The Count of Monte Cristo

I have "meant" to read this book for many years, but the length seemed daunting and the language stilted, at least by 21st century terms. What a mistake it would have been to miss it! After a little "attitude adjustment", I found the flowery language elegant and fascinating and the character development is superb. One can only marvel at the decades-long plan that The Count, Edmund Dantes, has carefully set in motion to serve as suitable revenge for those whose greed and self-interest caused him to spend 14 long years in a dungeon. This review relates to the whole book, not just Part I, but each section was a new adventure and looking back, you can see how Dumas has not wasted a character or scene that does not justify the plot and the outcome. Yes, there are some slower sections (characters, in accordance with the era, sometimes take 30 words to say what could be said in 5), but overall I found myself wanting to get back into the car or back on to the plane as soon as possible. It is a bit like watching "Masterpiece Theater"--not for everyone or every taste, but it's not an acknowledged masterpiece for nothing. And excellent narration.

You major in literature and you get over 60 and find time to catch up on all the "classics" you should have read. Hey, some of them are a real crock! This is the story I've been waiting for. How I wish my French were good enough to read the original. No wonder the French have taken it to their hearts! Most of us would like to get revenge or prove something. Most of us think we would enjoy unlimited wealth. This story is about a bright and good-looking hero who has been betrayed terribly by his closest friends. He has every reason to want revenge. He comes into great wealth. He gets his revenge very slowly after a decade of preparation. The bad folks are caught mostly by their own evil, even when the hero gives them a chance to improve. This book is delicious! It is set in a period of French history but the same story can be told many ways. Everyone wants a good address, the prettiest girl, plenty of bling-bling. In the first listen you are trying to keep everyone straight. The hero's friends become nobility with fancy titles and you have to recognize all their names. The Wikipedia article on this helped me. In the first listen you're in suspense. In the second listen, you remember being in suspense and hear new details. It must be said that the narration is absolutely top drawer, so good that you don't notice it. I love the way this author describes the decor and clothing. And I love Dumas for not digressing to show off his knowledge of whales or understanding of what went wrong in a certain battle, or any sort of fancy talk to prove he's smart and in the know. He simply tells a wonderful story with many details and many twists and turns. The ending leaves one in a good space, able to imagine all the good characters sailing off into the sunset.

At first I didn't want to write a review because so many have done that before me.
But I just can't help myself from expressing what this book did to me.
It is not only a story that transports you instantly back to a very interesting and tumultuous time in European history, but its also a story that is very confined to a specific group of people.
It is a story that has it all, love, romance, grief, hate, envy and on and on... The length of the book seems like to much of a commitment, but when I finished it I was sad that it had ended.
It was a joy to listen to John Lee's voice which took me back to Europe and to places I have wandered endlessly, he gives all characters their own identity and makes you forget that its a book and not a dream or fantasy your in the middle of experiencing.
If you are thinking about reading a classic or just want to check out Dumas... Read this book, it is like one of those dreams that you hope will never end.

I have listened to this four times now and love it more each time. The plot twists, intense emoting and descriptive language made this a book I repeatedly found myself standing motionless in the middle of the room, seeing what the author wrote instead of the room around me. Totally engrossing.

The narrator, too, read it so passionately that it totally draws me in every time. If I have a day of housework, this is what I put in my mp3 player.

Though the fainting ladies and overblown emotion can be tiring in this day and age to read, it was the style of the time and if I had been laced up as tight as those women were, I'd probably faint every time my heart rate rose too. Even so, Dumas treated that tendency with humor, which made me chuckle and roll my eyes during those scenes where "she tried her best to faint but couldn't", as he put it. The narration made up for it 95% of the time- the last 5% only during the love scenes, which were sickeningly sweet compared to romance of our age.

Every fan of classic literature should read this at least once.

What...a pleasure!

Not only is the story magical, but the narrator John Lee was nothing short of sublime.

This is the first time I've listened to the narration of John Lee, but it will certainly NOT be the last. It was as if someone had kidnapped his mother and told him "if you don't pour out every last ounce of your soul into these characters, you'll never see her again". Had that been the case...Lee would have had his mother returned to him without a scratch.

To rate this experience a 5.0 is not enough.

Don't miss this gem.

One has to believe that truly, for many of the reviewers of this book, this one is maybe the best they have read. Decidedly, this is the case for me. It is cleverly funny, mesmerizingly beautiful and intelligently written. Some have commented on its length. For this reader, the length only made the savoring longer and more delicious. Each character is beautifully developed by Dumas and flawlessly rendered by John Lee. The story is complex but simply conveyed. I could not more highly recommend a book and its narrator than this one.

I like to catch up with missed classics through Audible.com. While an excellent book, the Count of Monte Cristo can be a difficult audio book to listen to because many of the characters have several different names and their lives are intertwined in convoluted and complex ways. Since paging back and forth in audio is really hard, I highly recommend some sort of Cliff's Notes to familiarize yourself with the characters. Also, remember that Dumas wrote the novel in serial form which is why some points may seem to be belabored - he had a quota to fill!

It's been over a year since I've listened to this book and it still rings in my ears. With 30-some books read from Audible, this is my favorite. John Lee did an amazing job making this story absolutely engrossing! I recommend this book to anyone that will listen.

This is a fantastic book. Period. The story is wonderfully constructed and beautifully written. The narration is clear and the characters rendered perfectly by narrator John Lee. I could not stop listening to this book. I would sit in my car at lunch or in my driveway at night, listening to "just one more section."

I heartily recommend this book, it's a great one !

I have read the Count at least 3 times, not including the audio version I just completed, and this rendition is wonderful. The narrator does a very commendable job, I will listen to this again and again.