Rich says:
The Count Of Monty Cristo is a
book about betrayal and revenge. The author of this book is Alexandre
Dumas and he wrote this book in 1845. The story is set in Paris-France.
Edmund
Dantes was a first mate on the ship Faron and his employer was Monseur
Morrel. He was also about to be promoted because the Faron's captain
died at sea. Edmund had a good relation ship with his dad, Edmund was
the most important thing in his dad's life. His dad was also poor, so
Edmund gave his dad money. He also had a Fiance named Mercedes, and they
were very happy to get married because Edmund had been out to sea for
weeks. When he got back, he got engaged and was getting married the day
he went to prison
Three
men wanted what Edmund had. Danglers wanted his job, Fernand wanted his
wife, Cadarousse wanted his money. Before Edmund returned, the captain
of the Faron died, and before he died, he wanted Edmund to finish
sending the letters the captain had, one of these was from Napoleon to a
man named Nortier. Danglers, Fernand and Cadarousse created a letter
accusing Edmund for working with Napoleon. This sent Edmund to court.
His lawyer was an man named Villafort, and his dad just happened to be
named Nortier. Villefort burned the letter that would have proved Edmund
innocent, so that his dad wouldn't go to jail. Edmund was in prison for
10 years.
While
Edmund was in jail, he tried to kill himself by beating his head aginst
the wall non stop, untill he decided to give up. One night, he heard a
chissle on one of his jail walls for an hour, then it stoped. This
continued for days on end, and he decided that it was a prison mate
trying to get out of jail. The next day, he broke his bowl, and took the
handle of it before the guards game, the guards cleaned up the mess,
and after the guards left, he started to dig in the same wall that his
prison mate was. Later, he found out his prison mate was a old man,
named Abbe Faria. Him and the Abbe became freinds, and the Abbe adopted
Edmund as his son. The Abbe was very smart, so he taught Edmund diffrent
laungages, how to read and write them, and advanced math. One day, the
Abbe told Edmund about the Abbe's fortune, millions and millions of
dollars, but the Abbe was imprisoned wrongly just like Edmund was before
he could make any use of it. The Abbe told Edmund how to find it if
Edmund ever got out. One day, the Abbe died. They wrapped the Abbe in a
cloth bag, Edmund took the Abbe to his bed, and closed himself in the
cloth wrap instead. He assumed they would bury him, and he could dig his
way out afterwards. They tied a cannon ball to his legs, and sunk him
into the bottom of the ocean. Edmund escaped, and got to an island.
After Prison
After
prison, Edmund joined a crew of bandits, since he was a good navagator,
they let him join. On his adventures with the bandits, he talked them
into going to the island of Monty Cristo, where the Abbe's treasure was.
He went, and dug up what would be his future. He stuffed his pockets
with all of the gold and diamonds he could. He went back to Paris where
he awarded his former employer, with a purse full of money. He also
awarded the evil with his vengence. He destroyed every one of their
lives. He exposed a crime Villefort had commeted, driving him insane. He
tricked Cadarousse's former prisonmate to kill him. He tricked Danglars
into making a bad investment, leading him to lose his bank. He exposed a
crime Fernad commeted, putting him in prison and losing his rank in the
army. He did all of this in the name of God.
I
thought this book was a very good story, but it took FOREVER to read
because of all of the detail. I also thought the characters and Edmunds
plans to get the 4 consperators was very well planed out. The moral of
the story is revenge is never worth it. I thought 7/10.
Brennan says:
The Count of Monte Cristo
is a book about betrayal and revenge. The author is Alexander Dumas,
and the story is set in France. The year was 1845.
Edmund
Dantes is a first mate on a ship he had a fiancé Mercedes that he
was going to Marie tomorrow, and a father that was poor and Edmund
loved dearly. The captain of the ship died and Edmund got a promotion
to be the captain. Edmund was making a lot of money and was getting
rich. He gave his dad money.
Even
though things were great now there was a conspiracy against Edmund.
Danglers, the leader of the conspiracy who wanted his job, Fernand,
who wanted Edmund’s fiancé, Cadarousse, who was drunk and wanted
his money, Villefort, which was not actually part of the conspiracy
but did do something. He is a Public Defender who was the one that
was supposed to defend Edmund but threw the evidence that would have
proved Edmund not guilty into a fire to keep his dad safe and
declared Edmund guilty. All of this resulted in Edmund going to jail.
When Edmund was in jail he
almost went insane. Then he met the Abe Faria who taught Edmund a lot
of things and helped him figure out who got him in jail. Then they
figured out how to escape, but then Abe got sick then told Edmund
that he had a lot of money on an island. Edmund remembered the guards
talking about how Abe said he had a bunch of money that he could pay
to get out and that he was insane and after a while he died. Edmund
escaped jail and found the money!!! A team of bandits found him and
helped him but Edmund didn’t tell them about the treasure.
After
he found the treasure he went back to France and he could not be
recognized by anyone but Mercedes because of his age. He called
himself The Count Of Monte Cristo. He met a young man named Albert
Mondego that he got to trust him. He got to do business and associate
with Fernand Mondego, Danglers, Cadarousse, and Villefort. He helped
the people that tried to get him out of jail and did other good
stuff. Then he made the four that put him in jail suffer one by one.
While he was he was helping two young people named Valentine and
Maxamillion and when he got revenge on the last one he realized he
had gone too far. He helped Valentine and Maxamillion and got them
back together. Then the count got married to Hayde, a slave he
rescued.
I like this book because the plot was well set up and
had a lot of surprises and it keeps you listening and wanting more.
The moral of the story is revenge isn’t good, just try to live a
good life.
Dad says:
My dad insisted that we boys watch certain movies growing up - High Noon, The Magnificent Seven, Patton, and specifically the Richard Chamberlain/Tony Curtis version of The Count of Monte Cristo. It is to this insistence I owe my love of classic literature, because after seeing (and loving) the movie, I soon bought an abridged version of the book, which led to similar versions of novels by Verne, Dickens, Stevenson, Twain, and many others in the same series. Needless to say I've also sat through several other film versions of Monte Cristo and dad was right - you simply can't beat the Chamberlain/Curtis version from the 70's.
It was a great joy to read the unabridged version to the boys. Though a bit heavy with French geography and military history at points, just like me, they were sucked into the story. The plight of Edmund Dantes, and more importantly, his reaction to his misfortune, are not only a sad lesson of life's harshness at the hands of ambitious men, but a cautionary tale about the personal price of revenge - a lesson that has served me well in several real life situations. I'm glad it was instilled in me at a young age.
As an adult, this re-read left me fascinated with Dumas' clever use of symbolism throughout, and amused at his tongue-in-cheek mocking of post-Napoleonic upper-class French society. The metaphorical death and resurrection of Dantes' in the Chateau D'If was lost on me as a thirteen year old, but it seems to me now that Dumas' was speaking to the larger issue of the re-creation many people pursue in their thirties - a desire to do and be something different from the labels and relationships that defines them in their twenties. Dantes' is indeed transformed from lowly sailor into a new creation that anyone would envy - a man of reputation, wealth, education, and worldly knowledge and wisdom.
Ultimately, it is Dumas' portrayal of The Count's great power that the reader envies most, however unrealistic or unlikely his path to the money that affords it. Who hasn't fantasized about wreaking vengeance on those who malign us, or rewarding richly those who have encouraged and supported us during trying times? I take almost as much joy in seeing Msr. Morrell come into good fortune at The Count's hand as I do seeing Vilefort finally get his elaborately designed comeuppance. Dumas' offers the reader an opportunity to live vicariously through The Count, and that, I suppose, is the book's greatest offering.
