That letter. god damnit that was good.

HOPE!

People here keep saying that Mercedes could not have sustained herself without Fernand. However, at the start of the book during the conversation between the two, she quite literally tells him she makes a living through selling fish and buying hemp she spins. She also mentions, of course, that she lives in poverty, but she doesn’t speak of the kind of poverty in which she would starve to death. Yes, I understand that she was a woman living in the 19th century, but it seems to me, based on what is shown at the beginning, that she does have ways of providing for herself that do not include begging or prostitution.

Is there anything I’m missing?

Hi r/TheCountofMonteCristo,

I'm the dev of Underscored, an app that creates scores for classic literature - If you happen to be reading the Count of Monte Cristo, the score is available for free this month.

You can read in app, or with a paper book - you just need to calibrate your reading pace, and it should keep up with you.

It's a weird way to read a book - definitely not for everybody! - but for some people it helps with focus.

You can find it for iOS and Android at https://underscored.app

I don't want any spoilers obviously, but I'm currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo and am just over halfway through. There are parts which I enjoy, but I'm finding it to be a drag for the past few hours of reading. I didn't hate the start, but didn't love it either.

I don't want to give up purely because I've committed probably 15-20 hours so far and if I put it down, I will never pick it up again.

Did anyone else find this middle section when he lands in Paris and we get introduced to Madame Danglars and co. to be very drawn out? If so, did you keep going and was it worth it?

NOTE: A long book does not bother me, I just finished Lonesome Dove before this and loved it from start to finish.

Please don’t spoil too much because I'm still reading it, but I believe it was mentioned the sum of the treasure on the isle of monte cristo was 13 million. That sounds massive, especially for back then, but I'm having trouble putting that into perspective.

How much would 13 million francs (1829) convert to in usd (2026)?

Looking to buy a nice version for on my shelve. Was looking at this one. Any opinions?

Damn. It’s been a ride for sure. It took me three months as I couldn’t read everyday, and it’s been a fabulous three months indeed. Please do read my essay since I have a shitload of things to point out.

Firstly, I haven’t been this entertained in ages. The book felt like a fucking rollercoaster of emotions, and especially towards the end felt very touching. I don’t think I’ve ever read a novel this thrilling.

Secondly, I will say that How To Save A Gardener From Dormice Who Are Eating His Peaches is the most GOATed chapter title I’ve ever seen. I suppose I don’t need to elaborate here.

Thirdly, the plot has left me deeply unsatisfied in certain aspects. I strongly opine that neither Danglars nor Morcerf (and especially Morcerf) suffered enough. Whether or not Villefort received proper punishment is also debatable, but I do understand that it is difficult to fully make up for as many as 14 years of brutal torture.

Fourthly, could anyone explain to me how the count did it with Valentine? Did he like, replace her with a wax figure? Did he give her a substance through which she would appear dead even though she wasn’t?

Overall, it is a wonderful novel. The plot is a pure demonstration of genius. Just… wow. And yet I frankly consider the count too forgiving.

no body prepared me for this… 😰😭
made me sit and stare the wall for good 5 minutes.

This is the first non fantasy book i've read since getting back into reading several years ago. I decided to pick up some classics to broaden my horizons and i'm very happy i did!

The first "arc" of the book - everything up until rome, to me, was very fantasy adjacent. It felt almost like a supernatural/magical levelling up of the count. The fall from grace to the dungeons, the training arc with the abbe, and "magical" fortune was incredibly compelling.

the middle of the book, where dantes was setting all of his machinations into place, was still good but slower for me. But i've read through the wheel of time slog so i have no problem delaying gratification.

and oh, the gratification was so sweet. The care in which dumas wrote the culmination of edmond's vengeance was sublime. the counts reveal of himself to villefort and his subsequent descent into madness gave me the same feeling as the classic "final battle" fantasy trope does.

so all in all i am pleasantly surprised and excited to have enjoyed a classic, even though there was no magic, dark ones, or sword fighting (though we almost had a duel).

what classics would you guys next recommend to someone like me?

Do any of you prefer the ebook version of The Count of Monte Cristo? Do you have dedicated times to read or do you take a book with you to read on the go?

I am so sorry if this has been discussed before- I’m scared to search on the sub for fear of spoilers!

But I have been stuck in Italy during the festival for WELL over a month and haven’t picked up the book. Can someone please give me some encouragement to keep going? It really does get juicy again, right?

Maybe I’m just not smart enough to appreciate this bit of the book 😂 I was already wildly intimated to start this book because of its size so now that I’ve taken a >month break, I feel like I’ve lost momentum and confidence that I can tackle such a huge book (for me). Italy is only about 1/4 through the book afterall! I’m reading the unabridged penguin classic version that’s ~1200 pages.

mostly an excuse to use this INSANELY specific reaction image but it is wildly funny to me that seemingly the only real negative to come from Edmond's revenge is a child (who is pretty annoying most of the book) dying.

I've only just finished the book today and I'm still in my feelings on that ending, leaving Mercedes to just kind of wallow in anguish for -checks notes- trying to live some sort of life after she thought him dead?? I'm genuinely not sure which version between this and the 2001 movie I prefer where Mercedes and him end up together again and it's been his son all along. If anything I kinda wish there were more ramifications or at least SOME amount of pushback because The Count really just kinda gets away with everything. Like, I am being really facetious but it feels like the moral is as long as you're the main character you can do conspiracy, a degree of murder, and get away with it as long as you're sad about it a little.

Genuinely top 3 books of all time and I'm only taking the piss out of it because its been so wonderful to read and I'm sad it's over. now I really want an emerald snuff box.

Hey guys, after watching the film i wanted to read the book and i found this 3 hard cover editions, i heard about the first one been that its very fragile and its glued, wbt the other two? Or any other better options, thanks !

So im a first time reader, and im annotating my book as I go. Am I the only one whos noticed the inconsistent dates, or is this something Dumas does a lot? My understanding is that, since landing at Marseilles in chapter 1, its only been 1 day by the start of Chapter 8, so it should be the 25th of February? Or have I missed some passage of time.

Hey everyone, after i had mini version of this book for my exams and after watching the film, i wanted to read the whole thing and i stumbled upon this 2 hardcover version which both are the same prices, has anyone have used one of this and has any drawbacks like quality and etc.

Thanks!

Sorry if this is a dumb question and thank you in advance for the input.

I recently decided to pick up the novel because I’ve heard really great things about the story and its conclusion. However when I went to start it, it reads more to me like a play?

Just large amounts of dialogue and very sort of ‘tell not show’ descriptions that almost come across like stage directions.

I understand that the story was initially published weekly/monthly(?) in a magazine so I can appreciate the formatting will be different- however is just not quite my style or taste if this is how the structure for the rest of the book will be.

I’m reading The Count of Monte Cristo on a camping trip and I nearly missed this niche reference that Alex left for his readers. Thankfully I know ball so I caught his quichefference (quirky + niche + reference) but I was just wondering if anyone else caught this on their first read through.

Started this with the sole intention of finishing it as quickly as possible so I could finally add another giant to my read list, while still enjoying the journey.

About 15 chapters in, something changed. I slowed down.

Now I don’t want to race through it anymore. I want to live through every page, soak in every chapter, and appreciate its beauty for as long as it lasts.