So one of the nice things Goodreads has done for me is bring me some really cool friends who inspire me to flex my brain a little harder and read more classics. And the unabridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo, clocking in at over 1000 pages, is a monster of a classic.


I was familiar with the Count's story from seeing an old movie or two, but reading the book, of course, is a whole different level of experiencing the tale. The first part of the book filled me with dread as I waited for disaster to strike; the second part made me truly feel Edmond Dantes' despair, as he was thrown into a dungeon in the historical Chateau d'If by greedy, power-seeking, selfish and lustful men, to spend the rest of his life in squalor.



After 14 years, Edmond (soon to become the Count) escapes from his island prison and things really start to get interesting as he plans and executes his revenge on the four men who conspired to ruin his life. Dumas' writing, even after 170 years and in translation, is powerful and moving, and the Count's complex and intricately planned revenge was awe-inspiring. Our buddy read group had a great time analyzing what was happening in the story, and discussing various Biblical and other literary allusions. (Our discussion can be followed in the comments attached to our reviews, but be warned that those threads are Spoiler City.)

But as we started getting closer to the end of the Count's revenge and this story, things started to go a little off the rails for all of us. The Count clearly views himself as an avenging angel, almost as a god himself, on a divine mission to punish the wicked. This view (which the author seems to share) becomes more and more uncomfortable as the death and destruction spread.

More about my problems with this book, and the reasons it gets 4 stars rather than 5, which are extremely spoilerish:

The Count's revenge extends itself to innocent members of the original plotters' families, which he justifies by (wrong-headedly) quoting the Old Testament scripture about the punishment of God extending itself to the third and fourth generations of their children. He finds peoples' weaknesses and exploits them, suggesting an untraceable poison to a mother who he knows is anxious to see her young son inherit great wealth. Only when that young son is also dead, does the Count begin to question whether he has gone too far:

Monte Cristo became pale at this horrible sight; he felt that he had passed beyond the bounds of vengeance, and that he could no longer say, "God is for and with me."

But then, amazingly and disappointingly, he decides he cannot have been mistaken all of these years and that it is simply his lack of clear sight creating this doubt. He does show some mercy to the last conspirator, but this final act of mercy seems to be prompted by the Count's pride rather than by a realization that he was wrong in any way.

Another issue was that the Count's former fiancée, Mercedes, whose only sin was to get married to someone else after the Count was taken to prison, is left to spend the rest of her life sorrowing and alone, while the Count (who's in his 40s now) has a beautiful, young Greek slave fall in love with him and essentially give him a new start in life and love. After everything he did wrong, it really irked me that the Count gets to sail off into the sunset with this gorgeous young girl while Mercedes has to spend the rest of her life meditating in solitude. (This is pretty much always changed in the movies, one example of where Hollywood got it right.)

The Count also decides to save the life of one of the conspirators' daughters, the young—and completely innocent—Valentine, but only because Maximillien, the son of a man who was loyal to the Count, is in love with Valentine. But then he decides, for no good reason, to allow Max to believe for an entire month that Valentine was dead. His gall in this subplot was unjustified and beyond unmitigated, and neither of these sweet people calls him on it or gets the least bit angry about being so manipulated.

Final gripe: why does everyone in this book who's in love have to have the attitude that death is better than being separated from their love, or their love is not true? I've come across it in several Victorian-era books (it still lives on in some books like Twilight), and it seriously annoys me every time. Yes, it sucks if you can't marry the person you love, or if the person you love dies. But this does not mean that your life is over and you should commit suicide—or even swear off loving anyone else and mope around for the remainder of your days. Life goes on. If you allow yourself to move on, you will find that you're more resilient than you think. /rant

I really don't object to reading about a flawed hero, but it does bother me that the author lets him off so easily at the end. This would have been a five-star book for me if it had been clearer that the Count had paid a heavy psychological or spiritual price for going down such a dark path. And maybe if he didn't get to take off in the end with a hero-worshipping young trophy wife. In any case, though, this a marvelous, intricate book that gave me a lot of food for thought, despite its flaws.

Full review now posted!

I finally finished! I feel like I’ve been reading this forever. Not because I didn’t like it, of course. Au contraire, I loved it! It’s a wonderful book, and definitely deserves it’s status as a classic. But it was dense and intricate and long, and wasn’t a book to be sped through. This tome is meant to be savored, and savor it I did. The Count of Monte Cristo is without a doubt the best tale of vengeance I’ve ever read, and one of the most intricately plotted books I’ve ever had the pleasure of picking up.

Edmond Dantes seems to have it all together. He loves his career aboard a merchant vessel, and the love of his life is waiting to marry him when he returns home. But there are those in his life who are jealous of his good fortune, of his love, of his happiness. And so, jealous “friends” plot the downfall of Dantes, and he’s arrested on his wedding day. His prosecutor, though he knows Dantes is innocent, is faced with information that would shine a terrible light on himself. Information that only Dantes knows. And so, the prosecutor has Dantes sent to Chateau d’If, where he hopes the prisoner will never be heard from again. But fate has other plans, and vengeance will be wrought on these four men who had succumbed to jealousy and ruined the life of another.

The Count of Monte Cristo is one of the most mysterious characters I’ve ever encountered. He’s richer than Midas, no one knows anything about his past, including his name, and he takes Paris completely by storm when he appears on the scene. He is both an avenging angel and an angel of mercy. As he ingratiates himself into three important families on the Parisian scene, we get to know these families and watch as their lives fall apart around them.

I’ve only ever read the abridged version of this book before. The Great Illustrated Classic was my very favorite book when I was about 8 or so. And I read the more “grown-up” abridged version in eighth grade. I thought I knew the story pretty well, but I wanted to have read the book in its entirety, so I finally picked it up. And I almost put it down. There were so many little details in the middle section of the book that I thought were superfluous. I got so bogged down for a while, and almost decided that the abridged version had been enough. But my mama didn’t raise no quitter, so I stuck with it. And I’m so glad that I did!

Those little details that I thought were pointless? They really mattered. As I started nearing the end and seeing how all of these small details were coming back into play, I was completely stunned by complex the plot was. Every single tiny aspect of this book, all of the things that I thought weren’t necessary were totally necessary. I was blown away by how everything came together in the end.

I could write a thousand more words about the characters, the methods of vengeance, the plot twists, and more. But, even though this is a classic story, I don’t want to spoil anything for those who have little exposure to the story. Suffice it to say that, without this book, our culture would be missing something, as this book has served as foundation and inspiration for countless stories in various formats. Is this a quick, easy read? Not even close. Is it worth the time and effort necessary to read it? It is indeed. Give it a read, but take your time. Don’t rush.

“All human wisdom is contained in these two words - Wait and Hope.”

For more of my reviews, as well as my own fiction and thoughts on life, check out my blog, Celestial Musings.

n  All human wisdom is summed up in two words—'Wait and hope'n

This is the story of Edmund Dantes, a man betrayed and unjustly imprisoned, who discovers the means to return to the world and punish those who have wronged him. Dantes is a seaman, who is on the verge of becoming a sea captain, when his world is ripped from him by a false accusation. He eventually becomes the enigmatic Count of Monte Cristo, a man of untold wealth, the attentions of whom all the elite of Paris vie for. It is a story of revenge, which is what gives it the edginess it is famous for, and I believe we love that because who has not imagined being able to address a wrong done to them by distributing justice themselves? But what makes it moving and remarkable is not the adventure story, it is the spiritual story it encompasses; for we are allowed to see a nobility of spirit that is rare, the grappling of souls with the wielding of power and the choice of using it for good or for evil, the struggle between love and hate, and the winning out of the better nature in a man.

The story deals thematically with the misuse of power, something we have no lack of in our own place and time, and the selling of souls for wealth, opulence and influence. This possession of power is accompanied, of course, with the firm conviction that some men’s lives matter more than others, and that anything can be justified if it enriches the purse. It is set in turbulent political times, opening at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, with the Emperor imprisoned at Elba, so politics matter and separate people.

The king! I thought he was philosopher enough to allow that there was no murder in politics. In politics, my dear fellow, you know, as well as I do, there are no men, but ideas—no feelings, but interests; in politics we do not kill a man, we only remove an obstacle, that is all.

While the struggle begins as one between man and man, sparked by jealousy, envy and covetousness, it rapidly becomes one between man and God, and the role of Providence and fate in the lives of men.

Dantes had exhausted all human resources, and he then turned to God.

That does seem to be when most of us turn to Him. In this case, God seems to answer, by setting Dantes in a position to mete out the punishments and rewards due others. Ah, but therein lies the rub, for who decides what punishment is just, how much the punishment should be allowed to trickle down to the next generation, who benefited from the crime but did not commit it, and what inflicted suffering can balance the suffering that preceded it and cannot be undone?

There is a danger in becoming an avenging angel, as Dantes discovers, and the danger is that you begin to believe you are God himself.

Tell the angel who will watch over your future destiny, Morrel, to pray sometimes for a man, who like Satan thought himself for an instant equal to God, but who now acknowledges with Christian humility that God alone possesses supreme power and infinite wisdom. Perhaps those prayers may soften the remorse he feels in his heart.

Lest you think this novel is somber, I assure you it is peppered with an intense feeling of satisfaction and a subtle sense of humor.

The crowd moved to and fro in the rooms like an ebb and flow of turquoises, rubies, emeralds, opals, and diamonds. As usual, the oldest women were the most decorated, and the ugliest the most conspicuous. If there was a beautiful lily, or a sweet rose, you had to search for it, concealed in some corner behind a mother with a turban, or an aunt with a bird of paradise.

It is desperate and tense; it is thoughtful and poignant; and it is filled with beautiful prose and descriptive passages that conjure images of both beauty and squalor. I admit to crying so hard at some points that I could no longer see the words that seemed to be swimming in my tears, which is no mean feat for a book whose story no longer holds any surprises for this reader. I remembered why I loved this book so much from the first reading. I remembered why I have always included it at the top of my favorites list. I feel great sorrow for anyone who has not read it at least once.

This book is long. Everything about it feels long--from the words, to the sentences, to the scenes. Given that it was serially published -- meaning Dumas made his money by the word -- it's obvious why it's so damn long. But trust me, this story is NOT a waste of time.

What it is--is everything. What starts as a thriller, becomes a Game of Thrones-style soap opera, and finishes as a murder mystery. It's a revenge story, in theory, but more than anything it's about love. It's really an existential coming-of-age for adults. The length of seven books, The Count of Monte Cristo contains nearly as many themes and plots and characters. Probably, it covers twice as many subjects. It's basically a Bible.

Something tricky about it is that the first hundred and some pages are absolutely phenomenal. The story starts better than just about anything else, which kind of surprised me. For something of this length, I expected it to be slow--and at times it is--but the beginning is definitely a page turner, one that doesn't read dated at all, which again surprised me. This book is like two hundred years old and translated from French--and while at times it's as head-scratching as Shakespeare--the beginning feels like reading a really good Michael Crichton book.

Edmond Dantes / The Count of Monte Cristo is, logically, the first character introduced. He's incredibly likable from the start: he's 19, has his shit together, treats his father like gold, is madly in love, and excellent at his job. In short, there's a Disney story ahead of him. Just thinking about it is exciting, until in quick succession several extremely unlikable characters are introduced whom all conspire against him. They're jealous little evil bitches and they plot and scheme, and as their deeds unfold, the story becomes a thriller. Unfortunately, the characters that start the book are definitely the best, beside one or two others. Fortunately, after they throw a giant fork into Dantes' road, they don't just disappear. No, this is a revenge story. They come back and get what they got coming to 'em.

The problems start to arise after the first 300 or so pages, after Dantes gets screwed, suffers, loses hope, becomes bitter, and transcends into the Count of Monte Cristo. After this, about 15 new characters are introduced, only one of whom really measures up to the previous cast. Dumas spends the next 500 pages of the story predominately fleshing out these characters in the form of a soap opera, which is frustrating. The previous ones are so good, you're way more eager to learn about them. It feels like you're getting off topic, lost in new characters that only fit into the story tangentially by theme. And, although this part isn't necessarily bad or insufferable, compared to the thrilling first act, this soap opera seems that way. It doesn't help that this part of the story is when the language dates itself, the sentences grow to their longest, the dialogue seems like one soliloquy after another, and the words they speak are plain archaic. The story seems to go downhill, quickly picking up steam, ultimately headed for a nasty crash and burn.

It doesn't. If the first hundred pages aren't the best in all of literature, it's only because the last hundred are somehow even better. All of the crazy complexity Dumas writes into the second act of the story comes together in the third. What seemed to only tangentially fit into the story becomes the glue that holds together a masterpiece. And when The Count of Monte Cristo starts exacting his revenge you spent 900 pages eagerly anticipating, of course it's satisfying as hell. What makes it even better is seeing Edmond Dantes resurface himself in the ugly skin of Monte Cristo. After all his misery has made his existence merely to put others through worse (albeit somewhat justifiably), you start to love him again, and he shows that The Count of Monte Cristo isn't a simple revenge story that went on for way too long. No, it's much more than that.

But if you want to know, you'll just have to read it for yourself. Wait and hope, my friend, wait and hope.

I decided in January to spend a year reading classics that I never wanted to read. I joined a classics reading group and carefully chose books that I thought I would like, and am thrilled to say that I have read some wonderful stories. I gave books like East of Eden, Wuthering Heights, The Odyssey, and The Master and Margarita a solid 4 stars because I thought they were fantastic. I gave books like Hamlet, Bleak House, and The Idiot 5 stars because they are those rare books that change lives. They definitely changed mine.

Using those criteria, I would give The Count of Monte Cristo a squintillion stars if I could. This is not only the best book I have read this year, it easily surpassed my favorite book of all time. I remember when I finished the last sentence of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and I cried so hard because it was all over. I wanted to forget that I had read it and start over to experience that amazingness again for the first time. This is the first novel I have read since then that made me feel the same way.

This is a story of a young sailor who had everything going for him: a good mind, a good soul, the respect of his crew, a future job as a captain, the confidence of his boss, the adoration of his father, and the love of a beautiful woman who had promised to be his wife. In an instant, and truly in just the first few chapters of this very long novel, all that was taken from him by a bunch of envious, jealous, and greedy shitwad bastards who n  DESERVED TO DIE THE MOST HORRIBLE DEATHS FOR WHAT THEY DIDn................ I'm sorry, I guess I got a bit emotional there.

Actually, I got emotional through this entire novel. I cried; I cheered; I laughed. I went to sleep thinking about the characters and woke up thinking about revenge. I wanted to find a way to go back in time and burn down France for a fictional character. The author did an admirable job of putting me right in the story and feeling the hatred, love, fear, sympathy, and all the other feels that the characters experienced. This is a novel that will put your emotions through the ringer.

This is also a novel that will make you think and question. How far is it okay to go? When do you stop? For whom do you stop? Is this okay? Is God on the side of the good guys or the bad guys? Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? Does checking out from humanity protect you or isolate you? What happens when you want to return, and how do you get there?

As The Count himself said, "All human wisdom is contained in these two words: 'wait' and 'hope'!"

Here are my words of wisdom: Read the unabridged version translated by Robin Buss. It has a chapter that many versions leave out, and that chapter, at least to me, is vital.

En el vasto universo de la literatura no son pocas las novelas que han conseguido atravesar las barreras del tiempo y las fronteras para perdurar a través de los siglos y seguir maravillándolos o estremeciéndonos. El conde de Montecristo es uno de esos exponentes que ha cosechado el título de clásico, de obra imprescindible y que pese a su extensión consigue inquietar, asombrar y capturar durante cada una de sus numerosas páginas consiguiendo no sólo envolver al lector sino someterlo de forma innegable a la prodigiosa e incomparable pluma de Dumas.

Edmundo Dantes es un marinero de origen humilde que a base de esfuerzo se ha forjado un porvenir prometedor y que alberga en su corazón no sólo sueños sino un inmenso amor. El panorama que comienza como ideal se ve, sin embargo, rápidamente desmantelado por un complot orquestado por enemigos que, movidos por la envidia, los celos o la ambición, fraguan un plan imperdonable que deja al joven recluido en una cárcel que es prácticamente una tumba y que aprisiona, corroe y corrompe a nuestro protagonista durante más de una década en la que la comprensión de las circunstancias que marcaron su destino dan lugar a un hambre de venganza que da cuerpo al libro.

La venganza. El tema crucial de esta pieza excepcional que el autor eligió legarle a la humanidad. Tras conseguir una huida que es no sólo astuta sino peligrosamente audaz, y por la benevolencia de un aliado que ha de perecer para que nuestro protagonista vuelva a la vida, Edmundo se ve no sólo libre sino millonario a niveles que es difícil precisar. Con sabiduría, poder, fortuna e influencias se inicia el camino de nuestro héroe -o antihéroe- hacia la destrucción de quienes le arruinaron la vida. Pero no es una venganza rápida, sanguinaria, ni siquiera es violenta de forma directa. El conde de Montecristo delinea un plan tan ambicioso, brillante y frío que sus lineamientos se nos van desnudando durante más de mil páginas para dejarnos abrumados y devastados.

Rencores, complots, envenenamientos, fugas, naufragios, raptos, ejecuciones, asesinatos… son múltiples los elementos que componen la novela de Dumas y la venganza de Dantés. Cada uno hábilmente ejecutado para constituir las piezas de un complejo rompecabezas que el lector cree comprender pero cuya gravedad no se desvela, no en totalidad, sino hasta el desenlace. Una trama enrevesada, sí, pero en la que cada personaje, escena y diálogo es de un imprescindible rigor. Y cuando digo diálogos no puedo dejar de destacar la exquisitez lingüística de esto o de la pluma de Dumas en cada párrafo.

Una novela que es un deleite y que explora o expone muchas de las grandes amarguras y vicios del alma humana por medio de sus diversos, complejos e inmortales personajes pero que da lugar también a atisbos de piedad, afecto, compromiso y lealtad que corroen nuestra oscura visión de la humanidad para forzarnos a comprender los costados genuinamente nobles de ésta. Edmundo es un hombre vengativo, un renacido cuyo motor es el rencor, el ansia de hacer pagar a sus enemegios pero es también un hombre justo, memorioso con quienes quiso o quienes le tendieron la mano y es ésta dualidad lo que lo enriquece más allá de lo que esta lectora podría precisar.

Read as part of The Infinite Variety Reading Challenge, based on the BBC's Big Read Poll of 2003.

I have spent the last few weeks-ever since finishing War and Peace-reading Modern Classics, of which genre I am rather new to and not at all enjoying as much as others have lead me to believe I would, and I have never felt a love for Classic Literature so deep within my heart as I did when I finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo. I still retain a hope that a Modern Classic that I enjoy as much as I do pre-20th works will pop up somewhere, but I am thinking it is becoming an increasingly unlikely scenario.

The Count of Monte Cristo is a behemoth of French 19th Century Literature of a decidedly vengeful flavour. I have read very little French literature, having spent most of my time on the English variety, but this book still retains some very English-type Classic Literature qualities (I would presume the translation had a little to do with this) and read true to the Classical style. Descriptive yet punctual, with large amounts of dialogue that are not just diatribes or means to translate the plot to the reader.

Edmond Dantés is a poor unfortunate soul whom fate seems not to like as he is betrayed by men he has no reason to dislike-or so he thinks-and is thrown in to the Château d'If and the key is thrown thereafter (but in a different direction). Edmond Dantés-later the Count of Monte Cristo-is a most marvellous man, with many flaws, many perfections and many wonders. I enjoyed him immensely, as I did most of the characters. I find that women in Classic Literature are treated in varying ways, but Dumas has a kind of Dickensian way about his writing of women: they are not weak or placid or there only to be abused or looked at, but there again they are often very 19th Century in other ways. Very few people can make me feel a sympathy for the Upper Classes of society and Dumas appears to have done it.

Another side to Classic Literature that I love is the world-building. Whilst most of the land that we read about in these books still exist today, Classics evoke the true sense of how they were over a hundred years ago and I rarely feel that in other types of books. You can describe a place in Scotland for a Scottish Noir Crime Thriller as detailed and grimy as you want but I rarely get the sense of the place as a whole: Dumas truly evokes the destitute calmness of the Château d'If, of the spartan and isolated island of Monte Cristo and of the many luxurious abodes of the Count himself. I have not felt as transported with a book like I have with this one.

Of course, it was not without fault. I feel almost every single same emotion and opinion on The Count of Monte Cristo as I did with War and Peace and that includes the reasons for not giving a perfect rating. It was too long-it just was. There are plenty of long Classics ranging from 400-700 pages that are perfectly serviced by their Not-1000-Pages and I feel that's where this book fell short. This means that there are paragraphs, here and there-dotted about in no particular pattern-that are utterly tedious and don't contribute to the story very much, if at all. I cannot bring myself to ignore such moments of tedium, no matter how much I enjoy the story, the characters or the plot, because I know-and have read-books that are not this long but are just as well written.


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This was everything I hoped for. I have no intellectual review left in me after these 1200 pages and am sure I could not say anything that hasn’t been already said - but I had a great time and it was so worth it. After page 750 things sped up and I got such an adrenaline rush from all the society tea I bingeread the rest in 2 days.

«Οταν τα ναζιστικά στρατεύματα εισέβαλαν στο Παρίσι στις 14 Ιουνίου 1940 μία από τις πρώτες τους ενέργειες ήταν να ξηλώσουν το άγαλμα ενός θρυλικού στρατηγού, του Τομάς Αλεξάντρ Ντυμά (1762-1806). Οχι επειδή ανήκε στα επιφανέστερα τέκνα της Γαλλίας, αλλά επειδή ήταν μιγάς. Το άγαλμα αυτό, που είχε στηθεί το 1906, στην επέτειο των 100 χρόνων από τον θάνατο του στρατηγού (το όνομά του είναι χαραγμένο στη νότια πλευρά της Αψίδας του Θριάμβου), δεν ξαναστήθηκε έκτοτε».

Ο Κόμης Μόντε Κρίστο ήταν, είναι και θα παραμείνει στον πάνθεον των πιο εντυπωσιακών συγκλονιστικών, λογοτεχνικών μυθιστορημάτων των τελευταίων διακοσίων χρόνων που αποτίουν φόρο τιμής στην τέχνη, στην παράδοση, στον πολιτισμό, στα γράμματα, στην γραμματειακή κληρονομιά του πλανήτη, σαν επιτομή στην διακειμενικότητα που χαρακτηρίζεται από τα έργα των αληθινών μυθιστοριογράφων.
Αυτών που ανήκουν σε μια ονειρογραφία γεμάτη ονειροπαγίδες, σε μια φαντασιογραφία γεμάτη ενοχές και αλήθειες, σε μια θεατρική συγγραφή παραλληρηματικών λόγων που σκορπάνε μαγικά και μαγευτικά πλήθη απο λέξεις οι οποίες γίνονται απίθανες, ανιστόρητες, απαγορευμένες ιστορίες για τη ζωή και το θάνατο ,για την αγάπη και τον έρωτα, για την φιλία και την προδοτική γλύκα του ατομικού συμφέροντος, για τις ζήλειες, τα ψέματα, τα πάθη, τα λάθη που φοριούνται καινούργια ή μεταχειρισμένα γραμμένα απο Μπαλζάκ, Ντίκενς, Φλομπέρ, Γουίλκι Κόλινς, Ζολά και μαζί τους ο Δουμάς. Δεν χρειάστηκε να χτίσει κάποια φήμη ή να εξιλεώσει τα φαντάσματα της υστεροφημίας του. Εξ αρχής η αξία του και η μεταθανάτια εκστρατεία πολιτιστικών και λογοτεχνικών επιχρισμάτων συγγραφικής δεινότητας τράφηκαν χωρίς αμφιβολία με ιδέες που δεν ανήκαν σε μεσαίους πεζογράφους.
Ένα έργο σαν πραγματικό παραμύθι, σαν παιχνίδι σκακιού όπου οι παίχτες και τα πιόνια αλλάζουν θέσεις, σκέψεις, κινήσεις, συναισθήματα. Σκευωρούν, δολοπλόκουν, ατιμάζουν και υπηρετούν πιστά κάθε ρόλο που θα τους χαρίσει το χρυσό χειροκρότημα, αυτό που ανοίγει τις μαγικές πόρτες για άλλες περιπέτειες, για πολυπόθητες κατακτήσεις, για ταξίδια του μυαλού και της φαντασιογραφίας σε Δύση και Ανατολή. Σε φτωχικές καλύβες παρισινού μεγαλείου όπου πέθαιναν απο ασιτία μέχρι το ιερό φως των ελληνικών νησιών και την μεθυστική μυρωδιά απο τα τελετουργικά όργια του Σεβάχ του θαλασσινού. Οι χίλιες και μία νύχτες ξημερώνουν σε βικτωριανά κρεβάτια απιστίας, το παιχνίδι του ηδονικού έρωτα εξυφαίνει παγίδες μυαλού και παραισθησιογόνου δόλου ανακατεύοντας τις φυλετικές χροιές των Άγγλων, των Γάλλων, των Ελλήνων των Τούρκων, των Ιταλών και όλων των μη προνομιούχων τόπων που πατούσε η μπότα του κατακτητή, αυτοί οι τόποι ανάβλυζαν αρώματα απο ιδρωμένα κορμιά αποικιοκρατικατικών θυτών και θυμάτων. Απο την Ανατολή, την Κίνα, την Ρωσία, την Αφρική και την Λατινική Αμερική, εκεί στήνονταν κάθε σελίδα και ένα θεατρικό κομμάτι, κάθε κεφάλαιο και μια αναπάντεχη εξέλιξη. Μη χάσεις λέξη, αν για λίγο παραδόσεις στην αναγνωστική αμέλεια χάνεις αυτομάτως κάποια λεπτομέρεια που αργότερα θα αποδειχθεί μοιραία για την εξέλιξη, την πλοκή, και τις αποκαλύψεις.
Θεωρώ πως δεν χρειάζεται να μιλήσω για την πλοκή του βιβλίου δεν χρειάζεται να αναλωθούν λέξεις και σκέψεις για ένα τόσο γνώριμο παιχνίδι της τύχης και της ατυχίας που μπορεί να συμβεί σε κάθε ύπαρξη.

Ο Έντμοντ Ντάντες κατηγορείται λανθασμένα για έγκλημα προδοσίας με πολιτικές βοναπαρτικές - ένα λεπτομερές προσάρτημα παρέχει πολύτιμο ιστορικό και πολιτιστικό πλαίσιο που βοηθά τον αναγνώστη να κατανοήσει το αριστούργημα του Δουμά και περιλαμβάνει έναν γαλαξία για την άνοδο, την πτώση, την επιστροφή και την τελική πτώση του Ναπολέοντα Βοναπάρτη που είναι ζωτικής σημασίας για την κατανόηση της πολιτικής που οδηγεί την πλοκή του μυθιστορήματος . - και φιλοβασιλικες διαστάσεις.
Είναι ένας νεαρός υποπλοίαρχος είκοσι ενός ετών που μετά απο μια σκευωρία «φίλων και γνωστών» ρίχνεται στη φυλακή χωρίς δίκη για να ξεχαστεί απο ζωντανούς και νεκρούς, αυτό γίνεται την ημέρα του γάμου του με την γυναίκα που θα αγαπάει για όλη του τη ζωή. Οι κατοπινές συνθήκες, οι παράπλευρες απώλειες, οι αδίστακτοι άνθρωποι με πλήρη ασυνειδησία και τα μεγάλα συμφέροντα για θέσεις και αξιώματα βυσσοδομούν την αιώνια καταδίκη του.
Αφού ξεπέρασε τόσο την ψυχική όσο και τη σωματική του αγωνία μετά απο βασανιστήρια και μαρτυρικές μέρες και νύχτες, γνωρίζει έναν αβά, συμπατριώτη,
και συγκρατούμενο του που του αλλάζει άρδην την ζωή και το θάνατο. Τελικά μπορεί να δραπετεύσει. Χάρη στη φιλία του, με τον φυλακισμένο αβά ο Dantes γνωρίζει πού βρίσκεται ένας πιθανός , κρυμμένος θησαυρός, τον βρίσκει, και χρησιμοποιώντας τον αρχίζει να ανακαλύπτει γιατί ρίχτηκε στη φυλακή, απο ποιους και με ποια ετυμηγορία και το γράφημα είναι ο δρόμος για εκδίκηση επιφανειακά. Στην ουσία, δεν να γκρεμίσει αυτούς που τον έσπρωξαν άτυπτα, θέλει να τους αποδείξει πως δεν έπεσε, και επιστρέφοντας απο την άβυσσο θα τους μάθει πως νικιέται το θράσος, η παραδόπιστη ιδιοτητα των ανθρώπων, η αναίδεια των ψευτοισχυρών και ο ίδιος ο θανατος. Μέσω της τύχης και των κρυφών ταυτοτήτων. Ωστόσο, αυτό που παραλείπει είναι η βαρετή αφήγηση και η τραβηγμένη απο τα μαλλιά πλοκή. Κάθε του λέξη υψώνει και μια ταπετσαρία εξέλιξης και λογοτεχνικής ομορφιάς.
Ο δεύτερος τόμος γκαζώνει και μπαίνει στον αγώνα με ολα τα στοιχήματα υπέρ του.
Οι πολιτιστικές αναφορές φυσικά και αφορούν κοινωνικά δρώμενα πριν 200 χρόνια, παρόλα αυτά, οι σεξουαλικές φαντασιώσεις του Franz με χασίς και η έντονα υπονοούμενη σχέση ομοφυλοφιλίας μεταξύ της Eugenie και της Louise παραμένουν άθικτα και χωρίς λογοκρισία.
Εμείς όμως το ονομάζουμε ιστορική μυθοπλασία στο πέρασμα του χρόνου και το αγαπάμε κι αυτό όπως κι όλο το έπος του Αλεξάνδρου Δουμά.


Καλή ανάγνωση.
Πολλούς και σεμνούς ασπασμούς.

For a man considered to be one of history's master storytellers, Alexandre Dumas has a very unhealthy relationship with the word 'indescribable'.

I didn't like this, by the way. There was a great story in there somewhere, but it was hidden between endless pages of repetition, melodramatic dialogues, and horrible, minute details.

Still. At least I can say I finished it.

Dumas' amazing (and long, but not at all tedious) tale of conspiracy, hope and revenge, a tale of friendship, love and families, a tale of Napoleonic France, the colonial empires and Marseille. A truly glorious and momentous classic, the tale of Edmund Dantes' unfair orchestrated imprisonment, what he gets in prison and what he does when, and after, he mounts his memorable escape.
9 out of 12

2011 read

I generally don't read classics. it's only in last 2-3 years that i have started collecting these lovely penguin classics editions and i emphasis here on "collecting" as it is easier than reading. But now i have been slowly going through my physical bookshelf. last year I read David Copperfield and this year it's Idiot and now this. Okay, I started Idiot and Cristo last year and finally finished reading them this year.

Finishing this tome was a real challenge as you get to know within few chapters that it will be a revenge story. There are plot twists that one would guess about miles ahead, the character at times felt shallow and sometimes it seems like things were exaggerated for no reason. but would i change this for anything else? No. because it would feel like you have cut an essential limb from the body.

it is scary to see how close Dumas has come to predict the future through this story. He talks about betrayal, corruption, jealousy, politics, and love in this book and even after 170 years society has not changed, if possible things has gotten worse.

With a length of 1276 pages and utterly predictable, this book is still an amazing adventure to go on. I rolled my eyes at times, giggled like a child, felt angry for injustice, and fist bumped in the air yelling "YES". this story made me feel so many emotions and it's a story that will stay with me forever.