#ClassicsCommunity 2021 Reading Challenge discussion

I will join you. I just got the book today. Reading the abridged version by accident was a huge mistake.

yeah, I like the idea of summer. Me too, this book has been in my shelf forever

I have this on my tbr but plan to read Anna Karenina first in January.

I’ll join in with this one and the summer works perfect for me!

I am joining you too.

i will join but I have on ebook and in spanish xD

I’ll be joining as well! June is perfect. I was thinking of going with the audiobook, but I think I’ll buy an unabridged paperback with my B&N gift card instead.

June sound good. I am in

Marking this in my calendar 👍🏻

I will join to in June

I would love to join. I read it years ago, but it was the abridged version and I've been wanting to read the full version ever since. I own it and it's been on my tbr forever but I've been putting it off because of its size. But I will mark it for June. I'm so excited because even though the version I read was abridged, I loved the story and it's one of my favorites!

Count me in! I look forward to reading this once June rolls around 🙂

I'm soooo in! June sounds perfect!

I'm in, June works for me. I'm so excited!!

Can't wait for June!

I have a hardcopy waiting to be read😀 so let’s start in June.

It will be such a busy month for me, but i'm more than willing to try! Count me in :)

I, too, will join you all in June! Yay! Thank you for this buddy read!

I will try to join in in this one as I have been wanting to read it for ages. I think I will read the kindle edition, as I have the hard copy and it's massive / heavy and not very motivational to read when you see its size

My favourite book. You won’t regret it! Amazing story! Enjoy everyone!!

I'll join in June too.

Una wrote: "My favourite book. You won’t regret it! Amazing story! Enjoy everyone!!"

Wow! Thank you, Una! Now I'm really looking forward to reading it this June!

I cant wait to start reading this book, I agree with this schedule its simple

I've read The Count four times in my life, and I expect, in a few years to read it again.
Always amazed at how this is probably the greatest story of revenge ever written.

I’ll join too, I think I will get the Audiobook for this one. Been keen to read it since Joe Goldberg’s character from the show You recommends it in one the episodes...

I'm planning to join in on this as well. Excited!

I'm actually currently reading (and adoring!) it, but perhaps I'll join in the discussion and reread snippets here and there.

Do you know where to find an unabridged version of this or are we planning in reading the abridged version?

I have started this book with another group. We are reading unabridged version with 117 chapters in all. Though I have a hard copy but I downloaded e-book from iBooks and reading both alternately.
I have reached chapter 6 . It is interesting easy read so I hope I will be able to finish.

The Count of Monte Cristo, translated by Robin Buss in 1993, published by Penguin in their well-known paperback and the new clothbound hardback lines, is the only unabridged one in English, and the one most people in my group read use (as do I). It's an amazing translation of an amazing story, thoroughly recommend.
I did hover between getting the paperback over the hardback because of the price, but in the end the difference is not terribly big, and the hardback is easier to handle, even though it's glued like a regular paperback.

Hi all! I haven’t taken part in a classics buddy read yet but I really want to read The Count of Monte Cristo and the schedule seems really manageable so I hope I can join along with you all! 😊

I too will join! The Count has been sitting on my bookshelf for many years. The reading schedule is great. Happy reading!

I am on a roll reading French Classics. Although I am reading it now but would love to join the discussion.Quite an exciting read!

I am so glad I saw your post for this TODAY, since tomorrow is June 1st!! I'll do my best to join in as well. Most likely on Kindle, since I don't have a hard copy. I'm excited!

I have to say I am rubbish at buddy reads. I could not wait until the appointed date to start reading The Count of monte Cristo and have, in fact, already finished.
It was really very good and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did 😊

As I wrote that I am reading this book with other group I am on chapter 25 and enjoying it immensely can’t wait to read your responses .Happy Reading friends😀

Like Sue, I, too, have finished this book; April was just the perfect month for me to read it and it was sooo good!!! I'll be re-reading this along with you all, as if I'm reading it for the first time again. That will be fun and I'm looking forward to seeing what you all think each week!

Ok fine. Twist my arm. I’ll read along. I started a few months ago and then decided to read other things. I read an abridged version in high school. This will be my first time reading unabridged. I loved the story as a teen and wonder how it will translate as an adult. I find that reading as a mom/adult is a totally different experience and I feel like I need to reread everything all over again.

How is everyone getting on? Which characters are your favourite so far?

I've just read this week's chapters and so far I'm really enjoying it.

The style is very readable and I felt there was a really ominous sense to it because you know bad things are going to happen. Danglars is despicable.

Part of me thinks 5 chapters a week isn't going to be enough but the other part is really looking forward to taking the time and really enjoying it slowly.

@Becky I agree, well said: it does have a really ominous sense to it. I think this opening part is one of the hardest parts to read because of that.

I'm really enjoying it so far. Edmond is clearly this young guy in the prime of his life with everything going for him. Fernand and Danglars are just riddled with jealousy and have selfish motives and that creates a really interesting dynamic and you can just tell that their underhandedness is going to create some problems.

I'm excited to read the rest of it :)

Yes! It’s such amazing writing and so interesting how Edmond is being set up as someone we can pity. He is loved by most everyone, and then these two men want to ruin him. It’s ominous and also brilliant. Our emotions are being set up so we feel sorry for all that will happen. I’m interested to see how I feel once this character I feel so sorry for starts his revenge. Will I feel he is justified?

I’m confused about one thing. Why did Caderousse change his opinion all of a sudden at the end of chapter 5? He’s listening to Danglars and Morrel talk and then Danglars asks “do you still feel any desire to stand up to his defense?” and he says no. Was it just that Morrel confirmed the fact that Dantes went to Elba? It doesn’t seem like there was any damning info to change his mind.

Ashley wrote: "Yes! It’s such amazing writing and so interesting how Edmond is being set up as someone we can pity. He is loved by most everyone, and then these two men want to ruin him. It’s ominous and also bri..."

To me, that seems to be the most likely reason. I noticed when Caderousse was threatening to tell Edmond's father and Mercedes, Danglars stopped him with the idea that Edmond might actually be guilty, which seemed to be the first thing to make him hesitate. And then when Danglars and Morrel are talking, no one seems to think it will be very serious and that Edmond will be shortly released and I think that, along with the possibility that he could be guilty, is what caused him to change his mind. I guess also the idea of what could happen to them/their reputation if people find out they were the cause of his arrest could have contributed. That's the impression I got but it is a bit confusing because it doesn't appear that there was much of an incentive for such a sudden change.

I think that Caderousse just doesn't have much of a backbone, and that's why he's so easily swayed in his opinions of people.
When we first meet him he's almost hostile to the Dantès' but quickly changes his attitude; similarly, his first impulse to expose the scheme of Danglars and Fernand is checked almost immediately by a little bit of gaslighting from Danglars. I don't believe he's a bad character, but he certainly doesn't have enough grip on himself to stay "good".

i think caderousse wanted just stay away of ant problem. He is selfish and say something yo save Edmond would be emd in trouble. He is not a bad person like Danglars but he isn't good either. He just want the best for him and said something would be so bad for him

I agree that Caderousse is weak and so just goes along with the others, weakness and self-interest prevent him from doing the right thing.

Having now read this week’s chapters, Villefort is also motivated by self-interest. So far, Danglars is obviously the worst and has a real streak of nastiness but it seems that all of the ‘bad guys’ are motivated by selfishness and weakness to Edmond’s cost.

I feel really sorry for Edmond, I think one of the hardest things is his complete lack of power. How frustrating it is to be dismissed and ignored and to be able to do nothing to argue your case.

Turning down the books though, what a strange character!

Becky I agree that everyone has selfish interests and poor Edmond is getting the short end of the stick. It’s actually kind of hard to read right now along with current events. I’ve been reading a lot about systemic racism and thought a novel would be a good break from that. It’s not turning out to be that way. I didn’t consider how the unfair behavior would just feel like more of the same. I’m not trying to spur a discussion about Black Lives Matter or anything related to that, so I hope it’s ok to compare the books to current events and how my feelings toward the book are being colored.

Ashley, I totally get where you're coming from. Also not to make this into a discussion about BLM, but I don't see much relation here other than that someone is obviously and visibly to all being persecuted unfairly and disproportionally to the accusation. Dantès got tangled up in political intrigues, he wasn't persecuted systemically because of his belonging to a particular group of people. Perhaps you could argue that after he was first tagged by the bureaucracy as a Napoleonic conspirator that kind of imprinted a label on him and afterwards his image was indeed moulded into something far removed from reality or his sphere of influence. But I think you're alluding to the helpless rage and unfairness of the situation, that I wholeheartedly do agree with, it hits close to home in these times.

Hi Ashley, discrimination was on my mind too, in terms of racism but also sexism, homophobia, and anything else that goes on this depressing list.

I always find it difficult reading about characters being unfairly treated when they have no power to defend themselves, particularly when they are trying to tell their side of the story and are just ignored or not believed. I find it so incredibly frustrating. Although, the fact that it provokes difficult feelings is, for me, the sign of a good book because it makes me feel something.

It's always interesting when your reading of a book is affected by the world around you and, certainly for me, it makes the discussions more interesting.

The fact that it's not providing the break and light relief that so many of us need at the moment is maybe a reason why it's good that we're just reading a little each week.