Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

42 reviews

cinderblox_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book was amazing and had me on the edge of my seat multiple times. Yeah its long, took me about 2 weeks to read, BUT i didnt want to put it down. This translation by Robin Buss made it so easy and understandble to read. Im sad its over. I would absolutely read it again. All 1200+ pages!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Classism

the only thing i dont really like is who the count ends up with cause of who she is, the age, etc. Wish he got his happy ending with his original love interest

coolfoolmoon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

the grandfather of sassy men. what a messy book. love it. didn’t love a lot of elements. justice for ali! the sheer amount of adult minor relationships were disgusting, book could've been much much much shorter but it also wasnt intended to be read in 8 days. but i do love seeing the origins of infamous tropes. that was cool.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Slavery, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Self harm, Lesbophobia, and Colonisation

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, and Alcohol

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

For the first section of the book (through Edmond's escape and treasure), I really liked the pacing and writing. However, after that point the structure of storytelling changed into introducing a brand new character, focusing on them for a few chapters, and only later finding out their relevance, which I didn't like. Also, the side plot with Valentine and Maximillion felt like a completely separate book, so it made the pacing worse because it was such a departure from the revenge main storyline. I was also a bit disappointed and let down by Danglars because at the beginning he seemed so intelligent and clever that I thought he would pose as more of an obstacle, but he ended up basically being the Count of Monte Cristo's bitch. I HATE that Edmond ended up with

Haydee; it is so creepy (she's his slave, described like a daughter to him, etc.)

!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Death of parent, and War

olorin85's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Child death, Colonisation, and Classism

isabelle8794's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It was extremely slow and unnecessary for about 60% of the book, but the remaining 40% was good. The plot was surprisingly complex.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

dwarrowdams's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A delight. Very glad I opted to read the unabridged version because while it's absolutely massive, it's an enjoyable read.  There were a couple bits that did get confusing, especially about a third of the way in, but things all come together quickly enough.  There is so much to this book, and even as the plot sweeps you along, no emotional depth is lost in the process.  It's really a lovely book, and while I was intimidated by the page count for a long time, I'm glad I decided to pick it up.

I think what struck me most about this book is the fact that, after Dantes has spent years planning out his revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment, he modifies or abandons those plans for the sake of people he's come to care about.  He did so much work to bring about the ruin of de Morcerf and was planning to kill his son, but changed courses when Mercedes came to him and begged him not to kill Albert.  The same for Villefort, but he made sure that Valentine lived because he'd come to see Maximilien Morrel as a son.  So yes, it's a story about revenge and how humans may be motivated to carry out justice when God/the gods fail to do so, but it's also a story about how even someone so filled with bitterness and hurt, someone who suffered due to the jealousy and fear of others, can change his course when he's reminded of the love and care that people have for each other.

That being said, seeing the revenge unfold was also super fun, and my jaw definitely dropped at a few points once I started to see how Dantes had manipulated situations (teaching Madame de Villefort about poisons, financially ruining Danglars).  It's very much a "come for the revenge/vigilante justice, stay for something that'll restore your hope in humanity" book.

As a final selling point, I have ADHD and although it took me a bit, I was not only able to finish this 1200-page book, but I legitimately enjoyed reading it.  That's a testimony to how skilled of a writer Dumas is (which makes sense: since this was originally serialized in a newspaper, he'd have to maintain an engaging plot to keep people reading).

Highly recommend the Penguin edition specifically because the translation is very solid and the end notes are helpful.  Also recommend some kind of book stand/page holder tool because holding that thing open when I was at the beginning or end legitimately hurt my hand.

A final fun fact: Dumas was biracial (his paternal grandfather was Black), so if you want to read "classic lit" that wasn't written by a white man, this fits the bill.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Death of parent

petealis's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Racism and Slavery

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Infidelity and Alcohol

jayisreading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

4.0

It took me a little under a year to finish reading The Count of Monte Cristo, which I think is somewhat understandable, given that it’s a pretty damn long novel. It was fascinating to see Dumas’s mind at work as he spun together a complex plot that had themes ranging from vengeance to forgiveness. I know there were a fair number of details that flew over my head, and this is absolutely one of those novels which, if you’re familiar with the historical events of when this novel took place, the reading experience will be significantly richer. Unfortunately for me, this was just outside of the period I’m more familiar with, so I greatly appreciated the footnotes that were in my translated edition.

The Count of Monte Cristo was a challenging novel for me to read, in part because it was long, but mostly because there were so many moving parts, so much that I seriously considered taking notes to remind myself who certain characters were, their motives, etc. The pacing did slow a fair bit towards the middle, with Dumas taking up hundreds of pages to lay the intricate groundwork for Edmond Dantès to exact his revenge on the three men who ruined his life. I admit that there were numerous occasions when I wondered why I needed to know a particular detail—and to be frank, I think there were a lot of details that weren’t necessary but were included anyway because Dumas was likely paid by the word—but patience paid off when I reached the ending and saw how everything unfolded.

I can see why some people may not enjoy how consumed Dantès was in seeking vengeance (especially when he was introduced as a just and good-natured man), but I quite liked how Dumas contemplated the nuances of revenge through his protagonist’s merits and flaws (but I also like a good Byronic hero, so there’s that).

Would I ever revisit this novel? Honestly, I don’t know if I would, mainly because it’s so long, but I’m glad to have finally gotten around to reading a sprawling and highly regarded classic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Suicide, and Murder