r/TheCountofMonteCristo

To everyone out there that thinks that this book shouldn't be this long and could be shorter:

Why do you think that?

And how would you do it?

I've heard a lot of times that the count of Montecristo is bit too long and could definitely be shorter, which is something i can start figuring out, for me is the perfect length but i want to see what other people think about this.

It is a little sad how most adaptations either ignore her or make her straight. I am really happy that the 2024 movie included her and actually showed her in a lesbian relationship. I thought that this inclusion and the way it was written was long overdue. She was not sexualized, she had dignity, and she was actually allowed to exist as a lesbian character.

It’s been about 10 years since I read the book so I’m not quite sure the TV show is doing it justice, honestly probably needs something spread out over 5 seasons what do you think? I’m enjoying it though

I know people have mixed feelings on the 2024 movie. And on first watch I had my issues as well, but on rewatch I have to say Pierre Niney is really great as the Count. He might be my favorite actor to play that character.

There is just something great about a French actor playing this French character. Especially after watching the show, which I personally think feels a little inauthentic here and there, I really came to appreciate this movie more.

Do I like all the changes? Not really, but I can also understand that adapting a book this long into a movie is really difficult.

I also enjoy the approach to turn him into a Batman/Bruce Wayne ish character a little more. Because in a way he is a little bit of a superhero in the book, and using visual language that reminds us of Batman movies is not the worst idea for modern audiences. It makes this version stick out a little more.

SPOILERS.

It's a fun and well-written book with some minor flaws common to classic literature, like outdated prose and a need for a better editor. Anyways, I interpret the literature as a sort of soap opera possessing a pleasurable and relatively simple premise enriched by intelligible glimpses into the Napoleonic era, aristocratic affairs, and the protagonist’s evolving ideology. The premise centers on a protagonist who elicits sympathy from readers as he seeks revenge or comeuppance against his enemies by becoming a kind of instrument of divine providence.

Yet, while this pursuit may entertain or emotionally satisfy me, Alexandre Dumas also implores readers to question whether revenge is truly a worthy orientation toward life: whether one should remain fixated on such a goal or instead learn to move on and forgive. The Count was, in a way, administering justice or revenge without intending to substitute Divine providence, and there was a lot of unintended collateral damage.

'Tell the angel who will watch over your future destiny, Morrel, to pray sometimes for a man, who, like Satan, thought himself for an instant equal to God, but who now acknowledges with Christian humility that God alone possesses supreme power and infinite wisdom'

Anyways, I like the Count's paternal role to Maximilien and Valentine, Monsieur Villefort as a character, and Edmond Dantes and Abbe Faria's dynamic. Pretty cool stuff.

Now, my criticisms, which are a common community complaint:

I am partly displeased with the Paris and Rome portion, though. Much of it is generally occupied by aristocratic gatherings, affairs, and prolonged social formalities that appear ornamental, though many, including myself, found that some of them ultimately serve a role in the climax of the latter. For example, the chapter about poison or Haydee's backstory; there are a lot of chapters like this. So occasionally, I get bored, as it seems arbitrary and bloated.

It does not help that the book possesses belabored passages; it occasionally feels excessive due to Dumas’s verbose and descriptive prose style. So, this made me lose motivation to continue reading, but I'm glad I pushed through for the final 300-400 pages. Also, I did enjoy Valentine and Maximilien's romance, but it felt cheesy at times. So there's that.

Overall, still a great book, would reread it in the future.
I'm open to discussions.

For this thought do not put edmond dantes he is my favorite character but my favorite side characters are (in no particulary order):

1.Haydee I enjoy a lot of the scenes with her in the book specifically the opera (one of my favorite chapters) and the meeting/story with albert.

2. Luigi Vampa not much to say other than i like his story.

3. Albert I find his character arch very entertaining. people hate him but i like him.

for my least favorite i hate the characters that most people like actually not sure why.

1. Mercedes, she betrayed Edmond by marrying Mondego

2. Old Dantes. I have no reason to hate him, he just pisses me off for no good reason.

3. Benedeto
   I would like to preface this by saying I actually hated this guy intill the end, I hate this guy the most other than the last chapter he is in, the reveal, I like the way they described him like a spartan.

What a journey it has been. After finishing the book earlier this day, I just sat in silence and reflected on the journey, from the very first chapters to the end.

There are chapters which are so verbose that I sometimes wish the book was shorter and more concise but when I reached the end, I was hoping for more.

The way the story ended, we're put in the perspective of Morrel and Valentine seeing the Count depart. I can't help but wonder what the Count's thoughts are as he leaves, done with vengeance and off to settle in someplace.

It was a full circle. In the beginning of the novel, we saw Dantes, at age 19, with a bright future ahead of him arriving in a ship at Marseilles. Then 14 years of incarceration and after escaping 9+ years of plotting and building up his newfound wealth and foundation in the world to have the image as Count of Monte Cristo. And when his revenge is finally over, when his role as the Hand of God is finished, we see the novel end with him departing in a ship.

I also wonder about the fate of the characters and what happens to them. Albert becomes a soldier. Villefort is still alive but is crazy and if his sanity is restored, could he find it within himself to have the justification to seek revenge too on the person whose life he ruined and in retribution, ruined his life too? Same thing with Danglars as he was left alive. But we know that the characters found the Count's vengeance as justified and they also believe that he was sent by God to punish the wicked.

Some unanswered questions of mine are:

1. Did the Count fully inform Noirtier of Villefort's wrongdoing? We know that he was wrongfully imprisoned because of a letter addressed to Noirtier. And if he did was he fully approving of the Count's revenge, who ruined the entire family.

2. What happens to Madame Danglars who discovered that Benedetto was his son?

3. What happened to Benedetto after the trial? I was fully cautious of him because he knows that it was the Count who brought him and named him Cavalcanti for his own reasons.

4. What happened with Bertuccio? We never saw the final conversation between him and Benedetto and we never got to see him again after that.

I always thought at the beginning that perhaps Dantes and Mercedes will get back together by the end and continue their love that was separated because of evil, greedy, jealous and ambitious people. They still had love for one another by the end. But perhaps the passage of time was an unsurmountable gap. Mercedes gave up waiting for Dantes after 18 months. And later on she hates herself for this and realizes she could've just waited for Dantes in a convent. But I don't hate her for this. 14 years would've been too long. And it's not her fault that Dantes was imprisoned. I can clearly picture how she's calling out "Dantes, Dantes, Dantes!" near the end on the window where Old Dantes used to live.

I finished the book today. I have mixed feelings.

Montecristo doubting if his revenge was right or not felt extremely random.

I re-read some parts, even googled other people opinion's and what I gathered was "he saw that his revenge involved innocent people that became collateral damage".

Erm, duh?? It wasn't really the first time though was it? He was very chill about killing Albert, he wasn't at all worried about the entire Villefort family dying because of Heloise, even poor Barrois the butler died because of a mistake. How is Edouard different? Is it because he's a child? Valentine was very young too and he would have let her die hadn't Morrel asked for his help.

Why not choose another event to trigger Montecristo's self-consciousness? If Mercédès were to die as collateral damage, for example—someone he loved very much—wouldn't that be a more meaningful and impactful event to trigger his emotional response?

So the Count is having all these doubts, he starts to think he may have got it all wrong. He visits Chateau d'If, gets Faria's book and that basically reassures him that he was in the right and that he was completely justified.

He then goes on to forgive Danglars. Why? This is what I don’t understand.

If it weren’t for the chapter at the Château d’If, I would have assumed that he still wasn’t sure about his actions and that, in that moment, he had a change of heart (as much as I dislike this, for the reasons I stated at the beginning). To me, that would have made sense.

But to have a chapter where, after some introspection, Montecristo comes to the realization that he was, in fact, justified in his revenge and then have him forgive the one who caused all of his suffering just doesn't sit right with me.

What's it going to be? Doubt and regret or justification and commitment?

So as i was rereading tCoM i noticed some things that didn't make sense to me.

1. Why does the count invite Franz to the Montecristo's cave? What could possibly be its purpose?

2. Why does Albert seek a date at rome (she was 15 btw) when he was already supposed to marry Eugénie?

3. Why did villefort decide to marry Valentine to Franz when he already knew from very early in the book that Noirtier had killed the general Quesnel? Like the only guy he thought about was the one Noirtier had made an orphan.

4. In the first scene at paris Morrel talks about how he saved Château-Renaud's life and how he was in some kind of war and army. Then they always refer to him as the captain of Spahis, so what is he at the end?

I've read The Three Musketeers and now I'm reading Twenty Years After (a sequel to The Three Musketeers). They're both entertaining though in my opinion they lack the depth of The Count of Monte Cristo. What other books by Dumas do you recommend?