rive gauche.: my idea!

It's book review time!

Feel free to link to this from your blog: simply copy the button below and and post on your blog with a book review.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexander Dumas, pere

Edmond Dantes had everything: a beautiful fiancé, a rising career as a sailor, and loyal friends. Then in one stroke of fate he loses everything and is imprisoned in the Chateau d’If.

When Dantes finally escapes, there is only one thing he seeks: revenge…

This extremely long book is one of those classics everyone has heard of, but fewer take the time to actually read.

Its plot is simple, but elaborated upon by the addition of a whole host of characters and their stories.

Character development in Dantes was slow, but interesting. The reader sees him grow from a young and naïve sailor to a complicated, bitter and cruel enigma: the Count of Monte Cristo. The three men upon whom he vows vengeance all have interesting and different characters too.

The parts I didn’t like in the book were the casual way having mistresses outside of marriage were discussed, as well as the stupid custom of arranged marriages which probably led to the former! These customs also annoyed Abigail Adams when she visited France in the 1780s.

This leads me to say that French and Italian women, at least in this book, are/were so different from American women. They were supposed to be weak, soft creatures who didn’t seem to do much, with the exception of Eugenie Danglars, the daughter of the avaricious Danglars, who dresses up as man and runs away to start a music career.

Also, be aware that the Count smokes a lot of hashish! Please remember “hugs not drugs”, children. :)

As a Christian, I must note the interesting perception of God in The Count of Monte Cristo. The Count thinks he is an avenging angel appointed by God to dish out justice to the men who wronged him, until he experiences the love of kind people at the end and repents of his deadly pride. This is really a long adventure story of revenge, not a really religious book, but could offer many lessons to a discerning eye.

All in all, I give this book four stars out of five. A classic tale, although it does get a bit boring in parts, and a rewarding read.

“How did I escape? With difficulty. How did I plan this moment? With pleasure. ”

“Until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words,-Wait and hope.”
― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next review will be Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. (I happen to like weird old sci-fi-ish books)

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Nothing particularly exciting happening today for us; but I suppose it could be worse.....

Random photo time!!!!!