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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one is very hard to rate. I can't give it anything less than five stars. There are a few reasons you may not like it. It is very long. Way too long. The reason is it was written for a newspaper in installments. I think there may have been some storylines that were stretched out unnecessarily in order to fit that format. There are backstories that I don't think added much to the story. Another thing that may cause you to lose enjoyment is the extensive use of French names and references. There's constant calls to locations, plays, books, people and events that I had no knowledge of. For me, I just say I didn't understand that reference and move on, but others may not like it.
The opening thirty percent of the book was so good. It's a real page turner. The characterization and development is amazing. Even over the course of the entire book you feel the characters changing. Monte Cristo is such a cool character. He is almost comic book like, but never go's too over the top. I'd say it's like Batman begins and Dark knight together in one book. You have the origin and then the epic after that. There's so many good side characters. There's love stories, murders, political intrigue, and swashbuckling adventure. There's also a Return of the King like ten endings.
One of the best books I've read.
The opening thirty percent of the book was so good. It's a real page turner. The characterization and development is amazing. Even over the course of the entire book you feel the characters changing. Monte Cristo is such a cool character. He is almost comic book like, but never go's too over the top. I'd say it's like Batman begins and Dark knight together in one book. You have the origin and then the epic after that. There's so many good side characters. There's love stories, murders, political intrigue, and swashbuckling adventure. There's also a Return of the King like ten endings.
One of the best books I've read.
Holy moly, that was quite the complex soap opera! But gottdam was it excellent! I really must say that I was able to enjoy it to it's fullest because of two things: The audio book read by John Lee was the right choice. I think if I read it myself with my own voice in my head I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much and would have mixed up a lot of the French words in it. Two: Gankutusou is definitely my second favorite anime ever and really does a great job following this story (well, towards the end it starts to lean towards to more dramatic but whatevs. Oh, and Maximilian is secondary while Albert is the main character). Without having seen it many times I would have had all the names mixed up, but with a good grasp on the characters and an image in my head, it really brought much more depth and understanding to the original story, this classic, The Count of Monte Cristo.
In conclusion: SO GOOOOOD!!! I was not disappointed.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Such an adventurous story! I loved many things about this book.
Quote:
What, this “I” that I thought was something; this “I”, of which I was so proud; this “I” that I saw so small in the dungeons of the Château d’If and managed to make so great, will be, tomorrow,
A speck of dust! Alas, it is not the death of the body that I mourn: is not that destruction of the vital spark the point of rest towards which everything tends, for which every unfortunate yearns, that material calm which I have so long sighed for and towards which I was proceeding by the painful road of hunger when Faria appeared in my cell? What is death? One step further into calm and two perhaps into silence.
Quote:
What, this “I” that I thought was something; this “I”, of which I was so proud; this “I” that I saw so small in the dungeons of the Château d’If and managed to make so great, will be, tomorrow,
A speck of dust! Alas, it is not the death of the body that I mourn: is not that destruction of the vital spark the point of rest towards which everything tends, for which every unfortunate yearns, that material calm which I have so long sighed for and towards which I was proceeding by the painful road of hunger when Faria appeared in my cell? What is death? One step further into calm and two perhaps into silence.
I finally read The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. It was a very interesting tale of false accusations and imprisonment. It was the tale of escape and new fortune. It was a tale of vengeance. Talk about some serious acting and sleuthing skills on the part of Edmond Dantes aka The Count of Monte Cristo. I was thinking a lot about how interesting his plot of revenge was while at the same time how sad it was that he spent so much time and money he spent with a vengeful heart and that is ultimately kind of sad. But, in the end, there is some redemption and it is very sweet. I enjoyed this book and am glad I finally read it.
At just over 1,200 pages, this is probably the longest book I've ever read. I feel like I have been reading this book forever. When I finally finished it this afternoon, it felt almost anticlimactic, because how do you close out a tale so long and epic?
This was a good book to read during quarantine, and I would take it with me if I ever went to one of those fabled desert islands. The plot is so much more intricate than what I've seen in movie adaptations. It's more than a tale of revenge (though it is also very much a tale of revenge). When the revenge finally does happen, it's not at all how I thought it would unfold. Suddenly, all of the breadcrumbs left in the preceding 1,000 pages finally paid off. It is a very romantic novel, with grand, sweeping emotions, and subplots that involve murder, adultery, infanticide, secret treasure, high-society drama, drug-induced hallucinations, and even LGBTQ characters! I think it's noteworthy that Alexandre Dumas himself was a man of color; he adopted the last name "Dumas" from his grandmother, a Haitian former slave. This seems to be forgotten by most people, and certainly by Hollywood.
I feel bad not giving the novel a perfect 5-star review, but the fact is it was written for serialization, so it's a bit bloated. As much as I love the complex plot, there were some parts that certainly could have been trimmed. At some points, I found myself getting lost in the details and who was whom. It seems all of the women in this novel are either evil witchy stepmothers or sexy virginal damsels in distress. There's also some casual antisemitism and fetishization of the "Orient." But what can you expect from a novel written in the 1840s?
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. I'm also glad I'm finally finished with it and can read some other things. This should count for at least 3 books on my yearly challenge.
This was a good book to read during quarantine, and I would take it with me if I ever went to one of those fabled desert islands. The plot is so much more intricate than what I've seen in movie adaptations. It's more than a tale of revenge (though it is also very much a tale of revenge). When the revenge finally does happen, it's not at all how I thought it would unfold. Suddenly, all of the breadcrumbs left in the preceding 1,000 pages finally paid off. It is a very romantic novel, with grand, sweeping emotions, and subplots that involve murder, adultery, infanticide, secret treasure, high-society drama, drug-induced hallucinations, and even LGBTQ characters! I think it's noteworthy that Alexandre Dumas himself was a man of color; he adopted the last name "Dumas" from his grandmother, a Haitian former slave. This seems to be forgotten by most people, and certainly by Hollywood.
I feel bad not giving the novel a perfect 5-star review, but the fact is it was written for serialization, so it's a bit bloated. As much as I love the complex plot, there were some parts that certainly could have been trimmed. At some points, I found myself getting lost in the details and who was whom. It seems all of the women in this novel are either evil witchy stepmothers or sexy virginal damsels in distress. There's also some casual antisemitism and fetishization of the "Orient." But what can you expect from a novel written in the 1840s?
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. I'm also glad I'm finally finished with it and can read some other things. This should count for at least 3 books on my yearly challenge.
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
Wow!
I never expected to be on the edge of my seat so often by a book written in 1884! Being familiar with the story from having watched the movie so long ago, this truly blew my mind!
I won’t lie - I printed out the wiki and CliffNotes to help keep people straight. :) Very helpful with all the different characters and aliases.
There were times it bogged down a bit, but overall kept me thoroughly engaged.
I never expected to be on the edge of my seat so often by a book written in 1884! Being familiar with the story from having watched the movie so long ago, this truly blew my mind!
I won’t lie - I printed out the wiki and CliffNotes to help keep people straight. :) Very helpful with all the different characters and aliases.
There were times it bogged down a bit, but overall kept me thoroughly engaged.