Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating
Review: 1000+ pages is very intimidating. I know; someone suggested it to me, and the first thought I had was what!? me, read that!?!?I'm not really fond of literature/classic kinds of books, so the Count and I didn't get off to a good start. I WAS a bit curious though.. All in all, I found it an amazing book. I especially love how Dumas protrays each character--true, they can get a bit mixed up at times, but it didn't deter me!--with deep thought for each of their personalities and proper actions (At least, I thought their actions were very appropriate in proportion to the descriptions of them). Also, the plot is interesting and intense enough to keep you immersed. Sometimes Dumas explains things a bit too much, but skimming through those parts hasn't damaged the story (for me, at least). I highly recommend The Count as a leisure book, or for anytime, really. If you've got time to read, and want to enjoy it, read this! (Plus, you can say you learned some French history--even if it's just a bit--to boot!) :) hope YOU enjoy it
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: 1000+ pages is very intimidating. I know; someone suggested it to me, and the first thought I had was what!? me, read that!?!? I'm not really fond of literature/classic kinds of books, so the Count and I didn't get off to a good start. I WAS a bit curious though.. All in all, I found it an amazing book. I especially love how Dumas protrays each character--true, they can get a bit mixed up at times, but it didn't deter me!--with deep thought for each of their personalities and proper actions (At least, I thought their actions were very appropriate in proportion to the descriptions of them). Also, the plot is interesting and intense enough to keep you immersed. Sometimes Dumas explains things a bit too much, but skimming through those parts hasn't damaged the story (for me, at least). I highly recommend The Count as a leisure book, or for anytime, really. If you've got time to read, and want to enjoy it, read this! (Plus, you can say you learned some French history--even if it's just a bit--to boot!) :) hope YOU enjoy it
Rating: 
Summary: The Good and The Bad
Review: I can't decide whether I like this book or not. I suppose I should start with the bad, and finish off with the good.
The first thing that bothered me about this book was the improbability of the events. How an ignorant, naïve sailor could have become a powerful, knowledgable man with deep human understanding is beyond me. Admitedly, he did learn for many years from the Abbé Faria and later studied in the east, but I do not think that it could have turned him into the sudden enigma of the Count. The careers of most of the other characters, perhaps excepting Villefort, were improbable, too. For example, Fernand was a poor fisherman, and while he may have earned his fortune in the war, he could not have recieved enough knowledge and standing there to become a Peer of France.
I also found this book bothersome because of the romanticized and unrealistic descriptions Dumas wrote. I know you will have accused me of extreme realism and cynicism by now, but in my defense, I do like many Romantic novels. This particular Romantic novel was pushing it, however. For example, in the oficial document that tells how Franz's father was killed, he dedicates a paragraph to describing how dark and stormy the night was and how there was snow on the banks next to the river, although technically it was a legal testament. The everyday converstation between the characters is similarly stilted. The love affair between Maxemilien and Valentine was so teary, fake, and idealized, that I wanted to slap them by the end of the book.
And yet, despite all this, I cannot help but admire the book as a work of literature. The psychological twists and turns of this book are amazing. I love the way Edmond is convinced that he is an agent of Providence by doing justice, and how this "justice" goes out of control. I love the fact that the protagonist is in many ways an antagonist, and that this seemingly supper-human man can make mistakes. I always hated how the movies glamorized Edmond and his revenge. The book, instead, makes the revenge all the more profound because you feel a lot of sympathy for his victims.
This book also has a great deal of mystery, and it is fun to guess what is going on behind the scenes. As one person once told me, it is very much like a chess game, in which Edmond is laying out all the pieces but you can never be sure what move he is going to make next.
Rating:
Summary: Long but each page is worth it...
Review: I have read 6 different translations of this book starting with a children's version when I was 6. I know, that doesn't count. But the 5 other ones were full versions. I know that such a thick book can be intimidating but it is worth while. Each turn of the page feels like unwrapping a new gift. By the time you get to the end you will miss it and wish that it was even longer. This is the best translation that I have read thus far. This book is for anyone that likes to treasure their time with their books and is not for impatient people who just want to know the plot.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I just finished reading this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The emotions I felt while reading it were of varying degrees. There are many lessons to be learned in this book and the most profound is the revelation Dantes had in the end. I never imagined I would feel pity for those who so sorely wronged him, but the reader cannot help but feel that way. In the end, Edmond realized that he too, was not above this passion. That is why I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Not to mention the intricate web designed between all the characters. There was hardly a useless character.
In short, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story with numerous lessons about human nature and its passions.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT BOOK
Review: I thought that the Count of Monte Cristo was a fabulous book! It is about deceit and revenge aswell as love which is a great mix!
Edmond Dantes is deceived by four "friends" and prisoned on a desolate island in the dreaded Chateau D'if. Together with the Priest Faria they devise a plan for his escape and Edmond sets forth to seek revenge.
There is so much suspense I could hardly put down the book. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!
Rating:
Summary: Full derserving 5 stars
Review: If there's one thing I can't stand is when people liberally give out 5 stars on books; epecially when a book doesn't deserve it. I rarely give out 5 stars, so a book really has to "wow" me and go way over the bar. The Count of Monte Cristo is such a book. Dumas grabs your attention right from the beginning, and never lets go. There's not one boring moment, and I kept wondering: "What's going to happen next?!" It's incredible. Edmond Dante, a sucessful sailor, is promoted captain and is about to marry a beautiful girl, when two men, jealous of him, devise a way to get him out of the way of their own ambitions. Dante is imprisoned, ecapes, and vows revenge on them. This is only 3 of 200 books I read that deserve 5 stars, so I recommend it very highly.
Rating:
Summary: Don't let the length scare you!
Review: Please don't let the length of this book scare you! I read the Count of Monte Cristo in five days. I could not put it down. There is never a dull moment! Murders, love affairs, bandits, illegitimate children, greed, disguises, insanity. Why this book is chock full of good stuff! A new surprise waits around every corner. And the bast part is that all the villians get their just what's coming to them, making it a most gratifying reading experience. I have friends who refuse to read this book because they already saw the movie and think their is no point. I have seen multiple film adaptations of The Count of Monte Cristo and none come anywhere close to the original story. I urge you to read this book. It is an absolute must for anyone who loves adventure. The only disadvantage, if it is a disadvantage, is you won't be able to accomplish anything until you have finished the book. You simply won't be able to put it down!
Rating:
Summary: Revenge!!!
Review: THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO is a page-turner-no doubt about that. To those who may feel intimidated by reading "classic" literature (and especially as one as large and ominous as this unabridged version) I would say "fear not!" This novel is one of the most accessible and enjoyable reads you can find from any literary era.
Like others who have already written here, I simply could not put this book down for several days until I had finished it. Dumas's style of writing cliffhanger endings consistently throughout the novel plays well to today's generations (myself included) who have been raised by television and movies. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO reads like a compelling dramatic series (as it once was when published) that you simply never want to end. Woe to those who chose an abridged version of this book!
I read all kinds of books for all kinds of reasons. Don't look here for realism, profound philosophy, or exercise for your intellect. One may choose to read "the classics" for a variety of reasons, but THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, to me, is a purely guilty pleasure that I can engage in without thinking too much.
Jeremy W. Forstadt
Rating:
Summary: A Dish Best Served Cold
Review: The introduction to this excellent Modern Library edition says, "The long journey of Edmond Dantes is one that we should all take at some point in our lives." I couldn't agree more. This novel easily ranks among the greatest epics--The Odyssey, Don Quixote, Les Miserables, War & Peace and The Brothers Karamazov come to mind as works of comparable scope and moral grandeur. My only advice is: set aside some time. With 1500 pages, a complex web of characters (including many with shifting identities) and more than a few dispensible subplots, this unabridged edition is a challenge--albeit a rewarding one. The novel tackles all the great themes: war, revolution, love, power, money, justice, evil, God. But in a word, it's subject is REVENGE. A good-natured young man of exceptional promise, Edmond Dantes is betrayed by his erstwhile friends, unjustly imprisoned by an ambitious magistrate, and left for dead by the woman he loves. The first three hundred pages of the story are fast-paced and almost cinematic, from the wrenching scenes of betrayal and imprisonment, down to Dantes' miraculous escape and rebirth as a remarkable new man, the Count of Monte Cristo. The Count is part 007, part Stoic philosopher. He'll drop you in a duel, match wits with you in the salon, concoct potions from recipes in a dozen languages, be in three places at once, with three different identities, and exercise a kind of foresight and control over human events that we normally associate with gods and conspiracy theories. Oh yeah--and he's loaded, too. Dantes burns with a desire for revenge, but it's an entirely different sort than the Clint Eastwood/Charles Bronson variety. Instead of blasting his way into Paris with a semi-automatic (or less anachronistically, with a really big sword), Dantes methodically plots the downfall of his enemies using even more lethal weapons: the evil that lurks in their own hearts. All this takes a long time. There is a big drop off in intensity in the middle chunk of the novel, as Dumas transitions from the swashbuckling Napoleonic days to a more traditional European novel of manners set in the 1830s. A whole new set of characters are introduced. Later, we discover their relationship to Dantes' earlier antagonists--but for a time we are totally at sea. Meanwhile, Dumas launches various digressions that will occasionally cause the reader to wonder whether he was getting paid by the word (probably). But don't despair. The last half of the novel gathers steam like a freight train, as Count of Monte Cristo moves in for the kill. The suspense builds--not because we wonder whether Dantes will get his revenge, but whether he can avoid turning into a monster in the process. Ultimately, Dumas offers as sane and humane a message as you can hope for from 1500 pages of injustice and vengeance. In a novel where fortunes shift, names and titles are granted and extinguished, and identities are transformed on turns of luck, the old Stoic wisdom shines through. It's not what happens to you, good or bad, but how you respond to it, that determines true virtue in this world. One suspects this would be true even without an avenging Providence, even if Edmond Dantes' triumph were less complete.
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