The Count of Monte Cristo

Our latest selection was The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Although we agreed to read the 1,000 plus page unabridged version, Marissa unknowingly picked up an abridged volume from her school library. Not all of us finished the book (Marissa of course did!), but we all seemed to be in agreement that we enjoyed it and found it to be very readable.

For a story that has been perceived as more for a male audience (even though there wasn’t as much swashbuckling as expected), we felt that it was just as much a romantic tale – Marissa even managed to make some of it sound racy when read aloud. It was difficult at times to keep up with all the characters and how they were related. Tina had the great idea to diagram this and Michelle found something similar on the Internet, but warned us that the character descriptions also gave away important plot points. The prison scenes were some of the favorites, as were the Count’s interactions showing themes of hope and salvation rather than revenge.

Since the story was driven so much by plot and characters, there wasn’t much to discuss about Dumas’ writing style. I found his interjections of “as the reader will remember” and “when we last left Albert” slightly distracting, yet understandable considering that this was originally released as a serial novel. It was also interesting to discuss his use of other writers’ material in the work – either as research assistance, in planning out the storyline, or writing actual sections of the book – and how this was rather frowned upon at the time the book was released, yet now so commonplace.

After reading the book, I wanted to see the movie again (2002 version with Jim Caviezel). It was so disappointing, and almost like an entirely different story! Dantes and Mondego are best friends? Albert is really the son of Dantes? I spent most of the first half of the film telling my husband how much of it was not at all like the book, but then I had to stop because I want him to read the book and I didn’t want to spoil it.

Big thanks to Jackie for hosting! It was so great to see her new place, and she had some delicious treats. Espresso cheese…who’d have thought it would be so good? I probably won’t be reading the next book since we’re meeting on my due date – I hope everyone enjoys “The End of the Affair” by Graham Greene! Maybe I’ll put it on my Netflix list.