long since I've read it that I'm forgetting this all went on, or it wasnt in the version I read.

I have such a massive back log of books to read, I shouldn't be putting this back into it again. I've already read it like four times in the past 15 years. :)

That seems to be the moral here.

I’ve forgotten whether that was stated, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me.

No. That wasn't Fernand's fault at all. Old Dantes was a proud man, and didn't want to accept help from anyone. Mercedes even wanted him to live with her so she could take care of him, but the old man refused. He became a hermit and stopped eating. Mercedes recruited the senior Morrel to help, but old Dantes insisted on isolating himself until he died of starvation.

Old Dantes had an inkling that he'd never see Edmond again, and willed himself to death.

Tell me where this alternate ending is? Is it a book? A movie? A stageplay?

I'm always interested in reading about, or watching variations of the story.

"The Son of Monte Cristo", "The Wife of Monte Cristo" and "The Treasure of Monte Cristo" are not by Dumas. They were written by Jules Lermina as a way to piggyback and profit off of Dumas' name and characters.

If you read them, you'll be disappointed. Let's say that everything that Dumas gave to the Count, Lermina took away, until he was a broke and lonely hermit back on Monte Cristo island.

Fair enough.

In particular, look at:

Chapter 91: Albert and Mercedes leave Fernand's house, with no money, no job and no real plan until the Count's letter gifts them 3000 francs and a roof (old Dantes' house) in Marseilles.

104: Confirmation that Mercedes and Albert willed all their money and property to the poor.

106: Ultra-pitiful chapter of Albert and Mercedes sleeping in shabby, cheapo rooms, struggling to scrape up enough money to get transportation to Marseilles. <self-inflicted and a direct result of no planning.

112: The Count's last meeting with Mercedes. A depress-fest that confirms how much he wanted to help her, but she refused.

"Many" = 2.

Johannes the jeweler and little Edouard de Villefort.

Albert and Mercedes don't really count, because the destruction of their lives was self-inflicted. Nobody forced them out of their home or reduced them to desperate poverty. If they wanted to, they could sell the house, take the money and move somewhere else.

OTOH, look at the lives he had saved/helped as the Count:

1. Morrel Sr.- saved from suicide, and gifted a new ship to regain his rep and prosperity.
2. Noirtier- Currently safe at Leghorn, happily awaiting Val and Max so he can bless their marriage. Without the Count, Madame Villefort would have eventually found a way to kill him.
3. Julie Morrel Herbault- due to the Dantes' doing, she could marry Emmanuel and not live in poverty when her father was financially ruined.
4. Emmanuel Herbault- Able to marry Julie Morrel because she's got a dowry (courtesy of Dantes). Otherwise, his family would not have approved the marriage to Valentine.
5. Maximilian Morrel- Would have committed suicide with his father, but Dantes saved the father, and also the son. Received a HUGE wedding gift in wealth from the Count.
6. Ali- saved from execution by the Sultan. Seems to be content serving the Count.
7. Haydee- sailing off with the man she loves. If it weren't for the Count, she would still be a slave and a concubine in a Sultan's harem.
8. Peppino- would have been executed, but the Count bought his freedom.
9. Valentine de Villefort- she would have been murdered by poison by Madame Villefort, but the Count saved her (for Max's sake) and gifted her a huge wedding present in $$$.
10. Eugenie Danglars- Would have been married (reluctantly) to Albert. Instead, the Count provided her with a forged passport, enabling her to run away to Italy with her girlfriend. (she's LGBT).
11. Louise D'Armilly- Thanks to the Count, she ran away with the person she loves (she's LGBT).

Not that he's perfect. but overall, he did more good than harm. More innocents saved, and the guilty punished.

Thank you, I think. :-)

just means that a lot of people post about reading this particular book. not surprising but they are all remarkably similar posts.

I thought so, though I can't tell if you're saying that's a good or bad thing (or neither).. This is my first post ever in this group, as someone who rarely ever posts to reddit. Any similarity to other posts is purely coincidental, and since the book has a reputation as a classic and a must-read, I guess it's bound to happen. I imagine out of all the people who read this book, the amount of people who post about it still pales in comparison.

Sure thing, I'm definitely going to read that.

In all fairness to Eddie - he was actually guilty of the offense. He did stop off Elba during the exile. He did meet with the emperor and took secure communications on board.

That’s treason, and he’s lucky he didn’t get an appointment with a guillotine.

True, but one of the key points in the book was that Dantes did not even get a trial. Villefort just had him quietly hustled away to D'if.

Could possibly mean that the bar for an execution was pretty high, and would have required a trial and a certain bunch of signatures. V. wanted to keep the entire affair on the down-low (protecting Noirtier), and an actual trial would have mean that Noirtier's name would have gone out. And Dantes' likeability and naivety might have won over the other judge.

It could also mean that V. is a better human being than he seemed to be initially. Like, only wanting to shuffle Dantes away until it was convenient to release him (after Napoleon's death). But eventually he forgot about that and Dantes was left to rot.

This is not the only example of "French traitor protagonist in a classic novel slipping between the cracks and not being executed." Victor Hugo allowed Marius to live, and even get married, and live aboveground after Marius' involvement in the Revolt. Marius was at the barricades, shot at soldiers, and threatened to blow everybody up, ffs. But Hugo waved it away by saying that Marius' months-long convalescence saved him, the hubbub died down, and nobody bothered to look for him because so much time had passed.

It might have been a little shady and corrupt, but it was basically a plea deal. He had letters showing the emperors intended return and revolution - which is treason. Notier wasn’t some underworld/unknown figure, he was a well known Parisian Bonapartist. And the Morrells were already under suspicion.

Danglars was an opportunist looking to make a political play, Ferdinand was a jealous asshole, but the worst thing Villefort can be accused of is being a politician. He distanced himself from his dad, he married into the bourbons. He didn’t exactly get along with the old man, but Nortier protected him during Bonaparte’s short restoration.

Young Eddie was a fool 10 different ways - Notier/Villefort notwithstanding. Napoleon had just been deposed and exiled. Marseilles was heavily royalist and anti-Bonaparte. Yet he thought nothing of just stopping by at Elba. And he wasnt naive and indifferent - he knew who he was talking to and he was proud to do it - though he kept the secret according to his captains wishes. He was first mate on a “smuggling” boat. How could he not know, hell the accountant (Danglars) knew. One look at the chart and it would be obvious they’re stopping by Elba to pass messages. He might have spent a couple years on boats, but daddy Dantes lived in town, Morrell lived in town. He had to know about the unrest - especially since boats carried word abroad to trading partners.

I don’t think Villefort had any intent of releasing Eddie at any point. Regardless of Bonaparte retaking the throne. A) he was a royalist, B) he knew it wasn’t going to last. Letting Eddie out after 3 months would out him as a Bonapartist like his father and kill his future in France. He’d be sidelined once Napoleon fell apart again. But he didn’t go so far as cutting Eddie’s head off without a trial.

I still can’t start reading this book because the size scares me, but I hope that I will start soon!

Can't be a plea deal when the accused didn't even place a plea or try to make a deal. V. was truly ready to release Dantes, and Dantes was ready to head out the door. Until V. found out the letter was addressed to Noirtier. Up until that point, V. wasn't ready to prosecute Dantes (and he wanted to impress Renee with his mercy). V. had seen real foaming-at-the-mouth Bonapartists and wouldn't hesitate to condemn them but that boy wasn't one of them. He saw a dumbass who was in way over his head in something that he didn't truly understand.

V. didn't hang out with the old man because of political ambitions. But we have seen that V. was willing to warn Noirtier that the police were looking for Gen. Quesnel's assassin, and the description of the perp looked just like ol' Dad. And V. just stood by as Noirtier shaved and changed his clothing, and even took parts of V's own wardrobe. So they had differing politics, but V. wasn't hostile or willing to let his father get arrested.

Yeah, Dantes was a naive fool, but I'd write it off as "typical 19 year old". Dantes might have heard a few things here and there, but blew it off as, "Meh, doesn't concern me. No politics for me. All I care about is my job, my Dad and marrying Mercedes. Oh, the captain's last wish was to deliver this letter... ummm, OK."

And that's exactly what he told V. and V. saw his sincerity and believed him.

Pardon me for asking, but what makes the Robert Donat film the "standard"? TBH, the rewrites in the second half make it unrecognizable as The Count of Monte Cristo. No Caderousse, and the ending fates of all 3 baddies are not based on the book. And, because of the rewrite, >!Haydee's role was diminished and the Count ends up with Mercedes,!< because of that era's Hollywood feel-good style.

That movie came off to me as needing to conform to the Hays Code, so all of the good stuff (revenge) had to be altered drastically, because the book, as written, had a whole slew of no-nos that were forbidden by the Code. It's also notable that Hollywood did not make another attempt at making a Monte Cristo movie until the 21st century. But the UK, France, Mexico, Argentina, Norway and the Soviet Union were happy to step in.

I guess when I meant by the 'standard', it was the film version of Dumas' novel in most of my film books (Fraser's Hollywood History of the World, and others) most referenced by Hollywood standards. I was being biased and failed to acknowledge the many European productions over the decades.

Ah, I see. I would guess, then, that the film books call it the "standard" because it was the only Talkie produced in the US until 2002, so any books prior to 2002 attempting to discuss a non-silent US movie adaptation had exactly one candidate. Kinda like saying that in a horse race with one contestant, there will be one obvious winner.

I have to say that Robert Donat speaks and enunciates beautifully. But it's true that the European, and even the Mexican versions hit more plot points and have far more in-common with the book than the Donat one.

Do be honest, was Mercedes really worth all that trouble?

That's part of the tragedy of the story for me. Because of him being wrongfully imprisoned and having what was to be the best moment of his life ripped out from under him, Edmond (upon learning who was responsible) becomes solely fixated on revenge. So, by that point, there's no longer enough room for Mercedes in his heart, at least not until she comes to him pleading to spare her son. But his actions weren't for Mercedes, they were solely for himself.

Great analysis!

Thanks!

Second-ing this! I read the book over the course of about 3 months. There were times where I was tempted to just fly through to the ending, but I kept prolonging it and believe it definitely enhanced my reading experience. The story just feels much more rewarding over a gradual period of time versus binge reading it; you truly feel the years that have passed and the gravity of the story's events.

Fair enough. I guess I wasn't looking for believability when I read it. I thought there was a delicious irony in Edmond being able to rebuild himself from scratch after being in prison for all those years, and that the more powerful he is emphasizes all the more how much he lost (Mercedes, his father, Morrel Sr.).

If the series was in the style of GOT, a protagonist with the style of anti hero, don't question that he has a relationship with haydee because she was his slave. GOt had controversial content. Would be great.

The Count has a dubious moral rather than being a totally pure, self-sacrificing and altruistic character.

The problem with adaptations today is that the writers don't like the source material, they change the moral of the story to add woke content.

There is the 1979 French miniseries with jacques weber, the 1964 BBC miniseries with Allan Badel.

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The 1934 version despite deviating from the book, it is decent. The defect is in the judgment when edmond does not defend himself because of valentine. self-survival is something too strong in human beings to be despised.

Very naive for Albert to have accepted Mercedes' relationship with Edmond. He is the man who ruined his family life, even though he was sent to prison for his father. The end could be the lovers' ruenance, but Albert despising his mother and Mercedes being harassed by high French society as Anna Karenina.

The 1922 version erred in making Albert and haydee. He is the son of his father's murderer, even though he is innocent, he belongs to the family of the man who ruined his life and that of his parents. It's not so simple to live with someone like that. haydee belongs to another culture, language and she was not comfortable in France and wanted to return to the east. Albert belongs to another culture and customs, it takes much more than just being a handsome young man for the relationship to work. He has to look at the mentality, socio-cultural issues. She has a similar life history to the count, which allows their relationship to work, they have similar worldviews, haydee matured early, the cout assimilated Haydee's culture and language. Which allows them to have more compatibility.

The 2002 version was a mess. The movie altered danglars and Mondego. The film changed the tripartite division of Dantes' enemies that were the mainstay of the Modern State: financial power, military might and justice. They symbolize all the gears of the French State that brought about the downfall of Dantes

And Mondego shows dishonorable actions of French military who would go to help and were bribed, Danglars who is a banker who uses dishonest means to enrich himself. Corruption among the military and the financial system. France's bases were rotten.

Could it be that because of the Bush administration, they didn't want to portray the military and bankers in a more negative light?

In complete agreement. I found myself tearing up at many moments as well. The slow burn is a big part of the reward of reading the book. :-)

Funny how pre-conceived expectations can end up being so different from the reality. Glad you gave the book a chance and fell in love with it yourself. Also, thanks for your recommendation; I picked up East of Eden from my local B&N yesterday. :-)

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