The Count of Monte Cristo

Outstanding book, as was LES MISERABLES by Hugo. It is ironic these two were born in the same year, and their novels parallel each others as if they were learning from each other. It is as though Les Miserables was an "off shoot" of the "count" and was less vindictive and showed what obsession is all about, both good and bad. They are virtually the same book only one expounded more on the value of goodness than the other, IMO. Dantes had to be preach to by various people, where as Jean Valjean needed only one and concentrated on what that transformation lead to. missing in Dantes character. Dantes was weak, whereas Valjean was strong both in physical attributes and goodness. My two sents worth. Both very good works. Though all and all, I think Les Miserables was the better book.




William

Thanks a lot for the comparison, Les Miserables has long been on my "to read" list. Librivox also has a reading of Les Miserables.

Have you read The Three Musketeers and the others in that series? I may venture on that soon, but that's quite an undertaking in itself.

Paul there are so many written in that period. Yes to The Three Muskateers and The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Melville's Moby Dick if you can wade through it. You have to read the Hugo classic. It is truly a master piece as is The Hunchback of Notre Dame. A good movie is The Man in the Iron Mask as it also represents the different "characters of man" united to seek truth as are the "Three Muskateers".

William, and you're welcome.

I thought the first part of the story was a bit boring, but the ending was good, revenge is fun:)

Paul, let me delve a little deeper in the two classics. Dantes use wealth as a means to exact his revenge and the tale ends at that point. He had to sink to the depths of his tormentors to do so, turning him into what he sought to destroy. Whereas Valjean found his faith that turned his life around preventing him from exacting revenge and turning to a life of crime and doing extraordinary good for all that knew him. Dumas was, I think at his end for he did not know wherer Dantes wealth would lead and ended the tale there as he found satisfaction exacting that revenge. What the scar of revenge is not known and that is why I brought Meville into the picture. All three men existed at the same time. I will not tell you more of the life of Valjean for you haven't read the book. Once you do, I would like to hear what you have to say of the two. Of all I like Hugo's work the best.

William

I only know Valjean through the musical, and while it's only a shell of the novel, I do get the skeleton of the character.

What's plain about Dantes is that he consumes his life with vengeance, hidden under this superficial shell of his assumed identities. In the end he finds his vengenace is destructive to innocent bystanders and hurting the people he cares about (most importantly Mercedes), and this tempers his vengeance against Danglars.

But what is clear is that someone like Dostoyevsky would have handled this far differently than Dumas. The internal conflict, i.e. the incipient self-destructiveness is only too superficially addressed. Dumas focuses very heavily on events, but his only "complex" character is Dantes, and one never really sees the deep conflict inside him. It would have been better if this were explored in more depth, in fact it would have perhaps been better if this were central. But as do the other characters, we sort of look at this guy, this Count of Monte Cristo, from the outside and seldom see the inside.

Of course Dumas was telling an improbable adventure story, but I agree with you that he was interested in themes of salvation, vengeance, hope, hopelessness, patience, and temperance. But a better telling of that character would have given more insight into the internal conflict, the internal dialogue, the internal torture.

If you've read "Notes from Underground" by Dostoyevsky (I speak mainly of the second part), which is a very short book, you'll see how easily the irrational conflict within us can be effectively told.

Not that this is damning to the Count of Monte Cristo, because it's an extraordinarily envisaged world and a gripping story.

Saw the movie about 30 years ago...filmed in the late 60's early 70's maybe. I was only around 10 at the time. Dont recall it being on TV again after that.