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blossomingwish 's review for:
The Count of Monte Cristo [Abridged]
by Alexandre Dumas
5/10/20
When I first started this book for school I wasn’t really impressed, there were a lot of words and not much imagery. By the time I finished it I loved it. The characters although hard to keep track of, are each very complex and important. I also read the abridged version of this book so that made it much easier to read.
[contains spoilers]
The plot for this book is extremely complex, but it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. I just had to take note of some of the events to keep track.
The changing of tone in this book is very important. Alexandre Dumas is able to portray the changes in Edmond’s character and his values is distinguished based on the tone it is written in.
The drama in this book is amazing. All of the characters are connected in weird ways and scandals. It makes the story very entertaining and funny at some points.
The main theme of this book is revenge, that is what it is known for. It is a classic example of how a path to revenge changes a person. Edmond Dantes has an internal battle of wanting to make his enemies suffer, and his humanity that tries to keep him from going to far.
It is confusing at first to understand that Edmond Dantes is the Count of Monte Cristo, and a character map is very helpful to keep track of the relationships between people.
One of the most important scenes is when Dantes is about to fight Albert but cannot because of his lasting compassion for Mercedes.
”’How stupid I was,’ he said to himself, ‘not to have torn my heart out the day I swore to avenge myself!’” (pg 379). This is probably my favorite quote.
There were times in reading this book where I cried because of how the characters were portrayed. Even the characters i hated were able to make me feel something.
When Valentine faked being dead and Maxmillien found out my heart broke. He is so utterly in love with her.
When Dantes drives Madame de Villefort to kill herself and her son? This was probably the most intense part of the book, not because of gore, but because of the emotions and thoughts of the characters were described. Then afterwards how Dantes realizes that he crossed a line and the regret that starts to form.
Mercedes loves Edmond after all of these years and after all he’s done and it hurts. They are so in love but had to give it all up and can no longer be happy together even if they love one another.
[end of spoilers]
If you have not already read this book I definitely recommend it. Although it is long and a bit confusing the elements in the book are important and likable for all sorts of people. Now to address the movie, I watched it in my english class so that we could make fun of it. It does not do the book justice, however it is still enjoyable. I realize this review isn’t as in depth as my Little Women one, this is because it has been a while since I read it so I don’t remember it as well.