The Count of Monte Cristo (Wordsworth Classics)
Product ID: 51450547
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With an Introduction and Notes by Keith Wren, University of Kent at Canterbury. The story of Edmund Dantes, self-styled Count of Monte Cristo, is told with consummate skill. The victim of a miscarriage of justice, Dantes is fired by a desire for retribution and empowered by a stroke of providence. In his campaign of vengeance, he becomes an anonymous agent of fate. The sensational narrative of intrigue, betrayal, escape, and triumphant revenge moves at a cracking pace. Dumas' novel presents a powerful conflict between good and evil embodied in an epic saga of rich diversity that is complicated by the hero's ultimate discomfort with the hubristic implication of his own actions. Our edition is based on the most popular and enduring translation first published by Chapman and Hall in 1846. The name of the translator was never revealed. Review: Worth coming back to - again and again - There's only one thing better than opening up a good new book, and that's re-opening an old favourite, like this sweeping great 19th century drama, especially when it's long enough and gripping enough to make good holiday reading. The story might look simple: young man, victim of a malicious prank that goes wrong, is imprisoned for years, and on his escape takes his revenge. Wronged by three people he thought were friends, and a lawyer who should have protected him, he devises that revenge in ways uniquely fitting to each man, and does it in such a way that each man blindly embraces the course that brings downfall upon himself. The man in love with money swallows every false whiff of easy profit, the man whose dubious army career brought him great honours is disgraced before the House of Peers he values so highly, and the incorruptible magistrate with a secret loses his whole family through his devotion to the legal code he once set aside for his own protection, while the fourth man is so self-centred that he cannot see the web he is winding around himself. A thousand pages of mystery and adventure keep up the tension before the hero's vengeance is satisfied and he turns to self-judgement. Like all good stories, though, there's more to it than that: Dumas doesn't just know how to paint a vivid picture. Beneath all the adventures there lies a profound philosophy which only slowly dawns on the wronged hero: when his vengeance begins to touch on the lives of the innocent children of his four targets, he realises that he is no longer – that he never was – the agent of divine retribution, and he becomes a greater, and lonelier, person in the chapters that bring the book and the adventures to a gentler coda. Amazingly, this action-packed, complex drama is based on real events, and not just based on them: The Count of Monte Cristo follows, episode for episode, a sequence of crimes that unravelled in Paris at just about the period that Dumas chose for his masterpiece. The true story is all there in the archives of the Paris police - or it would be if they hadn't been destroyed in the 1870 Prussian siege of the city. For good or ill, the story survived only in a florid re-telling by a contemporary sensationalist hack, providing unwitting evidence of how a great novelist can fashion a diamond from a lump of carbon. (Review originally published in the Chesil Magazine, Dorset) Review: A New Favourite Classic! - The Count Of Monte Cristo has to be one of the biggest surprises for me this year. I really had doubts about reading it as I didn't really know much about it and it is quite a chunky book; but I absolutely fell in love with this book! Edmund Dantes is easily one of my new all time favourite characters. And I now have two all time favourite classics. I was considering if The Count Of Monte Cristo had knocked Crime And Punishment off its perch, but no I think they are both equal. I thought the writing was really wonderful and so easy to read. I loved the characters, both the good and the bad and I thought the story was so well thought out and just so very enjoyable. Apparently I like a good revenge story! If I ever need to get revenge on someone I hope I can do it with as much cunning, class and flair as the Count Of Monte Cristo! I can now see how this is a lot of peoples all time favourite classic as it is so much more accessible than a lot of other classics due to the language used and the stories aren't always relatable in modern times. Revenge however is understood through the ages. Overall a really excellent book, one I'm so glad that we picked up as buddy readers as I may have missed out on this if not. I really look forward to picking this up again in the future, so I can re read Dantes adventures.
| Best Sellers Rank | 1,599 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 138 in Fiction Classics (Books) 622 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,215 Reviews |
N**E
Worth coming back to - again and again
There's only one thing better than opening up a good new book, and that's re-opening an old favourite, like this sweeping great 19th century drama, especially when it's long enough and gripping enough to make good holiday reading. The story might look simple: young man, victim of a malicious prank that goes wrong, is imprisoned for years, and on his escape takes his revenge. Wronged by three people he thought were friends, and a lawyer who should have protected him, he devises that revenge in ways uniquely fitting to each man, and does it in such a way that each man blindly embraces the course that brings downfall upon himself. The man in love with money swallows every false whiff of easy profit, the man whose dubious army career brought him great honours is disgraced before the House of Peers he values so highly, and the incorruptible magistrate with a secret loses his whole family through his devotion to the legal code he once set aside for his own protection, while the fourth man is so self-centred that he cannot see the web he is winding around himself. A thousand pages of mystery and adventure keep up the tension before the hero's vengeance is satisfied and he turns to self-judgement. Like all good stories, though, there's more to it than that: Dumas doesn't just know how to paint a vivid picture. Beneath all the adventures there lies a profound philosophy which only slowly dawns on the wronged hero: when his vengeance begins to touch on the lives of the innocent children of his four targets, he realises that he is no longer – that he never was – the agent of divine retribution, and he becomes a greater, and lonelier, person in the chapters that bring the book and the adventures to a gentler coda. Amazingly, this action-packed, complex drama is based on real events, and not just based on them: The Count of Monte Cristo follows, episode for episode, a sequence of crimes that unravelled in Paris at just about the period that Dumas chose for his masterpiece. The true story is all there in the archives of the Paris police - or it would be if they hadn't been destroyed in the 1870 Prussian siege of the city. For good or ill, the story survived only in a florid re-telling by a contemporary sensationalist hack, providing unwitting evidence of how a great novelist can fashion a diamond from a lump of carbon. (Review originally published in the Chesil Magazine, Dorset)
N**M
A New Favourite Classic!
The Count Of Monte Cristo has to be one of the biggest surprises for me this year. I really had doubts about reading it as I didn't really know much about it and it is quite a chunky book; but I absolutely fell in love with this book! Edmund Dantes is easily one of my new all time favourite characters. And I now have two all time favourite classics. I was considering if The Count Of Monte Cristo had knocked Crime And Punishment off its perch, but no I think they are both equal. I thought the writing was really wonderful and so easy to read. I loved the characters, both the good and the bad and I thought the story was so well thought out and just so very enjoyable. Apparently I like a good revenge story! If I ever need to get revenge on someone I hope I can do it with as much cunning, class and flair as the Count Of Monte Cristo! I can now see how this is a lot of peoples all time favourite classic as it is so much more accessible than a lot of other classics due to the language used and the stories aren't always relatable in modern times. Revenge however is understood through the ages. Overall a really excellent book, one I'm so glad that we picked up as buddy readers as I may have missed out on this if not. I really look forward to picking this up again in the future, so I can re read Dantes adventures.
M**C
Exceptional read! Highly recommend!
My books always arrive fast with Amazon, so it’s my first choice as I’m ploughing through my 1001 book list to read before I depart this earth. Reading this book (The Count of Monte Cristo) was like reading the most eloquent poetry. The book is thick! But it is written so beautifully, described with such vision and executed with perfection. Yes, I have watched the film and it is one of my favourite films, but this book goes into so much more detail, and obviously has a different plot to the actual film; which makes it more enjoyable to be honest. I loved Dumas’ storytelling, and his passion for words. Very powerful indeed! It has left such an impact on my choice to read more of his books. My heart truly skipped for joy with the turn of every page. By far the best book I have ever read and I look forward to reading more of Alexandre Dumas’ stories. Highly recommend!
Y**K
Need Glasses…
Great novel, but very small print.
A**R
Great value
A good stable literary story
S**A
The Count of Monte Cristo
Fabulous. Love it.
P**K
One for your bookcase
A classic novel for your bookshelf. Inspired after the recent TV series
O**L
Is Dumas the world's greatest ever writer?
Is Dumas the world's greatest ever writer? He's certainly got a shout to be. This book is an absolute classic; a wonderful tale of intrigue, revenge, love and conspiracy amongst everything else. It's a long read but it's all consuming. Wonderful book just like all his other novels.
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2 weeks ago
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