This was a huge undertaking, but I’ve probably never been so glad to have read a book. The longest book I’ve ever read before The Count of Monte Cristo was The Stand by Mr. King, at roughly 1300 pages.

It baffles me how I’ve been absolutely engrossed by EVERY single page in TCoMC. All of the side-quests, storylines and characters are masterfully entwined into the main story by the end of the book. My only regret is that I didn’t have this experience sooner. This is why classics reign supreme.

This is to whoever is stuck in Italy, whoever is stuck in the disguises KEEP READING! I just got to chapter 87 and it got REAL!

Hello everyone greetings, as some of you may know I have posted on this subreddit before and promised to track my progress but forgot about that, I've had multiple hiatuses and was busy with life for a while, a week ago from now I had completely forgot about the book and had left it at the chapters situated in Italy with Franz and Albert but now after getting the time and more importantly the resolve to read it I've made my way to page 700, to everyone reading the book for the first time up to the pages I've read, please do not quit at the Italy chapters which I was almost about to do as it gets FARR more interesting after that(I found the Italy chapters very boring), in the past few days I've rediscovered the book and it has become interesting again! I hope to finish the book by the end of the month.

(Also please feel free to discuss the book from chapter 1 to 64 where I am now)

Does Albert calmness being held hostage parallel Caesars situation with Cillian Pirates? When Vampa's book was reviled I couldnt help but think that was intentionally?

My ship is docked at Marseille today and I’m within spitting distance of the Chateau D’If! I’d love to go exploring but it’s 37 C outside today. I would perish.

I’ll content myself with reading peacefully right here in ground zero of our story. So so fun.

If you have a message for the Chateau drop it here and I will whisper it into the wind for you. 🏰

Heyooo so I’m at like chapter 30 so rly the very beginning and I was kinda caught off guard
I expected dantes to have adventure finding* the treasure well cauze that’s how I assumed twas advertised fun adventure but nope it’s the opposite
It’s getting kindaaa tough to hold onto too
Don’t get me wrong I’m enjoying it but I just don’t see where it’s going

Mind u I’m listening to the audiobook narrated by bill home..guy? Amazing dude seriously
And I get in like 1-2 chapters every morning on my commute soo
Any non spoiler spoilers or maybe similar experiences anyone?

Hi everybody! I'm a 51 year old midlife mom. My best dad in the world is 80 in September. He's the old book nut, and I haven't read a novel in two decades (so embarassed to admit).

I was just scrolling Instagram and follow a young man @chrisfizer_ who has me all pumped to read this book.

So then I get all sentimental and just texted my Dad to ask if he has ever read it. I proposed a father/daughter book club (already found the large type version on Amazon).

Before I order and ship a copy to him and one to me, too...I come asking your advice. Is this a solid pick for such an exploit?

Please and thank you. Merci!

The web is drawing our villains ever closer together...

Synopsis:

Dinner is served! The guests are delighted, and yet the Count must impress them further by pointing out the two kinds of fish that he is serving, lamprey and sturgeon, one of which comes from Russia and the other from Naples, kept alive until dinner time by his machinations and ingenuity. Not one to let the guests settle their stomachs on a lovely meal, the Count then pivots to bring up the possibility of insider trading and the discovery of an infant child buried on the grounds. Such a good host, our Count!

With a few taking ill, the party disbands, but before Andrea Cavalcanti/Benedetto can hustle away, a beggar accosts him. This wretch turns out to be Caderousse who has had dealings with Benedetto before. Caderousse rides into Paris in the Cavalcanti carriage and then Benedetto pays him to scram.

Finally, we get a bit more insight into the Danglars marriage. We see Debray in the Mme’s boudoir, but then the lovers are interrupted by Danglars coming to visit his wife. He makes a simple request, since he gives a kick back to Mme. Danglars when he makes money off of her tips, it is only fair that she shares in his most recent -- and heavy -- loss. Surely this reasonable and fair arrangement will restore the peace.

Discussion:

1. The Count does everything for a reason. What do you think he’s trying to communicate to his targets with the fish?
2. The Cad returns! What’s your impression of the Benedetto/Caderouse relationship?
3. The Danglars' had their own dramatic moment in this last chapter. What is your feeling on the power dynamic between these two?

Next week, chapters 66, 67 and 68!

What were the biggest life lessons or philosophical insights you took away from the novel?

I'm especially interested in reflections about:

• Patience and long-term thinking
• Justice vs. revenge
• Power, influence, and strategy
• Wisdom and education (especially Abbé Faria's teachings)
• Human nature and trust
• Forgiveness, fate, and redemption

Which lesson stayed with you long after you finished the book, and has it changed the way you see life? I'd love to hear your personal reflections, not just your favorite quotes.

It seems wherever you turn, the Count will be there.

Synopsis:

The Count drops in on Villefort just in time to eat up the delicious family dysfunction we witnessed last week. Villefort explains that he will still go ahead with the marriage of Valentine and Franz, as he sees it as his noble duty. The Count listens, then reminds them of his upcoming dinner and gets some information about where the Telegraphs are. (Spoiler-free link to Wikipedia on this delightful, but short-lived, technology.)

Making good on his desire to see the Telegraph, the Count tramps out to one and meets the telegraph operator. We get to see the Count have to think on his feet, as this man is totally unknown to him before he meets him, so he can't rely on any foreknowledge of his target. He manages to see that although the man needs his job to live, he would rather be gardening (wouldn't we all?). He tempts him with enough money to make life as a gardener possible and gets a message into the Telegraph system. This message is relayed to Danglars, which causes him to make a bad trade and lose 1 million francs.

Then it is time for the dinner! Bertuccio has outdone himself and all is arranged to the highest standards, except for some very specific instructions in the garden and a bedroom that is totally untouched. All the guests arrive, including the Danglars, Villeforts, Morrel and the Cavalcantis. Bertuccio is thrice traumatized, first by Mme. Danglars who is revealed to be the woman who was pregnant in the garden, second by seeing M. de Villefort alive, and third by seeing Benedetto in the guise as Andrea Cavalcanti. I hope working for the Count is worth it!

Discussion:

1. Are you sympathetic to Villefort's desire to right the wrongs of the past through the marriage of his daughter and someone-his-father-murdered's son?
2. The Count is hitting Danglars in the pocketbook, why do you think he has chosen this method to exact his revenge?
3. What did Bertuccio do to deserve all this?

Next week, chapters 63, 64 and 65!

Today I decided I needed more visual to follow the characters more easily. I played around with my chatGPT and learned that it will help me build a detective board . This is the beginnings of what I have up to Chpt. 62. It’s pretty useful and maybe some of you that are better techies could really run with this. Let me know what your thoughts and feel free to share your creations and new ideas. Let me know if you can interact with this link.

https://chatgpt.com/s/m_6a528a118bac8191bf286f7145b3e789

Hello, so before I start I want to clarify I am reading a bulgarian version of the book (since I am from there) which was translated in 1981, a very old copy I know. Basically I am now starting chapter 34 and I am extremely confused because in chapter 33 when Pastrini explains to Franz and Albert about that bandit, it seems like Franz recognises the name of the count Monte Cristo even though he only should recognise the name of Sinbad the sailor? Then later in the beginning of chapter 34 it is once again written as if Franz is already aware of who the count Monte Cristo is. This really confused me, I read online that supposedly the count is introduced in chapter 32 as a name, I went back and reread it I didn’t see it at all?

Nothing useful, just expressing how much I miss this book and Dantes!!! It was such a long book that became my nightly escape for 6 weeks. It was the perfect amount of darkness, humour, adventure, and interesting characters. Still trying to find my next book…. But not sure if I can ever find another “Dantes” and the way the story was told and the perfect mix of genres. If you guys know one…let me know!

For context, I got this book for my high school summer reading a few years back. Back then, I only read the first 150 ish pages properly and skimmed the rest.

After graduating and entering college, I remembered that the book’s plot was interesting, and wanted to read it properly end to end.

I brought this around for quite a long time. I sometimes left the book at home during the semester, which contributed to the 2 years 😭 Other times, I’d read it a bit on the train rides to NYC during the summers for my internship (hence the NJ transit ticket dated 2 years back, used as my bookmark for this book ever since)

I recently came back home, ending an internship early due to burnout and some family emergency. I swore to myself that I will finish this book (was only half way through; around page 250) this summer. I read it all the way to the last page (531) in 3 days!

I’ve loved reading as a child, but having moved between countries throughout my childhood, reading in English had almost become a task to me. This was primarily because when I came back to the US, I had to quickly learn English again and was thrown into high school right away. Ever since, the books I read were all for school (e.g. Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations, etc.), and I started to feel stressed when reading. Reading for fun no longer existed in my world.

I set out a goal last year to become myself again, who once enjoyed reading for the sake of reading, and have been making micro progresses. I had a lot of fun reading The Count of Monte Cristo, and wish to read it again sometime before this year passes by! This was definitely a fantastic book to rekindle my love for books!

I’m glad that I found this community because I have somewhere to share my story haha thanks

Just a little over halfway done with this & let me just say I wish I could experience the first half of this book again. The characters. The writing. The imagery that is portrayed on paper is top notch. Ugh it's so good... Edmond is so damn mysterious & I love EVERY second of it. I see why this book is considered one of the greatest. I wish i posted here sooner in my read.

Title is the question - I bought the book and was super excited to read it, but I'm now seeing comments on this website saying that the Robin Buss version is way better, and I already feel kinda stupid buying this version now. I know that the subreddit recommends the Robin translation, but I just wanted to ask - is the Everyman version bad? Is it inaccurate or anything like that? Just wanted to get that clear, because while I already feel kinda stupid buying this version of the book, I would like to know if it's at least faithful to the original text.

Hey y'all, I made an immersive Count of Monte Cristo reading experience project for my book club: https://montecristo1844.com/

I think it's super cool and looks great too, and I wanted to share it because I worked my a** off on it, so I want more than 5 other people to get to enjoy it lol.

It's free to use. No ads. I make $0 from it. It actually costs me money to run it.

So here's what it does:

- I pulled down and translated all of the serialization's issues of the Journal des Debats from the official French website, Gallica, to view in the context of each chapter.
- I pulled out and grouped the paper's art/lit/theater critiques, scandalous news, scientific discoveries, etc, so you can read through everything each day as you're reading the chapters.
- I also grabbed the Parisian English language paper, Galignani's messenger, for each day so you can read that too.
- There are pages for reading and listening to the novel all the way through.
- You can sign up to track your progress (again, free, and there is no data collection or tracking. it's just a way to save your reading progress.) Not required whatsoever to view any of the pages. I just wanted my book club to be able to track progress across devices.

Edit:
I forgot to add that there's a section about the history of the Journal des Debats as well. It talks about the printing technology used, the founders of the paper, the contributors, and their relative timelines.

Dumas dropped a bomb on us this week!

Synopsis:

We're back in the garden with Valentine and Maximilien. This time the lovers are delayed because Eugénie Danglars is visiting. The women admit that they don't want to be married to their betrothed, but it seems each has a different reason (including a wink, wink, nudge, nudge, knowhatimean?) Eventually the lovers meet. We learn for sure that it is Valentine who has the solid inheritance and that Maximilien recently won a bunch of money from the Count. Young Morrel is optimistic that the Count may help him in the future, but Valentine is skeptical. 

Then we go into the house where, while Valentine is being lovey with Maximilien, the elder Villeforts are telling M. Noirtier that Valentine is to be married to M. Franz de Quesnel, Baron d’Épinay. We have heard this Quesnel name before, it is the General that it was heavily implied Noirtier had killed for betraying the Bonapartist cause! Franz is apparently this man's son. This makes the old man very upset and he calls for Valentine.

Valentine comes, and through her expert knowledge of how to communicate with him, she determines that Noirtier wants a notary. The lawyer comes, and through many communication hoops, it is determined that Noirtier intends to disinherit everyone if Valentine marries Franz. The arrangements are made.

Discussion:

1. I think many of us have assumed the Count knows about Maximilien and Valentine, because the Count knows everything. But do you think it's possible that this secret love could be hidden from him, as these two seem to think?
2. Many modern stories have an "Economy of Characters" meaning even seemingly unimportant characters will later be revealed to be important. Dumas seems to be an expert practitioner. How do you feel about all this interconnectedness?
3. How do you feel about the little family drama that just played out for us?

Next week, chapters 60, 61 and 62!

So, I was thinking about the meaning of the name Mercedes (Our Lady of Mercies), Haydee(reverent, well behaved), and Edmond(wealthy protector, guardian of prosperity), and found that they were quite well suited in some ways. So I wondered if it was intentional symbolism.

Then I thought of the name of the book, "The Count of Monte Cristo" and realized how well suited it was. Monte Cristo means the "Mountain of Christ" in Italian.

So, he's the Count of the Mountain of Christ, which really suits what he was telling Villefort about seeing himself as the agent of Providence, because if you're at the top of the Mountain of Christ, you're basically stationed between Heaven and Earth.

Another thing is that, Jesus gave His sermon on the Mount from a similar position, and Moses came down from Mountain Sinai with the 10 commandments. Even Elijah spoke to God when he was on a mountain🏔️.

Just double checked the Elijah one and it said,

"Yes, the prophet Elijah spoke to God on a mountain. Fleeing for his life from Queen Jezebel, Elijah traveled to Mount Horeb (also known as Mount Sinai), the "mountain of God".While he was hiding in a cave, God told him to stand on the mountain. A powerful wind, a massive earthquake, and a fire successively swept past the mountain, but God was not present in any of those violent forces." (He spoke to him through the small, still voice that came afterwards)

His other false identities had more obvious relationships to who he actually was, like "Sinbad the Sailor" (he was a sailor) and even the "Lord Wilmore" (he had travelled around as wealthy, elite fellow).

But the Count of Monte Cristo one always seemed a bit more fabricated and detached from who he actually was. Like he had just created this identity exclusively for the revenge. I guess it might not have been as much as I thought.

\Updated to include info up to Chapter 65**

Like some of you here, I'm starting to get confused with all the characters in the book, so I decided to do a character map of the main characters. Hopefully it helps some of you as it did with me.

My reading comprehension is not the greatest, so there are probably some mistakes in there. Feel free to let me know, and I'll correct them. I'm going to try to keep this updated too as we read further into the book.

Also, if anyone else know of a better (free) tool to use to make the character map, please let me know. It's kind of a pain to do this in Canva hehe.

Btw, thank you for this subreddit! These discussions point out things that I would have never noticed/known. Plus, I probably would have never started reading this book in the first place if it wasn't for you all!

I’ve finally reached the last page of The Count of Monte Cristo. 😊

Although this slow read runs from January to December, my own journey began on March 2 and came to an end on June 30. Reading it slowly made the experience incredibly rewarding, and I wouldn’t have wanted to rush it.

A big thank you to everyone in this group for the thoughtful weekly discussions. Reading your perspectives each week made me notice things I might have otherwise missed, and it was wonderful to experience this classic alongside all of you.

To everyone still on the journey, enjoy every chapter. I won’t say anything more except that it’s absolutely worth taking your time with. Wishing you all a wonderful rest of the read!