Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

I’m going to finally try to read this behemoth. It’s going to take me a loooong time ;-). Is there a preferred English translation?

I need to get back into reading this, but in my defense I'm farther than my first attempts. It's a big commitment, especially for someone like me, who for the longest time read YA fantasy. I just need to sit down and focus only on that.

Thanks for asking about the translation, Nadine. I just have whatever free Kindle version I got from Amazon.

There used to be an easy way to search for free Kindle books on Amazon, but maybe they’ve taken that away? Because I’ve had no luck with my search ... and I’m struggling to download the .mobi file from Gutenberg on my phone too.

Ooh, I’m in! I got a copy for Christmas ten years ago, it’s probably time I read it. I have the Robin Buss translation.

Nadine wrote: "There used to be an easy way to search for free Kindle books on Amazon, but maybe they’ve taken that away? Because I’ve had no luck with my search ... and I’m struggling to download the .mobi file ..."

I did it like 8 years ago, I am sorry to hear that they took that option away. How annoying.

I dubiously grabbed it for 50 cents on amazon, we'll see. haha. It's one of those books I always feel like I "should" try but I never have. But maybe if a bunch of us are wading in together that'll be incentive

I have an audio version of The Count of Monte Cristo narrated by Bill Homewood. Oddly, I know I've read this, I think twice, but I don't have it marked as read here. Hmmm... Perhaps it's time to listen to those 52 hours.

Good luck guys! I read it a few years ago in small chunks at a time.

From a friend who is really into translations:

Translation Review: Robin Buss's unabridged translation for Penguin is universally considered the gold standard. Don't mess with anything else. (less)

Yep, I'm in (given I guess it was my idea!)

Prior to this, my only Dumas has been The Three Musketeers, but Monte Cristo has been on my list for a long time.

Milena wrote: "Thanks for asking about the translation, Nadine. I just have whatever free Kindle version I got from Amazon."

I'm not sure there is a free one, bizarrely - I checked. But the Penguin one is only £3.99 - at least in the UK - which isn't bad for a huge book, and there are several in the £2-2.99 range.

So, my aim is the end of February - I'm doing something called the Twelve Towers challenge (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...) for a different group, which I have to finish by then, and the last prompt is "a book that intimidates you"!

Do we want to do this as a formal buddy read, with a set number of chapters a week? Or shall we just see how we go?

Aaaaahhh I love that you're all starting this :D!

I am listening to the Naxos version with Bill Homewood and I'm enjoying it. The other narrators were terrible in terms of sound quality. I do want to read it in physical form one day as of yet, so fingers crossed it'll stay that way!

I listen to it on 1,5x speed so it's "only" 37 hours haha! 16 more to go, so I can't wait to hear all your thoughts!

Trish wrote: "Yep, I'm in (given I guess it was my idea!)

Prior to this, my only Dumas has been The Three Musketeers, but Monte Cristo has been on my list for a long time.

Milena wrote: "Thanks..."

That challenge sounds like so much fun! Such a shame it's probably too late to join, or I would! Though I could of course always do it just for me :)

I borrowed an ebook from my library but haven’t started yet. It DOESNT SAY who translated it!!! A glaring oversight. There is an introduction (which I skipped, to avoid spoilers), and then a note from “G. E. MITTON” (maybe that’s the translator???) that says part 1 is awesome, yadda yadda yadda, but:

It is the second part, recounting his revenge on the trio who had wrecked his life, that becomes insufferably tedious and complicated. In the present book an attempt has been made to cut away all that is redundant and allow the story to stand out clearly. It would have been impossible otherwise to bring the matter within the compass of a single volume of reasonable type.

. 😧. So it sounds like I’ve stumbled upon an abridged edition that does NOT call itself “abridged.” It’s ok, I doubt I’ll get to part 2 before my loan expires. Maybe I’ll try switching to audio at some point, too.

Okay it might just be me, but I find that that is an unforgivable thing to say about the book you've translated/edited/published IN THE BOOK ITSELF. This book is a favorite of so many people. Wow.

Carmen wrote: "Okay it might just be me, but I find that that is an unforgivable thing to say about the book you've translated/edited/published IN THE BOOK ITSELF. This book is a favorite of so many people. Wow."

Right? Insufferably tedious? Wow.

Also, apparently cutting books in half when they're too big is a thing so their argument of it being too long otherwise is invalid. Especially since they've been able to publish this book in one volume for almost 200 years.

Yeah it really surprised me.

This is a book that's been on my TRB for a while. I would like to join in.

You all tempt me! :) I just check the Danish translations and there is an unabridged audio that lasts 26,5 hours... I wonder about that.

*checked

Johanne wrote: "You all tempt me! :) I just check the Danish translations and there is an unabridged audio that lasts 26,5 hours... I wonder about that."

That seems very short indeed!

How long SHOULD it be? I grabbed the 50 cent version on amazon, the penguin one was 9 bucks on kindle which was more than I felt like spending on a "who knows if i'll actually get through his" title. my version doesn't say abridged, it's about 850 pages which sounds plenty long to me. The info doesn't say who translated or anything. The library, digitally, only has duke classics. It also doesn't list translator. I don't think I can get through it in two weeks so I don't really want to borrow it.

So I am asking myself: Is Danish a language that tends to be shorter than English? How long is the French audio? Do they speak really fast? Is it a hidden unabridged?

Oh sorry, I meant hidden abridged...

The printed version is around 850 in Danish.

I’m pretty positive it must be abridged, Johanne. It’s much, much longer in Norwegian at least, which should be approximately the same as in Danish.

I read the book last year (or maybe it was two years ago?) Absolutely loved it, all 1200 pages flew by really fast as each chapter tended to end with a cliffhanger, making me read on!

Hope you all enjoy it!:)

I just checked - it says the 850 page ed. is translated from the unabridged French ed. so that's not shortened. It seems the audio might be a reading of a book 1 of a 2 book edition, which makes sense. I may look further when I am with a computer and the library catalogue. Or I may not since I have too many other books going on at the moment.

Just chiming in because I just recently read this one with a group a few months back. Most of the standard editions I found to be abridged without telling you they are abridged. Different translations also have different numbers of chapters even when they are both unabridged. It made for a complicated buddy read trying to make sure we were stopping at the same points.

When I was researching a lot of folks recommended the Robin Buss translation. His name isn't always prominently shown on the edition, but I found that if I searched for that name I founds his editions. The Penguin Classics edition uses his translation.

It is very much worth the read (there were a few slow parts early on so I can see why it is a book often abridged, but SO glad I kept going on it).

it's sounding like maybe i should just suck it up and pay the 9 bucks for the penguin version. maybe actually paying for it will make me stick with it instead of giving up when it's slow haha.

Oh gosh. I have been trying to see if I could find which translation Naxos used somewhere on the internet (no luck yet) but I did come across this horrifying review of one of the Kindle edition translations

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...

poshpenny wrote: "Oh gosh. I have been trying to see if I could find which translation Naxos used somewhere on the internet (no luck yet) but I did come across this horrifying review of one of the Kindle editions tr..."

Ohmygod that is amazing hahaha! How does stuff like that get published???

An intense lack of proofreading

Wow, just wow! definitely looks like autotranslation.

All older English translations (and some other languages, too) are abridged and censored, because they cut all the sexual content present in the original French. I'd recommend one of the newer translations if you don't want to read your books censored. And oh my god yes that kindle edition sounds horrifying (but at least good for a laugh).

I haven’t come across any sexual content as of yet, but if that’s all that’s been cut I can live with that!

Hahaha when I was looking for the Gutenberg free ebook on Amazon (because it’s just so much easier to download directly from Amazon than from Gutenberg) I did see one edition that was no longer available due to severe proofreading errors. Sounds like this one !!!

I don't remember any sexual content when I read it. Maybe I read an abridged version without realising

I had only read that early translations had censored out some sexual content but had not researched what exactly was cut. I've now done so: there's nothing explicit in the original, but the early Victorian translations (which are usually used for Kindle editions and Project Gutenberg) censored out all references and hints about Eugenie's lesbian love and toned down her feminist notions, and one scene in which the original makes it pretty clear that sex happened whereas the translation makes it sound as if the protagonist merely flirted with the lady. Franz' hashish-fueled sexual fantasies are also omitted, and insults and swear-words are toned down. (The old translations also sound very stuffy in comparison.) Especially the omission of Eugenie's sexual orientation and views seems pretty annoying to me.

In terms of uncensored unabridged translations, the Penguin Classics edition is usually recommended, whereas the Barnes & Nobles classics etc. contain the alterations mentioned above.

Interesting tidbit: the character of the count as a self-made man and swash-buckler was inspired by Dumas' father, who was born on Saint Domingue to an enslaved African mother, was sold by his father and taken to France by his new owner, was then bought back by his father and freed, got an education, joined the army (where he was only allowed to serve as a private, not an officer due to his skin color) and nevertheless rose slowly through the ranks until he reached the rank of General - which still remains the highest rank a person of color has ever held in a continental European army. When returning from wars overseas, his ship took damage in a terrible storm and he was forced to go to land on a small island he believed to be in friendly hands - but which was actually occupied by enemies, who imprisoned him for two years. When he was released, the formerly strong man was paralyzed, half blind and almost deaf in one ear - a condition he attributed to having been poisoned.

It's quite easy to see how these experiences of his father may have inspired Dumas to write this story.

Eva wrote: "I had only read that early translations had censored out some sexual content but had not researched what exactly was cut. I've now done so: there's nothing explicit in the original, but the early V..."


I'm here for **ALL** the Victorian sexual content and lesbian love interests and hashish dreams!!! Sounds like I need to give up on MY pipe dream of reading the Gutenberg edition and shell out a few bucks for the Penguin edition. I think I might have an old Kindle gift card lying around somewhere ...

Eva wrote: "Interesting tidbit: the character of the count as a self-made man and swash-buckler was inspired by Dumas' father, who was born on Saint Domingue to an enslaved African mother, was sold by his fath..."


that's fascinating, thank you!!

Ohwow that is some amazing background info! I had no idea about Dumas at all and just assumed him to be 100% caucasian. Shame on me.

I just hit 67%, 11h43 left to go! I’d love to listen to another chapter because I am *very* invested in this particular storyline, but I’m just too tired. Cannot wait for tomorrow!

Have to admit, though, if I’ve already met our Victorian lesbian, I completely forgot as the name means absolutely nothing to me. That’s the downside of audio-names are a bit of a thing 😅 But then, I still have almost 12 hours to go, so there is plenty of time for things to happen!

Johanne wrote: "So I am asking myself: Is Danish a language that tends to be shorter than English? How long is the French audio? Do they speak really fast? Is it a hidden unabridged?"

The French audio version lasts almost 50 hours...

This discussion is so interesting. I am also going to buy the Penguin version, even though I already own a free version.

@Helene - I found out it's the first in a 2 book edition so then the length makes sense.

love this book

Eugenie is definitely at least bi- loving this little tidbit :D !

I've decided to join in on this, though I have no idea when I'll be able to get ahold of a Penguin Classics version and have the time to read a book longer than anything I've read before.

My very reasonable goal is for it to be this year!

The Penguin Classics is also available on Kindle if you have trouble finding it at the library/bookstore: https://www.amazon.com/Count-Monte-Cr...