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!

I was looking at a part of the trailer for the Depardieu version on YouTube,mand he asks 'Do you think. I want to be TCDMC? He is cold and ruthless. I was happy being Edmond Dantes'. He becomes an instrument of vengeance.

The Dinner is quite funny, with Villefort and Madame Danglars both having conniptions, most of the others blissfully unaware, and the two Cavalcantis wondering WTF is going on!

That's an interesting discussion point, TonTon, whether Edmond had to become The Count or not. Once he gained his freedom, you could argue that he could have become anybody and have lived any life he wanted. Of course it was a point of honour that he took up the quest for revenge. His old identity had been erased in any case. You would wonder if it will bring him happiness. That's a question for later on.

I also enjoyed the humour in the dinner scene. Danglars was oblivious to it all. I suspect Madame Villefort knows about the affair. What is she up to with that little phial of liquid I wonder?! She's very handy with it

There are so many sayings about revenge, often giving opposing advice - revenge is a dish best served cold, vengeance is mine said the lord. Edmond is clearly taking the former option.

I don’t actually know what happens at the end, but I’m sure there will be some kind of moral to the story.

It’s an interesting question - at least he might have been happier by finding les elaborate and quicker means of revenge then moving on.

good spot that cavalcanti jr is Benedetto - I wouldn’t have thought of that (in fact I’d somehow forgotten him until that incident was mentioned).

I think the fun of the grotesque overspending is because he’s doing it on Danglars’ unlimited credit?

Great to see so much come together in the dinner chapter, the staging of the scene to devestate Mme Danglars and Villefort was brilliant. But although I’ve been happy to suspend disbelief through most of the book, are we asked to believe that Villefort disposed of their own baby and they are still good friends?

Yes Cornish, it would seem so. We don't know much about Mme Danglars yet. Maybe they are just covering it up and keeping the lid on things?
That's a very good point about the Bank of Danglars footing the bill for the extravagant meal!

There’s a passage quite early on, still in prison, where his thoughts turn to revenge - after Faria’s death I think. Especially since Faria helped him figure it all out. I think until then he thought it was all a dreadful mistake, but then it dawns that it was deliberate, and he swears vengeance. You can see why, being denied his marriage to Mercedes, being denied any kind of life at all, left to rot, with his poor father never knowing what happened to his son. And those that did that to him, did it quite casually, without much of a second thought.

It seems being the Count is sort of a role - maybe his primary role, but I’m not sure it’s his real identity. It’s like being Busoni or Wilmore. We just don’t see Edmond from the inside any more, we see the Count through third person eyes. It’s a very effective dramatic device. Only the moments when he is near Mercedes show deep, concealed emotion.

That's very true, MotherOfCatBoy. The Count is a persona. The real person is still there but is mostly closed off from the reader's perspective. Perhaps that is why it is difficult to like him at times.

That all makes sense about the Count being a role, and I’m really hoping for Edmond to get some of his humanity back at the end (although I’ve read it before, I don’t remember anything past the escape from the chateau d’If - beginning to wonder if I actually gave up during the Rome chapters and have forgotten that I actually didn’t finish it! 😄)

I hadn’t fully joined the dots about the fact that all the ridiculous spending is at Danglars’ expense (over and about the telegraph message) - that makes it much more enjoyable!

Finally, today’s chapter: what a coincidence! Wasn’t expecting that blast from the past.

I agree Cornish - I definitely think that the Count would have been happier if he had escaped from jail, taken revenge swiftly, and then settled down to enjoy life while still a relatively young man. All this brooding over and planning for years and years has not been good for him. I appreciate that would have made for a shorter, less interesting book, however!

haha yes it wouldn’t have been so good for the book if he’d just lived happily ever after finding the treasure!

I don’t feel he’s entirely lost - he takes great joy in friendship with the Morrels and is building a relationship with Haydée - my favourite bits are where we see he can’t hide his emotion.

Well this has been a very interesting week with all the revelations (handily showing that the people who did him wrong have continued to behave badly throughout their lives). I've been behind all week but am now fully up to date. Enjoying the reappearance of some of characters, hope we hear more about Jacopo. Edmond is clearly very loyal to those who are good to him.

There's lots going on at the moment!

I take it back about Danglars being oblivious to what is going on. He's very shrewd. The dreams that the Baroness has about making money sound like a load of baloney. Does he really believe that?!

The line that the Count came out with about how Danglars might like to marry Andrea himself for his wealth made me laugh. I thought Danglars was going to give the Count a slap when he called his fortune 'third class'.

The dreams that the Baroness has about making money sound like a load of baloney. Does he really believe that?!

No! In his little evening chat with his wife it's perfectly clear he knows exactly what's going on and where her information is coming from. That's why he thinks Debray should pay him back for his losses.

He's not going to admit to Edmond that though, although of course he knows anyway.

Yes. Approximately one hour after I had posted that, I realised it was coming from Debray. Slow on the uptake:)

help! I need a previously please… who is Jacopo?

The sailor who picked him up when he escaped prison

thank you!

Well, it’s all coming together nicely.

The affair between Mme Danglars and Villefort was the final relationship to be revealed so I will try and upload the character spider diagram later as no more spoilers I don’t think.

Monday
The Crown Prosecutor’s Office
’Let us leave the banker’s horses trotting …’

Tuesday
A Summer Ball
’The same day, at about the time …’

Wednesday
Information
’M. De Villefort kept his word …’

Thursday
The Ball
‘The hottest days of July had come …’

Friday
Bread and Salt
‘Mme de Morcerf directed her companion under the arbour …’

Saturday
Madame de Saint-Meran
’A mournful scene had just taken place in …’

Jacopo! That's going back a while!
The things you're expected to keep in your head!
I'm glad it's picked up again.

Thanks @AwardGiselePelicotTheNobelPeacePrize - I couldn't place Jacopo!

I wonder how people managed to keep track when it came out, with no internet. I must look up if it was serialised in the dailies or the weeklies.

Edit: this is what it looked like. Blimey imagine reading that by gaslight, you'd go blind!

Holy Moly! I can only make out the title. Did everyone have a magnifying glass in those days?!
That's amazing. Thanks for posting that @AwardGiselePelicotTheNobelPeacePrize

I think people had a lot less to keep in their head - less information constantly, less choice of reading material. Even readers would only be reading one thing at a time so waiting and recalling, I suppose it might be read out and possibly multiple times until the next issue and maybe discussed when people went calling.

That is insane print.

So today I've read 6 chapters because I was behind. Wow it's fast moving!

Sometimes I think it's hard to work out if it's something we should know or whether it is a new aspect of the plot.

Thanks @AgualusasLover for the list of chapters per week. I've recently taken on a new job so I'm finding it difficult to read a chapter per night. Having Sunday as a 'reset/ catch up' day is really helping me to keep track. I'm avoiding the thread until I'm up to date.

Thanks for the reminder about Jacopo, I had completely forgotten him!

From Danglars’ conversation with his wife, it seems that he knew about her affair with Villefort, and the pregnancy too. I guess most people didn’t know? But how would she hide the pregnancy - by going off to Auteuil and hiding out there I suppose? And Villefort obviously covered up his involvement completely as he’s so good at doing. It’s all very melodramatic.