How long should it take to read Count of Monte Cristo?

[jennthmg]

Are there any boring parts we should skip?

The unabridged version is what I want them to read, (I heard the abridged one is choppy and can be hard to follow) -- but at 1, 276 pages...I'm looking for a way to not make this arduous.

[klmama]

Thank you for posting this! I just looked and realized the edition I was planning to use was abridged. Off to see what the library has....

 

Sorry I can't answer your question.

[Vida Winter]

Audible has a few unabridged recordings of this book - they vary between 47 and 53 hours. I listened to one of these a few summers ago - it was a very good book but it did seem to take forever to get through. I'm not sure I would want to devote that much time to a single book during the school year. Maybe better suited to summer reading or listening?

[jennthmg]

anyone?

[PeterPan]

Would this be a bad moment to mention the movie version they showed last night on ABC Family was pretty good? :D A little violent, but other than that quite good. Might shorten the book for you. :lol:

[shanvan]

Would this be a bad moment to mention the movie version they showed last night on ABC Family was pretty good? :D A little violent, but other than that quite good. Might shorten the book for you. :lol:

 

I was thinking the same thing.

[regentrude]

Just asked my DD. She read the unabridged Count a few years ago, in 6th grade, and it took her about two weeks. Nothing to skip, really. I find the Count quite the page turner.

Edited August 12, 2012 by regentrude

[K-FL]

Just asked my DD. She read the unabridged Count a few years ago, in 6th grade, and it took her about two weeks. Nothing to skip, really. I find the Count quite the page turner.

DD1 Just did the same thing. She says it's long not because of running off on tangents like Les Mis, or Moby Dick, but because there's about five plotlines running at the same time. It's kind of like a soap opera, she says.

[PeterPan]

Ok, for someone who's read the unabridged, is there anything in there, ahem, inappropriate or questionable? Anything explicit?

[regentrude]

Ok, for someone who's read the unabridged, is there anything in there, ahem, inappropriate or questionable? Anything explicit?

 

If you are thinking about se*ual content, I don't think so.

[PeterPan]

If you are thinking about se*ual content, I don't think so.

 

Yup, that's what I wanted to know. Thanks.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Just asked my DD. She read the unabridged Count a few years ago, in 6th grade, and it took her about two weeks. Nothing to skip, really. I find the Count quite the page turner.

 

I found this to be the case too. It is hefty, yet it is all detail that supports the quest for revenge and the eventual turning of fate. I didn't find it to be tedious.

 

(Just by comparison, I started The Man in the Iron Mask a few months ago and just can't seem to get into the book. So much seems balanced on recalling details from Three Musketeers - which I haven't read in 20 years.)

[Vida Winter]

Ok, for someone who's read the unabridged, is there anything in there, ahem, inappropriate or questionable? Anything explicit?

 

I sort of remember an opium den scene, more weird than inappropriate though. Nothing I would censor for my kids, anyhow.

[PeterPan]

I sort of remember an opium den scene, more weird than inappropriate though. Nothing I would censor for my kids, anyhow.

 

Hmm, if that was in the movie, I missed it! :lol:

[shanvan]

Thanks for this thread. Ds just asked me last week about reading the book and he asked if there was anything objectionable. I didn't think so, but wasn't sure. BUT, I did not realize how long the book is. I'm not sure he should be starting it this late in the summer with a heavy load of reading coming up soon (It's not on his reading list this year). Maybe he can take it on vacation with us, or I can rearrange his reading list a bit to include it.

[PeterPan]

Thanks for this thread. Ds just asked me last week about reading the book and he asked if there was anything objectionable. I didn't think so, but wasn't sure. BUT, I did not realize how long the book is. I'm not sure he should be starting it this late in the summer with a heavy load of reading coming up soon (It's not on his reading list this year). Maybe he can take it on vacation with us, or I can rearrange his reading list a bit to include it.

 

Aww, give it to him. Don't be so picky. What's 1200 pages between friends? That's just a few nights if he really likes it. :D

[lewelma]

Ds has read for four days, perhaps eight hours, and is 20% done. He really likes it.

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited August 12, 2012 by lewelma

[74Heaven]

I think we took a month to read it in our high school book club. It has been 4 yrs ago so my memory isn't the greatest. We met every 2 weeks so I am pretty sure it was about a month. That was a reasonable pace for students will full academic loads & other lit selections for other classes. Our book club was an extracurricular club.

 

Awesome book!

lisa

[jennthmg]

Aww, give it to him. Don't be so picky. What's 1200 pages between friends? That's just a few nights if he really likes it. :D

:lol: That's sooo funny!!

 

THANK YOU, LADIES!! This was just the information I needed!!

I can ALWAYS Counte on you, ladies!

[jhschool]

There is an execution scene I believe.

They chop off his head and

do horrible things.

Just horrid.

(I hope I'm remembering the

right book! I was young...)

[Shelsi]

Oh I LOVE The Count of Monte Cristo. I read it for the first time 2 summers ago and it's now my all time favorite book. It took me about 7 weeks to read it which is pretty darn good because while I used to read 2-3 books a week before I had kids, now it takes me about 3-4 weeks to finish 1 ordinary sized book on average.

 

One thing I wish I'd done when I read it the first time was keep a little list of each character and just a brief description of who they are. Maybe it's just my old brain but with all the characters and plot lines going on I was sometimes left wracking my brain trying to remember who exactly certain characters were - especially when it's been 500+ pages since I had last read about them!

 

As pp noted, there are a few drug references but nothing I would personally censor.

[Lady Florida.]

I'm in an online Kindle book group that is taking 12 weeks to read it. Yes, THREE MONTHS! However, many of the people in the group work full time and don't have much reading time. The leader worked it out so we would read around 10-12 chapters a week. I've had a hard time going that slow, so I'm way ahead of the group. I just have to remember what I'm allowed to talk about on discussion day because not everyone in the group has read it before.

 

I'm sure a student could read it in much less than the time our group is taking, but I would still allow 3-4 weeks. There is a lot to digest, and I think the story is much better read in bites, and spending time thinking about what you just read.

 

It's one of my favorite classics. It doesn't seem as long as it really is, because there is always so much happening.

 

Oh Elizabeth, what version was that movie? The Jim Caviezel version is so far from the book that I don't know how could even have that title. I'd love to find a movie that follows the book. There's a lot that would need to be left out, but the story could still be followed closely and it would be a good movie.

[K-FL]

 

Oh Elizabeth, what version was that movie? The Jim Caviezel version is so far from the book that I don't know how could even have that title. I'd love to find a movie that follows the book. There's a lot that would need to be left out, but the story could still be followed closely and it would be a good movie.

 

Dd#1 who just read the book disagrees. She says that all the COMC movies cut out most if not all of the subplots which makes the book's ending impossible. This version sticks closest to the spirit of the book if not the details. She considers this more important. The ending is not a downer in the book or this version, unlike the Richard Chamberlain version. Not to mention the JC version is a more enjoyable movie--they keep more action. :D

 

Plus to make an accurate version, it would have to be a 13 episode mini-series. It's a major soap opera--at least 5 families, 7 or 8 murders, who loves whom, greed, kidnapping, pirates. . . .

Edited August 16, 2012 by K-FL

[jenniferlee]

OK, I am super confused. I read the count numerous times in high school. It was one of my favorite books. It was not 1200 pages. More like 400. Are you telling me it was abridged?!!! I had no idea. What was cut out????

This is too much...

 

Jen

[PeterPan]

Dd#1 who just read the book disagrees. She says that all the COMC movies cut out most if not all of the subplots which makes the book's ending impossible. This version sticks closest to the spirit of the book if not the details. She considers this more important. The ending is not a downer in the book or this version, unlike the Richard Chamberlain version. Not to mention the JC version is a more enjoyable movie--they keep more action. :D

 

Plus to make an accurate version, it would have to be a 13 episode mini-series. It's a major soap opera--at least 5 families, 7 or 8 murders, who loves whom, greed, kidnapping, pirates. . . .

 

Thank you for explaining all that! First I was having an INFERIORITY COMPLEX wondering if it was wrong to have LIKED something that was so BAD, then I was worried that I might not like something that was supposedly good if I liked the version that was bad... :lol: So anyways, if the Caviezel version was at least in the spirit, then we're good. I never expect a movie to be accurate anyway, mercy. So whatever, cool, glad to hear it was acceptable to someone. I'll probably have dd watch it before she reads the book, just to get her mind juicing on it. :D

[MommyThrice]

Yep, 1200 pages, but worth it. I couldn't slog through the first 20 pages of The Three Musketeers, so I was hesitant, but The County of Monte Cristo was great. I spent maybe 3 weeks or so on it & I'm a slow reader.

[Hope in God]

A week ago I started reading the Count on an e-reader. I read and read and read and then I had to put it down and the e-reader said I was 1% done. I thought the thing was broken! I persued reading all the way to a whole 2% done and ended up dropping it and reading something else. I found the writing style quite reminicent of a Shakespere play in plot (as much as I had read) and tone. I wasn't enthralled or anything.

[Lady Florida.]

 

Plus to make an accurate version, it would have to be a 13 episode mini-series. It's a major soap opera--at least 5 families, 7 or 8 murders, who loves whom, greed, kidnapping, pirates. . . .

 

I think that would be a great idea for a mini-series!

 

Thank you for explaining all that! First I was having an INFERIORITY COMPLEX wondering if it was wrong to have LIKED something that was so BAD, then I was worried that I might not like something that was supposedly good if I liked the version that was bad... :lol: So anyways, if the Caviezel version was at least in the spirit, then we're good. I never expect a movie to be accurate anyway, mercy. So whatever, cool, glad to hear it was acceptable to someone. I'll probably have dd watch it before she reads the book, just to get her mind juicing on it. :D

 

There's nothing wrong with liking a movie that doesn't follow the book it's based on. I was just hoping to find one that does follow it, because I love the book and would love to find a movie that stays true to the story. I think K-FL is right though. It would need to be a mini-series. It's just too long to be a movie.