The Count of Monte Cristo: A Review
by Benjamin C.
Welcome to blogging with Benji, where you’ll be booking it to a library after reading this post (hopefully)! This month, I’ll be talking about The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. It was originally a French novel published in 1844 but has since been translated into many languages and multiple translations within each language. The edition I read was an abridged version published in 2004 by Barnes & Noble Classics and is about 500 pages in length. Though it was abridged, this version still felt pretty long with its 71 chapters and small text. However, I rarely encountered any dull moments and would highly recommend this book.
The book takes place in France in the early 1800s and opens on Marseilles, a port city. The early 1800s was a particularly tumultuous time in France since it followed Napoleon’s overthrowing of the previous French government in 1799 up to 1814 when Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was exiled to an island. The Count of Monte Cristo follows Edmond Dantès, a young sailor who is hard-working and well-liked by almost everyone. After returning from a voyage where the captain died, Edmond is promised a promotion from M.Morrel, the owner of the shipping company, because of his obvious talent in seamanship and also because of his trustworthy and good-natured personality. Edmond also plans to marry Mercédès, a beautiful woman to whom he is engaged within the month. However, Edmond’s good fortune and auspicious circumstances attract jealous rivals that seek to destroy his seemingly perfect life. Edmond is wrongly arrested on his wedding day for being a Bonapartist (someone who aligns with Napoleon) and thrown into an isolated island prison for fourteen years because of human jealousy and self-interest. Napoleon had just been exiled at this point and there was a lot of anti-Napoleon sentiment and a fear of anyone who supported him (kind of like the Red Scare in the U.S. with communism) After leaving the prison, Edmond plots his revenge against the people that wronged him and takes upon him the duty of justice and providence. To avoid giving anything away, I will stop my summary here. However, I can promise that the rest of the book has its twists and turns and has an exciting storyline.
The Count of Monte Cristo is an extremely well-written book that contains themes of vengeance, justice, fate, and forgiveness. There are times when Edmond Dantès, a once youthful and naive sailor, is no longer recognizable after committing horrible atrocities in the name of providence and vengeance. Dumas blurs the line between what is good and what is bad, leaving the reader to contemplate whether Edmond is justified in his actions in these moral dilemmas. The Count of Monte Cristo challenges the reader to wonder whether vengeance can ever truly be justified and to what extent. Dantès spends every moment meticulously planning out every detail of his revenge after leaving his prison, becoming obsessed with delivering fate until it seems like it is the only purpose left in his life. Every thread of the story eventually comes together and is woven into a literary masterpiece with a strong, elaborate, narrative and thrilling plot points. Dumas is able to show the intense emotions and thoughts that Dantès progresses through and allows the reader to almost feel as if they could be in Dantès’s position.
To summarize, The Count of Monte Cristo is an amazing story that I highly recommend. The only reservation I have in recommending it is that the version that I read cuts out some events that I think are important to the plot. After reading summaries of unabridged versions online, I have realized that there are extremely interesting parts to the story that were cut out for some reason. I will probably revisit an unabridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo sometime in the future because the story is just that good. Overall, I think this book deserves a solid 11.5 bologna slices (out of 13) on the tried and true bologna blog scale.
I've seen the movie (which was good) so now I think I have to read the book. This was a very informative post, nice job!
ReplyDelete(Also, Blogging with Benji? I'm feeling a Baking with Benji sequel :))
Wow, 11.5 bolognas! Good descriptions and clearly stated opinions, also thanks for no spoilers. I might check this one out!
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a great book and I might have to check it out some time. I'm glad you didn't give away the whole plot so if I read it, I'll still have the 'new book' experience. Quick question though: why rate it out of 13?
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this book before, but you've made it sound really good! I thought you made good point that characters like this aren't always either completely good or completely evil, and this definitely sounds like an interesting example of that. Also, this was overall a really well written blog article, and you did a good job describing why you liked the book
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this book before I read this post, but it sounds like a really good book, and I will probably read it sometime in the future. This post is very well written and insightful. You do a good job summarizing the book and explaining the message is sends.
ReplyDeleteI read this book over the summer, and this review is so good, it almost makes me want to read it again! I disagree with the rating, though, as I think it should be 11.4 bologna slices instead of 11.5. I think I read the same version as you because there were a few holes where I would have liked more
ReplyDeleteYour summary of the plot was well written and left me wanting more. I enjoy how your analysis delves into the mind of the protagonist (or maybe he's the antagonist?) and focuses on Dantes' emotional transformation throughout the book. Your review made this book shine. On a side note, there's an anime based on this book called Gankutsuou that I've heard is also great.
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