The Count of Monte Cristo

By: Alexandre Dumas

Narrated by: John Lee

Audie Award, Solo Narration - Male, 2009

Dashing young Edmond Dantès has everything: a fine reputation, an appointment as captain of a ship, and the heart of a beautiful woman. But his perfect life is shattered when three jealous friends conspire to destroy him. Falsely accused of a political crime, Dantès is locked away for life in the infamous Chateau d'If prison. But it is there that Dantès learns of a vast hidden treasure. After 14 years of hopeless imprisonment, Dantès makes his daring escape and follows his secret map to untold fortune. Disguised now as the mysterious and powerful Count of Monte Cristo, Dantès seeks out his enemies - and nothing will stand in the way of his just revenge.

Filled with thrilling episodes of betrayal, romance, and revenge, The Count of Monte Cristo is one of the greatest adventure stories ever written.

Public Domain (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

A true Time-machine

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.

Fantastic Story

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.

Things have not changed, the evil that men do.

As early as we can go back in time man has been betraying man. This is a classic tale of Greed, Lust, used against a young man to his down fall. However there is a happy ending. Too bad in this day of Enron and Bernie Madoff we can't have the same. Beautifully read as well.

This is one of my favorite stories.

Where does The Count of Monte Cristo rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is easily one of the more enjoyable audiobooks I've listened to.

Which scene was your favorite?

It's a long book so I'm not sure I have a single favorite scene. The plot, the web of adventure and intrigue is simply captivating.

Any additional comments?

I've read this before in hardcopy but I have to say my enjoy increased ten-fold when listening to it. As I am not French, when reading I would stumble or confuse the names, especially if there was a gap between when I could do serious reading, this problem vanished when having it read to me. I will be moving onto The Three Musketeers by the same narrator very shortly.

The count

Brilliant, this is one of the most engrossing books I have ever been involved with in any form in my life. I had no idea how it was suppose to sound until I heard it here. Bravo! Bravo!

Great Classic Story

Well read and a great story - what more could one want?
With a classic like this there is little to review except the performance and the reader was great.
A great addition to any audible library.

A Must Read/Listen

I was amazed from the very beginning of this book at how the nature of the characters were pronounced - very Shakespearean in letting the reader/listener immediately know who the heroes and villains are, rooting for Dantes from the very beginning to take his revenge on those who sent him off to prison. It's sad, of course, that Abbe Faria doesn't survive long enough to make his escape with Dantes, but we can't really be sure that Dantes would've made it out had he not taken Faria's place being thrown over the cliff and into the waters of freedom.

Dantes's revenge is very meticulous and, though his mind is set on ruining the lives of those who sent him to prison, he manages to do good works for worthy folks who cross his path. Perhaps the greatest point in the novel (at least for me) is when Mercedes is begging that he not take part in the duel against her son, pronouncing that she's recognized Dantes as the Count the whole time and has always loved him. This sends him into a time of deep reflection which is very profound and insightful into the human psyche.

John Lee's narration is fantastic, especially when he gets into the more emotional aspects of the novel. At first, it was a little bit of a chore in trying to distinguish between two males in dialogue (even though I read along until my eyes get tired) but, after he got going all the characters could be easily recognized. Very well done, sir - a great narration of one of the greatest novels my eyes and ears have ever encountered.

Great narration brings story to life

I enjoyed this book when I read it a few years ago and I loved listening to this audiobook. The narrator is wonderful and really captures the characters. Listening to some of the confrontation scenes at the end was like watching a great drama rather than reading a novel. Well worth the time.

Strangely modern

Some of the aspects of this story are so old fashioned - duels,and all that - but some amazingly modern in terms of attitude toward things like extra-marital relations, lesbianism, politics. And ultimately it's very philosophical. I always thought it was just an adventure book but really its so much more.

Narration is the best I've heard

Just a review of the narration. It is the best ever. He does a different voice for every character. It's unbelievably well-done. If you're going to listen for almost 50 hours, this guys makes it worth it.