Rating: 
Summary: The BEST book I've ever read. I'll miss it.
Review: Monsieur Le Comte is incredible!!!! The best book I've ever read; I'll miss it... I could not tear myself away from this book... My two year-old recognizes it as "papi's book" because I could not put it down.... I kept my wife up with the story and got a chance to relive it that way. She loved it too.
Dumas makes you fall in love with his characters, with Mercedes, Edmond Dantes, Abbe Faria, Valentine, Haydee, M.Morrel.... and he makes you hate the bad guys, Danglars, Villefort, Morcef... But in the end you end up doubting just like M. Le Comte.... Every character has an incredible story and every story will take you deap into the time and place and the feeling of it all.... This book cannot be described. It must be read. If you will only read one good book in your life; make sure it's this one.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST book I've ever read. I'll miss it.
Review: Monsieur Le Comte is incredible!!!! The best book I've ever read; I'll miss it... I could not tear myself away from this book... My two year-old recognizes it as "papi's book" because I could not put it down.... I kept my wife up with the story and got a chance to relive it that way. She loved it too.
Dumas makes you fall in love with his characters, with Mercedes, Edmond Dantes, Abbe Faria, Valentine, Haydee, M.Morrel.... and he makes you hate the bad guys, Danglars, Villefort, Morcef... But in the end you end up doubting just like M. Le Comte.... Every character has an incredible story and every story will take you deap into the time and place and the feeling of it all.... This book cannot be described. It must be read. If you will only read one good book in your life; make sure it's this one.
Rating:
Summary: Tonic for Hurricaines and Interpersonal skills.
Review: My dad twisted my arm into getting this book over War and Peace. Headed to Mexico, I was certain that I would not come even close to finishing it. Twelve-hundred pages for seven days in Cabo?
The second day we were there Mr. Marty the hurricane blew through. I had been up until two o'clock every night reading this - reading it while dad drank margaritas, over breakfast and in the back of the "Mexican Porche." During the night when the 'Caine raged at the windows, I was saving Morrell's life, sailing for Monte Cristo with Corsicans in tow, rescuing viscounts from the notorious Luigi Vampa, inducing Valentine to save her life through hallucination and speaking the same words four times to the enemies who locked my soul in a dungeon for fourteen years. "I am Edmond Dantes!" Dumas is an absolute MASTER crafter. Both my father and I found ourselves questioning the way we develop and uphold relationships and why bluntness seems useful to many in the place of eloquence and perception. The only reason that no one, excepting Mercedes, figures out who Edmond Dantes, the Count of Monte Cristo, Sinbad the Sailor, Abbe Busoni and Lord Wilmore are is because of the way the Count represents himself and 'others.'
I think the real question that The Count of Monte Cristo is asking us today is why we have forgotten the things that were so key to the way people lived back then. Maybe we have gained in science and math, but we have lost so much! Thinking of the forgotten things is the real painfulness of this book. This one is at the very top of my list. Nothing holds a candle to this tale.
I haven't stopped talking about it for weeks and I doubt I ever will. These guys are the stuff of Dreams! Believe me, this book will make you sing. SocraT Dad's reading it right now! ;)
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ.
Review: Ok, so the first time I read this book was when I was a senior in high school. Being the fact that I am a sucker for those love stories where the guy gets the girl in the end, it was only natural that I would enjoy this book. But the best part about it is the twist in the plot and how eventually The Count of Monte Cristo reveals himself to those who knew him before the self-appointed title. Its a classic by Alexandre Dumas and I do believe that this is one of those books (like "Catcher in the Rye") that you just have to read in this lifetime!
Rating:
Summary: A True Great Classic
Review: Perhaps one of the best novels ever written, the Count of Monte Cristo is a story of an innocent man that seeks to revenge his wrongful imprisonment. Dumas brilliantly confronts themes pertaining to nearly all facets of human existence including that of justice, revenge, love, friendship, greed, jealousy, etc. Despite its vivid detail and striking character development, the novel reads rather easily and quickly. This story has been the inspiration of many great movies, most notably, that of The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Truly a classic and a must read.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites
Review: Recently, i've gone on a kick of reading older books and this was just a stop along the way. Boy was I surprised when I became enthrawled in this book. The writing is amazing, the conversations are some of the wittiest and well written i've ever read, and the plot is just amazing. The extents he will go to get revenge are amazing and how he does it is even more amazing. This book is one of my favorites. If you think you can read a book as big as this one, and I wont lie and say it's not HUGE, the reward will be well worth it. READ THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous epic: Tokienesque scope, Shakespearian Vibe
Review: The characters in this book are so Shakespearian. They're all larger than life. We're not dealing with post-modern self-doubting everymen stumbling through life, these are extreme characters in extreme circumstances: it's not too often you're going to pause and say, "Hmmm, I know exactly how he feels." Likewise the plot, action, and devices. It's all around a quest for revenge (or is it justice?), there are crucial letters, poisonings, star-crossed lovers' trysts, courtroom performances, disguises, last minute averted bankruptcy, and, for goodness sake, yet another of these meddlesome priests with their cunning plans to fake a death with an ingenious potion. We have dozens of prose soliloquies, characters turning over their plans, doubts and motivations, and wonderful extended dialogue, with people talking with a depth and precision mere mortals could never hope to improvise (even if there aren't as many killer one-liners in there). And while I'm making big comparisons why not throw in Tolkien: Dumas too has pulled off an epic. I can't think of many other books of this size that maintain such coherency. Now they do it in different ways, and Dumas teeters on the edge in a couple of places (while Tolkien is sublimely on track the whole time - he simply needed that many words to tell his story), but they both still manage to bring so much to a basic central story line. Most epics climax in book one, then have weak sequels added on once the publishers realise they have a hit. Most unsuccessfully try to reopen the old story and climb back in to a structure that will not fit them, and only undermine the superior complete original (Card, Jordan, Feist). Some series avoid this mistake by telling a new story within the old world (Pratchett, Leiber, Saberhagen), but this isn't making an epic. In the Mars series, Robinson gave himself freedom to continue because no character is indispensable, the future is open. But Dumas! Like I said, in a couple of places he's on the brink, but doesn't quite fall over. We wonder why we spend quite so much time with Franz - who turns out to be quite incidental - but in Dumas' defence, to meet Edmond reinvented as the Count through Franz' eyes is an intriguing and clever way to introduce him. Indeed, the book could almost have started here (and the second part does feel like an entirely new book for some time), but, like Tolkien, rather than leap in with the 'main' story, Dumas patiently and painstakingly has to paint the whole history before we get there. But while Tolkien splits up the major characters and has us desperately turning pages as he leaves each in cliff-hanger situations, Dumas has the slowest of slow burns running through the whole book. You don't have to read it all in a sitting, and as the protagonist points out, a simple and quick revenge would not be just or satisfying. So he takes his sweet time. Along the way some of the time he spends to flesh out the characters of the sons and daughters of the subjects of the Count's patient and comprehensive revenge seems liberal, but I suppose Dumas could say with his Count, 'What's your hurry?' And to carry you along you have this wonderfully sophisticated French high society. Being cool - or being honourable - is not only about ego and looking good, it has a major effect on your whole family's prospects. Make a fool of yourself in public, and you could lose your credibility - which could also cost you your house or your life. How you're presented, who presents you, and how you carry it off is a game with big stakes. There was an excellent SBS movie that caught something of this - about a relatively low income 19th Century noble who actually cares for the people on his land, and knows the only way to save them is to get them clean water. To afford this he needs the court's patronage - and the favour of the court has nothing to do with the needs of the poor, and everything to do with whether you are seen as having a lively wit. The decent noble has to play the dirtiest games to do good. It's in this sort of Dangerous Liaisons context that much of the drama takes place, and Dumas does it well (indeed he's probably the prototype). Moreover his count is a real triumph. He imagined the pinnacle of 19th Century cool and painted it. Moreover he gives us the whole process of just why this guy has got it so completely together. He's Shaft, James Bond, Miles Davis ... whoever ... you just can't touch him. So when the reader gets to see someone getting a bit close to his self-possession it has a real impact. When we do eventually get to the resolutions of the old wounds, they are powerful and satisfying. I said this is Shakespearian, and there's no pulling punches here - the crimes are terrible, the prices paid apposite, and both are vividly and minutely explored. Hence the massive length of the book - but this epic, unlike so many others, is coherent. And all this without even mentioning the fascinating central philosophical issue of just who the Count thinks he is to take charge of so many lives. Is he, as he contends, merely the agent of providence? But the way he treats those he cares for seems at times more cruel than the way he treats his foes! The torture he puts Morrel through can only be compared to God calling Abraham to sacrifice his son. Monte Cristo is unapologetically taking the role of God, and his justification is that:
...There is neither happiness nor grief in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another - nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness...
It's a tough one to try to pull off. Did he manage it? Let the discussions commence.
Rating:
Summary: Swashbuckling action from cover to cover
Review: The Count of Monte Cristo begins as Edmond Dantes lands in Marseille, ready to marry the love of his life, Mercedes. Within 24 hours his world will turn upside down; punished for a crime he did not commit, he'll be imprisoned in the Château d'If for life, stripped of everything he held dear. And so the stage is set for the greatest revenge novel ever written.
Swashbuckling novels are a sub-genre of historical fiction. Too easily, the whole genre is dismissed as juvenile reading. The Count of Monte Cristo features two cases of infanticide, a serial poisoner, a stabbing, three suicides, torture, execution, drug-induced sexual fantasies, illegitimacy, transvestism, lesbianism, dramatic soliloquies, references to classical history, the effects of hashish, all in about 1300 pages. Juvenile? I don't think so....
This is my favorite book of all time. The unabridged version is the only way to go. The movies have never done it justice. I can guarantee you won't put it down!
Once you've finished it, check out The Three Musketeers... the unabridged version ;)
Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: This 1000 plus page book will seem like a breeze once you get to the second chapter. It's not just the story but small titbits of wisdom which you will encounter throughout the book which makes it a worthy read. A very good book for young adults as it has all the flavors like adventure, romance, and above all many morals that one can learn from the story. I will make my kid read it if I ever have one :)
Rating:
Summary: A Classic, Unforgettable Thriller!
Review: This book has more twists and turns than a country holler, but it is unforgettable and its characters are so vivid and unpredictable. This book had me from page one! Hard to put down!
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