Friday, September 28, 2012

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas



Two winters ago, I decided that I needed to treat myself to a quick weekend getaway. I made reservations at a hotel in downtown Philadelphia and pretended that I was far away from home. Well, I do have friends in Philadelphia, and they met me for brunch at a swanky restaurant in downtown Philadelphia.


Omoiye and Jennifer

Some kind of way we got on the topic of books, and Omoiye, the one on the left in the picture, asked me if I had ever read The Count of Monte Cristo, and she also stated that the author was Black. She forgot to mention that the book is over 900 pages. Not that I don't read extremely long books, but damn!!!

You know me, I instantly downloaded The Count of Monte Cristo, and I started reading it this past August, around 2 years after it was recommended. I really should have started reading it at the beginning of the summer when I had a lot of free, but sometimes we just don't plan things correctly.

Alexandre Dumas' (1802-1870) grandfather was from a noble French family, and his grandmother was a Dominican slave. So, this made his father French and Dominican, and his mother was French soooo, I guess that we can say, if we stretch it, that Dumas was Black. I kind of feel that Omiyoe tricked me, but Omoiye is a trickster! (She's going to deny that she is a trickster, but she is.)


Alexandre Dumas

The Count of Monte Cristo is captivating from the very first page. Edmond Dantes is wrongfully sent to prison, and the entire story is the story of Dante avenging his imprisonment. This novel has a lot of characters, and there are many different stories told about the people whom Edmond takes revenge upon. I would say that this is a mystery novel and Dumas gives clues along the way that makes the reader want to continue to read all 900 plus pages. The writing style of this novel is very similar to the writing of Charles Dickens in Great Expectations; they both tell stories within stories and cleverly puts all of the details together and leaves the reader with a very satisfying feeling.

If you want to work on your cognitive ability and be entertained for quite a long time, I highly recommend The Count of Monte Cristo. 

Thanks Omoiye for the recommendation.

Have a wild and crazy Friday!!!!!

2 comments:

Tre' said...

I am new to this blog and excited to have stumbled across it! The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite stories ever. The movie, starring Jim Caviezel, was fantastic!! I've never read the book, and probably never will, but the story is great.

I'd like to recommend to you Child of God by Lolita Files and Freeman by Leonard Pitts, Jr. Both are amazing reads.

Tre'

Jacqueline said...

Tre’ welome to The Big Sea. I hope that you come back often and leave me some comments.

I am not a movie person and will more than likely never watch the movie, but if it’s like the novel, I know that is excellent.

I will definitely check out your recommendations.

Again, thanks for stopping by.

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