Bienvenue à Marseille | 2025 The Count of Monte Christo, read-a-long

[AgualusasLover]

Following the success of the continuing Dickensalongs, Fallen Women and various other classics, please join The Count of Monte Christo read-a-long, kicking off on 1 January 2025.

The ultimate tale of revenge, with swashbuckling, chicanery and bare faced lies - The Count of Monte Christo has it all.

Editions: most important point is an unabridged version, coming in at just over 1,200 pages. This thread discusses the various translations – the Penguin Classics, trans by Robin Buss is very popular and the one I am reading but what you have already is likely fine and the nuances of translation are always fun to discuss.

What’s the best translation of The Count of Monte Cristo? • We Love Translations

I’ve been thinking about the best way to read-a-long. There have been red-alongs by the day, in chunks and every which way.

I think we have two options:

There are 118 chapter and my proposal is we do one a day, starting on 1 January, 2025. (W&P and all the Fallen Women books worked well this way)

We could also convene weekly e.g. no spoilers until Sunday and read it as it was released, in 18 parts c.65 pages per week. (I remember The Woman in White worked well this way and so do the Dickensalongs)

For now, I have assumed a chapter a day as it has served us well so far, if the majority strongly object, I have put placeholders in my copy breaking it down and can update in readiness for January.

Schmoop very handily has chapter by chapter breakdowns. Here is the Intro https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/count-of-monte-cristo/

MN meet up in Marseille 2025!

Joining!
There is a new film out too. DH read the book last summer on hols and loved it. He also went to see the new film, I couldn't go as I had covid at the time so missed it. I really fancy reading it and a chapter a day is doable.

Loved the French film this year, there's also a British TV series in December, with Sam Claflin and Jeremy Irons.

I'm in! I meant to read it this year but failed. I have the penguin classics edition. I hope that broadly fits.

I have been meaning to reading it for years really. I read Sleepers as an older teen, goodness knows why. I was old enough that it wasn't exactly inappropriate but I was young enough it was an odd choice and although I knew sexual abuse existed, I hadn't really grasped the horror or life long implications. I was also shocked the boys were jailed for an accident in the first place. I must have been quite a naive teen! I did very much grow up in middle England. Anyway, the boys are all obsessed with the Count and I want to read it and understand why. I think once we've completed the read along, I will re-read Sleepers to book end it.

I hope I keep up, I tried another read along once and fell off before the second chapter! My kindle suggests 32 hours of reading but I am sure I can manage it in chunks!

I think the key is routine, setting the same time each day - a time that is less likely to be compromised. My sweet spot is just after dinner and everyone else has gone back to their business and there is 20 mins before I settle to watch TV/scroll mindlessly/read other things.

i didn’t do this for the last readalong so I’m still going!

I 'm in, hopefully I won't drop off the thread

I'm in! Ordered the book 👍🏻 I'd like to watch the film over Christmas but I'm not sure which one is closest to the book. Can anyone recommend?

I remember Gerard Depardieu one was pretty close.

If it feels a bit much I would suggest that we have Sundays off! Either way, I would like to join!

Fully committed now as having already bought Kindle version I have now requested the lovely clothbound hardback for Christmas!

I also have both. There is something very satisfying at seeing the physical process through a book like this.

I’m in.

Ive fallen off every read along so far! I did finish both Ruth and Dangerous Liasons but a couple of months after everyone else despite starting at the same time with lots of good intentions. The advantage of it being online is that I can still read all the comments so even though I failed at keeping up, I can still add to my understanding. It does mean I’m not a prolific poster though!
I joined the Bleak house read along but life happened so I’ll have to go back to that one (I love Dickens but haven’t read this one).

I’ve had The Count for years and haven’t got round to reading it so I’ll give it a go. I’m going to work much harder to keep up and post my thoughts.
This is my version:

Yes, I'm in. Never done a read along before!

I've had a look at the French version and it looks straight forward enough for me to read, so downloaded and ready to go!

Watched the new film with the family last night. Visually magnificent and emotionally quite dark. The plot is very complicated and DH tells me they left loads out!
Would like to try to read French with English next to it but have to get hands on a French copy.

edited to put right bloody autocorrect’s wrong guesses!

I'm in. Off to order it now...

I might give this a go too!

I’m going to give it a go, via an audio version, as just the sight of the tome is enough to make me feel faint 😅 Annoyingly, there were about 10 different versions to choose from, with different narrators - not one mentions the translator! Never mind, I picked the longest one (nearly 53 hrs 😮) so unabridged, with the voice of the reader being the one I liked most. I’ve always wanted to read Dumas, but have been too intimidated by the size of them, hopefully an audiobook and read-along will be a nice introduction.

Looking forward everyone. Only a few days before we begin.

Checking in - I've got the Buss translation on my Kindle and am looking forward to it. It's my mother's favourite book so I'm going to suggest she re-reads it too so we can discuss it when we see each other.

That's lovely Pepe!
Looking forward to getting started.

I've just remembered that I read this from the school library copy forty years ago, really enjoyed it...and then found out it was only volume 1 and they didn't have volume 2. 😄 Looking forward to reading it all this time round!

Planning to have yet another bash at a Readalong having failed dismally with Ruth when I got bored with the overly moralistic stuff, and War and Peace when I got impatient, dashed on ahead and finished it in a couple of weeks.

I was one of those childlren who couldn't bear the painfully slow pace of class reading out loud in primary school. So boring! I kept trying to read ahead under the desk and getting into trouble.

But like @TimeforaGandT I have the lovely clothbound version and looking forward to getting started tomorrow!

As I haven’t done one of these before, have I got this right - one chapter a day, with a bit of a discussion of progress, thoughts, whatever on a Sunday?

Probably a good moment to go over what happens.

• one chapter a day
• start on 1 Jan
• I will try to post the schmoop chapter breakdown each day (but not precious if I am late if others do it)
• discussion is at reading pace (though if you do skip ahead we still would love your input)
• so, you effectively can post about each chapter on the day or whenever else suits you

Looking forward to some swashbuckling, intense and protracted revenge.

Here we go! Just read Chapter 1. Sets the scene nicely, lots of mystery already. Danglars is clearly a bad’un, Dumas doesn’t hold back on that!

Salut everyone! Welcome to Marseille.

https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/count-of-monte-cristo/chapter-1-summary.html

Schmoop chapter summary here. I can’t copy and paste it on my phone properly. Not one of their wittier summaries.

I’ve read the book before, but I am looking forward to the detail such a slow read allows.

My overwhelming sense is of Marseille and the harbour.