Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Count of Monte Cristo (AmazonClassics Edition) by Alexandre Dumas

33 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

4.0

It took me a little under a year to finish reading The Count of Monte Cristo, which I think is somewhat understandable, given that it’s a pretty damn long novel. It was fascinating to see Dumas’s mind at work as he spun together a complex plot that had themes ranging from vengeance to forgiveness. I know there were a fair number of details that flew over my head, and this is absolutely one of those novels which, if you’re familiar with the historical events of when this novel took place, the reading experience will be significantly richer. Unfortunately for me, this was just outside of the period I’m more familiar with, so I greatly appreciated the footnotes that were in my translated edition.

The Count of Monte Cristo was a challenging novel for me to read, in part because it was long, but mostly because there were so many moving parts, so much that I seriously considered taking notes to remind myself who certain characters were, their motives, etc. The pacing did slow a fair bit towards the middle, with Dumas taking up hundreds of pages to lay the intricate groundwork for Edmond Dantès to exact his revenge on the three men who ruined his life. I admit that there were numerous occasions when I wondered why I needed to know a particular detail—and to be frank, I think there were a lot of details that weren’t necessary but were included anyway because Dumas was likely paid by the word—but patience paid off when I reached the ending and saw how everything unfolded.

I can see why some people may not enjoy how consumed Dantès was in seeking vengeance (especially when he was introduced as a just and good-natured man), but I quite liked how Dumas contemplated the nuances of revenge through his protagonist’s merits and flaws (but I also like a good Byronic hero, so there’s that).

Would I ever revisit this novel? Honestly, I don’t know if I would, mainly because it’s so long, but I’m glad to have finally gotten around to reading a sprawling and highly regarded classic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death, and Confinement

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Slavery, and Racism

brodi727's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book Oh my God many times I forgot I was in the real world I was so invested and I didn't even realize I had read 200 pages in one sitting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Drug use, Alcohol, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, and Sexism

Minor: Racial slurs, Incest, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Infidelity

random19379's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Child death, Incest, War, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Racial slurs, Death, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Gaslighting, Confinement, Ableism, and Classism

galaheadh's review against another edition

imperfect and magnificent. the page-turner's page-turner. thank you robin buss for inventing translation

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Slavery

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Another book I wept while reading.  Towards the end, there were times I got chills as the long term plotting and manipulations came to fruition.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Torture, Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, War, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body shaming, Child death, Sexism, Stalking, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship

blattprinzessin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I could write a loooong review about this tome, but to keep it short: 
95% of the time you’ll have a great time following the story and characters and then Dumas drops something like the Count wanting to….. his own adoptive daughter, that he has cared for since she was a literal child. - and you don’t know what to make of it.
That left a sour taste in my mouth and prevents me from rating it 5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Cultural appropriation, and Racial slurs

lightoferebus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Grief, Death, Classism, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Addiction, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, War, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Suicide, Lesbophobia, Suicide attempt, Torture, Mental illness, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Self harm, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

lycheeteareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child death, Slavery, and Suicide

Minor: Racism and Racial slurs

kmhst25's review against another edition

3.75

I bought a cheap copy of this book only to realize that it was actually an abridged version, just as I was about to start reading it. So I donated that copy and got a full-length version from the library. 

Now that I’ve read it, I rather wish I’d just stuck with the abridged one, because there’s an extremely entertaining tale in here, but it’s really bogged down by repetitiveness, objectionable (and generally completely unnecessary) comments and stories, wish fulfillment, and confusing passages that could be attributable to poor translation, poor writing, or purposeful use of contradictory language, but just aren’t explained enough to really make sense of. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Slavery, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Rape, and Sexism

evitak's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow what a monster of a book. Not one for the faint of heart, but it's definitely worth reading. There are some parts where it drags just a bit, but not enought to affect it being a solid 5/5. The characters were so well written that I came to empathize with both the main character and the villains at points. I do not regret all the time I spent reading this, it's definitely a great read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Racism and Slavery

Minor: Child death