_allegra's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
raalux's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
What a crazy ride! This is an incredibly dynamic, action-packed book. There isn't a line wasted in here. Its scope is of epic proportions and yet it never falters, and the ending is incredibly satisfying. A must-read!
jubjubbirds's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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
4.0
_natsumikan_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
kamerat_napoleon's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
ethanswanson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
glabour's review against another edition
There are some books that we remember next to nothing about, but we remember almost everything about when we were reading it. "The Count of Monte Cristo" is that book for me.
The summer before 8th grade, my school sent out a summer reading list with the usual suspects of reading for 13 year olds. There was, however, a "classics" section. Growing up with a father fifty years older than me who prided himself on having read every Charles Dickens novel, I was keen on diving into the classics as fast as I could. There were a couple small classics, but there was one that caught my eye: "The Count of Monte Cristo." Thinking that my teachers surely must have meant the unabridged version (I was 13 years of age now, when a boy puts aside his childish things and becomes a man), I sat down and sketched out a plan to read all 1500 pages in one month. I would wake up at 6:30am, eat a little breakfast, and read for an hour-and-a-half, which I calculated as being the amount of time it would take me to read fifty pages. For the month of June, I did this every day, without fail. Some times, when I had some free time on a plane or at home, I'd read a little bit more, but I was dead set on reading according to that schedule.
It was my closest companion and my dearests friend during that time.
You see, about six months prior, my mom had been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. She had started experimental treatments and went in for scans every couple weeks. I couldn't process it; I still can't. I don't remember how I felt then or how she looked or what I did that month. I only remember this book: my project, my escape, the place that I knew was safest, where the good guy was like a Napoleonic Batman and the bad guys were Frenchmen with funny accents and big hats. (That's how I imagined them, at least.) I spent all my brainpower pushing to understand the immense scope of the story, its many characters and its plot points. I remember I would spend thirty minutes some times retelling the story to my parents or anyone who would listen to test my memory. If I forgot something, I went back and reread it, only to try again in a retelling the next day.
I remember reading in that Chicago apartment we rented for two weeks while I did an improv camp at Second City, reading it on the porch in the Tennessee sun, reading it in the airport, reading it at the treatment clinic...
For several weeks now, I've been reentering memories of that time. I've avoided them for so long; they hurt too much. When I found my ten year old copy of this book on the same shelf in the same place it had been when I put it there so many years ago, I began to cry.
This book was my friend, my companion, my safe haven, my light in the darkness.
I do not know if the book is actually a masterpiece, as they say it is, or if it's a bloated nineteenth century serial. I don't care which it is. I only care that I remember struggling to hold the book in my small hands and believing I was someone and somewhere else.
The summer before 8th grade, my school sent out a summer reading list with the usual suspects of reading for 13 year olds. There was, however, a "classics" section. Growing up with a father fifty years older than me who prided himself on having read every Charles Dickens novel, I was keen on diving into the classics as fast as I could. There were a couple small classics, but there was one that caught my eye: "The Count of Monte Cristo." Thinking that my teachers surely must have meant the unabridged version (I was 13 years of age now, when a boy puts aside his childish things and becomes a man), I sat down and sketched out a plan to read all 1500 pages in one month. I would wake up at 6:30am, eat a little breakfast, and read for an hour-and-a-half, which I calculated as being the amount of time it would take me to read fifty pages. For the month of June, I did this every day, without fail. Some times, when I had some free time on a plane or at home, I'd read a little bit more, but I was dead set on reading according to that schedule.
It was my closest companion and my dearests friend during that time.
You see, about six months prior, my mom had been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. She had started experimental treatments and went in for scans every couple weeks. I couldn't process it; I still can't. I don't remember how I felt then or how she looked or what I did that month. I only remember this book: my project, my escape, the place that I knew was safest, where the good guy was like a Napoleonic Batman and the bad guys were Frenchmen with funny accents and big hats. (That's how I imagined them, at least.) I spent all my brainpower pushing to understand the immense scope of the story, its many characters and its plot points. I remember I would spend thirty minutes some times retelling the story to my parents or anyone who would listen to test my memory. If I forgot something, I went back and reread it, only to try again in a retelling the next day.
I remember reading in that Chicago apartment we rented for two weeks while I did an improv camp at Second City, reading it on the porch in the Tennessee sun, reading it in the airport, reading it at the treatment clinic...
For several weeks now, I've been reentering memories of that time. I've avoided them for so long; they hurt too much. When I found my ten year old copy of this book on the same shelf in the same place it had been when I put it there so many years ago, I began to cry.
This book was my friend, my companion, my safe haven, my light in the darkness.
I do not know if the book is actually a masterpiece, as they say it is, or if it's a bloated nineteenth century serial. I don't care which it is. I only care that I remember struggling to hold the book in my small hands and believing I was someone and somewhere else.
jarichan's review against another edition
3.0
Wie lange wollte ich diesen Klassiker schon lesen? Wie viel Gutes habe ich schon darüber gehört? Lange und genug. Nun gehöre ich also endlich zu jenen, die sich mit dem Grafen beschäftigt haben.
Anfangs konnte ich die Begeisterung der anderen Leser teilen und las sehr gerne in diesem umfangreichen Buch. Aber irgendwie habe ich irgendwann irgendwo den Faden verloren. Ich glaube, es war bei einem der Zeitsprünge.
Plötzlich hatte ich die Übersicht verloren und fand sie auch den Rest des Buches nicht mehr wieder. Sehr schade, denn der Lesegenuss war dadurch natürlich dahin. Und besser wurde es leider für mich auch nicht mehr.
Mit dem Buch selber hat das nicht viel zu tun - es hat seinen Stand als lesenswerten Klassiker definitiv verdient. Nur weil ich nicht damit klar komme, bedeutet das nicht, dass es kein gutes Buch ist. Das ist es nämlich. Nur scheinbar nicht für mich.
Dennoch machte es mir immer wieder Freude, den Intrigen des Grafen zu folgen und ihm beim Ränkeschmieden zuzusehen. Welch Ideenreichtum! Welch Feinheiten! Und wie alles zusammenhängt, auch über Jahre hinweg. Beeindruckend!
Trotz meiner Schwierigkeiten bin ich froh, diesen Dumas endlich gelesen zu haben. Wieder ein grosses Prohekt in meinem Leben erledigt. Das fühlt sich ausnehmend gut an.
Anfangs konnte ich die Begeisterung der anderen Leser teilen und las sehr gerne in diesem umfangreichen Buch. Aber irgendwie habe ich irgendwann irgendwo den Faden verloren. Ich glaube, es war bei einem der Zeitsprünge.
Plötzlich hatte ich die Übersicht verloren und fand sie auch den Rest des Buches nicht mehr wieder. Sehr schade, denn der Lesegenuss war dadurch natürlich dahin. Und besser wurde es leider für mich auch nicht mehr.
Mit dem Buch selber hat das nicht viel zu tun - es hat seinen Stand als lesenswerten Klassiker definitiv verdient. Nur weil ich nicht damit klar komme, bedeutet das nicht, dass es kein gutes Buch ist. Das ist es nämlich. Nur scheinbar nicht für mich.
Dennoch machte es mir immer wieder Freude, den Intrigen des Grafen zu folgen und ihm beim Ränkeschmieden zuzusehen. Welch Ideenreichtum! Welch Feinheiten! Und wie alles zusammenhängt, auch über Jahre hinweg. Beeindruckend!
Trotz meiner Schwierigkeiten bin ich froh, diesen Dumas endlich gelesen zu haben. Wieder ein grosses Prohekt in meinem Leben erledigt. Das fühlt sich ausnehmend gut an.
miarae22's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25