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The Count of Monte Cristo (1844)

by Alexandre Dumas père

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
23,738399130 (4.32)9 / 1299
The Count of Monte Cristo is Alexandre Dumas' classic tale of revenge and adventure. The young sailor Dantes is fallaciously charged with treason and loses his fiance, his dreams and his life when he is locked up for thirteen years on the island prison of Chateau d'If. Mentored by another prisoner, Dantes finally escapes the prison, reinvents himself as the Count of Monte Cristo and begins to exact his revenge on the people who set him up.… (more)
  1. 201
    The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (caflores)
  2. 111
    The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (rareflorida)
    rareflorida: An old SciFi classic based upon The Count of Monte Cristo. Be patient because the begining of the story may be frustrating but you will eventually see the intelligence.
  3. 124
    Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (VictoriaPL)
  4. 92
    The Black Tulip by Alexandre père Dumas (2below)
    2below: These stories share some key themes and plot elements. It's not nearly as epic as The Count of Monte Cristo but makes for an interesting comparison.
  5. 81
    The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (SandSing7)
  6. 62
    Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (VictoriaPL)
  7. 51
    Ivanhoe by Walter Scott (SandSing7)
  8. 41
    The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas (keeneam)
  9. 41
    Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini (MarcusBrutus)
  10. 41
    The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox (citygirl)
    citygirl: Another detailed, intricately plotted revenge tale.
  11. 21
    Selected Short Stories by Guy de Maupassant (bokai)
    bokai: While Maupassant's power is in his slice of life short stories told in an objective narrative voice and Dumas is the master of the thousand page epic told (see more) in highly sympathetic narration, both authors evoke images of the same France and are unequaled in their skill at bringing character and conflict to life. A short by Maupassant is a great way to break up the lengthy prose of Dumas, and Dumas, in turn, expands and elaborates the world that Maupassant provides only glimpses of.… (more)
  12. 10
    The Count of Monte Cristo [2002 film] by Kevin Reynolds (Anonymous user)
    Anonymous user: Fascinating interpretation. Very free and very different. Really an independent work of art. If not superior to the novel, certainly not inferior to it either. Great script, superb cast, beautiful music, gorgeous production design.
  13. 32
    The Three Musketeers Twenty Years After The Vicomte of Bragelonne Ten Years Later Louise de la Valliere The Man in the Iron Mask (The Complete d'Artagnan Romances): Completed Second Edition by Alexandre Dumas (MarcusBrutus)
  14. 21
    Moonfleet by John Meade Falkner (elizabeth.a.coates)
    elizabeth.a.coates: Both are adventure stories that take place over a number of years and deal with riches, revenge, and romance
  15. 66
    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (TomWaitsTables)
    TomWaitsTables: The story of a man consumed by his obsession, but instead of revenge, Gatsby is chasing the American dream.
  16. 22
    The Queen of the South by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (lilisin)
    lilisin: "Queen of the South" is a modern retake on "The Count". Not my favorite read but you can definitely see the parallels.
  17. 11
    Gil Blas by Alain René Le Sage (roby72)
  18. 11
    The Stars' Tennis Balls by Stephen Fry (lizzybeans11)
  19. 01
    Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace (Anonymous user)
    Anonymous user: The Count of Monte Cristo was the inspiration for Ben-Hur; the main character Edmond Dantes is falsely accused, escapes his imprisonment and seeks vengeance on those responsible for his imprisonment. [Wikipedia article, "Judah Ben Hur", citing The Book Lover's Devotional. Barbour Publishing. 2011]… (more)
  20. 01
    Shogun by James Clavell (ShaneTierney)

(see all 22 recommendations)

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English (370)  Spanish (11)  Italian (5)  Dutch (2)  French (2)  Finnish (2)  Danish (1)  Swedish (1)  German (1)  Catalan (1)  Turkish (1)  All languages (397)
Showing 1-5 of 370 (next | show all)
The first quarter had me hooked on Edmond's story of malicious prosecution, imprisonment, escape, and discovery of a treasure. With hundreds of pages still to go, I was wondering though why it would take so many to tell the tale of his revenge...

It turns out the novel changes suddenly and violently. The character of Edmond, his story, his personality go out the window. We find him, years later, transformed into the Count, a sort of avenging angel: part Batman, part Robin Hood, part cosmopolitan billionaire. He is no longer so much a human being as a demigod, able to discover every secret, spend any amount, and manipulate any person to his own hidden ends. I see what Dumas's idea was: the Count takes it upon himself to embody tragic fate or karma, instigating convoluted plots to reveal the skeletons in his enemies' closets and detonate the landmines laid years before and waiting to explode their comfortable lives. It's a clever way to get revenge: help everyone's just deserts to work themselves out, as fate is supposed to do.

But it didn't work for me. Edmond was no longer a realistic personality at the heart of the book, but merely a catalyst for reactions among all the other characters, the foreordained working out of relations among them. I was not interested in their secrets. I did not care when shocking connections between them were revealed, what murders covered up, what frauds, what unfaithfulness. I did not want to read a novel about these supporting characters' past indiscretions. I wanted Edmond to restore justice by the denouement of his own story, not for him to become Fate itself and merely serve to speed up the working out of the stories of the others.
  fji65hj7 | May 14, 2023 |
I may be single, but I have found the love of my life in book form! Read all 1462 pages at least 3 times! ( )
  ALeighPete | Mar 10, 2023 |
An excellent view of the upper crust in the 1800's Paris. The sarcasm is well used. I enjoyed the development of the relationships and intrigue and I felt Dumas was able to craft complex characters, pitiable villains (with some notable exceptions). I enjoyed how, in the beginning, the various Parisian elite are silly and charming, but as you spend time with them and you see how ugly their behavior is, they become sickening. I enjoy watching their various disappointments and downfalls that they earn.

There was not much suspense though. After the Count is established, you never doubt that he will succeed. I wish I had more time to doubt his intentions and that he made more mistakes. I wish we didn't spend several chapters waiting for an ending that was disappointingly predictable from the moment the final drama was established. The characters kinda trickled out of the story at the end. The Count's last action of forgiveness is vaguely inspired and benefits the villain for whom we have the least sympathy. I would say the Count's numerous abilities never quite make it to Deus Ex Machina, but they walk that line. The end for Villefort's family was shocking, and I wish they gave us a little more time on the psychological effects of the events, but they just go back to the Count (who is much less interesting when they start spending some time with him). ( )
  artie.d.goo | Feb 5, 2023 |
This was a read-aloud by a local librarian and gave me something to look forward to every day during covid lockdown. It took 59 days to read; it is very long. (Good work, Christina!)

Colorful adventure story or meditation on providence and revenge? You decide. Although I must say, if you're going to punish those who done you wrong it certainly pays to be immensely wealthy. ( )
  JudyGibson | Jan 26, 2023 |
I loved Edmond Dantes as a hero until his cruelty, the first of many, to the Nigerian man who became his slave. ( )
  m.belljackson | Jan 23, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 370 (next | show all)

» Add other authors (215 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Dumas père, Alexandreprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bair, LowellTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Batchelor, PeterNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Binni, LanfrancoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Botto, MargheritaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Brom, PavelIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bromova, DagmarIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Buss, RobinTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Clapham, MarcusAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Coward, DavidIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Coward, DavidRevised translationsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fabre, Francois-XavierCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Finne, JalmariTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Franceschini, EmilioTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hasenbein, MeinhardÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Homewood, BillNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lee, JohnNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Loutherbourg, Philip James deCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mathias, RobertCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Maurois, AndréIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Moncada, JesúsTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Paduano, GuidoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Schaeffer, MeadIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Silo, MoroNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Timothy, AndrewNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Williams, FredNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wren, KeithIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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On February 24, 1815, the lookout of Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the three-master, the Pharaon, coming from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples.
On February 24, 1815, the lookout at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the arrival of the three-master Pharaon, coming from Smyrna, Trieste and Naples. (Robin Buss)
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These should be the unabridged editions of The Count of Monte Cristo
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Wikipedia in English (3)

The Count of Monte Cristo is Alexandre Dumas' classic tale of revenge and adventure. The young sailor Dantes is fallaciously charged with treason and loses his fiance, his dreams and his life when he is locked up for thirteen years on the island prison of Chateau d'If. Mentored by another prisoner, Dantes finally escapes the prison, reinvents himself as the Count of Monte Cristo and begins to exact his revenge on the people who set him up.

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Count of Monte Cristo - Censorship in Easton Press Collectors

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Penguin Australia

An edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia.

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Tantor Media

2 editions of this book were published by Tantor Media.

Editions: 1400102103, 1400108624

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An edition of this book was published by Skyhorse Publishing.

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