For those of you who don't know, The Count of Monte Cristo concerns a young Frenchman, Edmond Dantes, who seems to have everything in life going rightFor those of you who don't know, The Count of Monte Cristo concerns a young Frenchman, Edmond Dantes, who seems to have everything in life going right for him. He's to marry his beloved Mercedes, and he will soon be made a captain of a merchant ship. But one Fernand Mondego and Danglar frame him for being a Bonapartist, and Dantes is sentences to imprisonment in the Chateau d'If. After fourteen years, Dantes manages to finally escape and returns to France as the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo to avenge his ruined life.
Most of us think of this story with fondness because it has betrayal, romance, treasure, duels, poisoning, and revenge. I knew the gist of the story myself at an early age, and attempted to read a paperback copy when I was eight or nine. I didn't finish it, so thoroughly disappointed was I in discovering the true "lay of the land." Only recently did I buy a hardcover edition to replace my old battered paperback one, and only even more recently did I read its entirety.
I don't say this often - in fact, I think I have only said this once: the movie versions - especially the 2002 one with James Caviezel and Guy Pearce - are better than the book. This is a story that had a lot of potential, but because Alexandre Dumas wrote it, the majority of said potential was not taken advantage of. The first twenty chapters are good. The villains are introduced, Dantes is arrested and imprisoned, then he breaks out . . . and finds the treasure, which is when it starts to go downhill. For one thing, the treasure is one sad little box. Just one!! Massively disappointing for a nine-year-old, I can tell you that. Especially when every illustrated version I had looked at depicted the treasure as filling the entire cave (and I love how the cave is an underwater grotto in the 2002 film).
The Reader may then expect thirty chapters of pure blather. There is a mildly interesting scene involving Italian bandits (one of the male characters suffers us to read his comment on how he noted that many of the Italian bandits were quite handsome . . . Disturbing!), but Dumas manages to make that quite dull. I'm all for complicated revenge plans, but Monte Cristo carries it too far!! After thirty chapters, it picks up again for fourteen chapters, then sputters out for the last seven.
All in all, I found it a massive letdown. Again, the potential is there, but the plain truth is Alexandre Dumas is not a good writer. Oh, his style is okay - his dialogue often reads like a play, which can be a bit irritating at times. But there is nothing likable in his characters. Mercedes is a shallow woman, the villains really quite pathetic, and Dantes was likable up until the very end, when he runs off with a very young slave-girl (no, I am sorry, but he does not get reunited with Mercedes. I personally like the movie endings better, too). All the men are disturbingly light on their feet - especially the young dandies - and the women flighty and silly. And everyone is beyond melodramatic. Melodrama is fine when the Author is trying to make it humorous, but Dumas is a humorous writer (some of you may say that The Three Musketeers was light-hearted and humorous; that isn't the sort of humor I am speaking of).
Yes, The Count of Monte Cristo, while a good idea, falls quite short of the mark. I love classics and most of the time the Author's beautiful way of writing can make even the most boring story fun to read, but not so in Alexandre Dumas's case. College professors - those people who will say anything that makes them sound learned and lofty - may claim that Dumas is a masterful storyteller. I, a longtime bookworm and connoisseur of all things written, wholeheartedly disagree. The Count of Monte Cristo certainly is his best work, but that is only because it doesn't drag its feet the entire time.
So, if you are looking for a good classic to read and think to yourself, "Oh, I know the general gist of The Count of Monte Cristo. It sounds exciting!", stick to the movies. For once, they are actually better than the book. ...more
This is story where you definitely cannot judge the book by its movie, for the book is far better than any movie version ever made. It took me a long This is story where you definitely cannot judge the book by its movie, for the book is far better than any movie version ever made. It took me a long time to read this book because of the movie versions I had seen (and I did not like any of the movies). But the book is really good - dryly satirical and dark....more
"Lord Kirkle's Money" picks right up where "The Escape from Home" left off, and while the Author offers a sort of recap in the first few chapters, it "Lord Kirkle's Money" picks right up where "The Escape from Home" left off, and while the Author offers a sort of recap in the first few chapters, it isn't a very good idea to let much time lapse between reading this one and its prequel. But if a Reader is unfortunate enough to do so, Avi's hundreds of characters are not so easily forgotten, and it won't take long to recall the important things from Book One.
This installment offers up a number of new characters along with the old, each one adding a new twist to the storyline, more depth to the overall ambiance of this rich time in history. And there is further improvement in the old characters. Maura is still fairly passive, but Patrick's temper levels out somewhat and whatever scrapes he gets into in this book are not entirely his fault. Laurence, still my favorite, learns better how to stand on his own two feet, as it were, and whatever amount of victimhood he possessed in "The Escape from Home" is well and good nonexistent by the end.
With the reappearance of Mr. Clemspool, Laurence's brother Albert, and the pickpocket who robbed Laurence in London, there is not a dull moment in the book. On top of these villains are Mr. Shagwell, who uses Mr. Clemspool as much as Mr. Clemspool uses him, and Jeremiah Jenkins, who causes no small amount of trouble for the O'Connells and other Irish immigrants. Avi does a spectacular job in tying all of these characters into the fate of the 1,000 pounds Laurence stole from his father; characters that you'd think would have absolutely no connection to it. All in all, a thrilling, richly historical adventure; an absolute triumph....more
It is 1851. Thousands are fleeing the Old World for the New, desperate to reach America.
Maura and Patrick O'Connell, fifteen-and twelve-year-old IrishIt is 1851. Thousands are fleeing the Old World for the New, desperate to reach America.
Maura and Patrick O'Connell, fifteen-and twelve-year-old Irish peasants, are forced by Lord Kirkle, their English landlord, to leave Kilonny and seek refuge elsewhere. When their father sends money for passage over to America, they begin a perilous journey from starved Ireland to the bustling, crowded streets of Liverpool. The streets are filled with villains of all size waiting to prey upon Irish immigrants, and overwhelmed with a sense of loss, Maura and Patrick are not sure who to trust.
Eleven-year-old Laurence is the younger son of Lord Kirkle. Bullied and hated by his elder brother, Laurence runs away, intent upon reaching America and stealing a great sum of money from his father to gain passage over. Ignorant of street life and finding himself bereft of the stolen money, Laurence soon finds himself without a friend - and a great many people who pretend to be his friend, but have their own reasons for capturing him. Lord Kirkle hires Mr. Pickler, private investigator, to track his favorite son down, while Albert, Laurence's brother, hires Mr. Clemspool to ensure that Laurence never returns. Chased from London to Liverpool, Laurence soon finds himself entangled with the fates of Maura and Patrick O'Connell, who are both bound for the same place.
This is probably one of Avi's best books - and the series only gets better with its second installment (but a review for that will come later). Here is a story simply bursting with characters, and all of them are very different from one another, yet interact in realistic, believable ways. Avi throws them into many "what are the odds" situations that are masterfully worked to be possible, and make for a very exciting adventure.
The flaws? Well, I cannot say that Avi's choice of Irish names is very original, and while I like Maura well enough, she isn't the most active heroine - she doubts herself too often, when she should listen to her instincts, - and Patrick is a little too hot-headed to be entirely likable. It makes for their part of the story to be a tiny bit vexing. But that is part of the beauty of having so many characters in one story: there is a bounty to choose from. Laurence Kirkle is not normally a character I would initially like - he's a rich, pampered boy, so he doesn't really know how to do anything, and spends a lot of his time allowing other people take care of him. And one could even venture to say he spends a lot of time feeling sorry for himself. But Laurence is only eleven, finds himself in a situation far more dire than he ever anticipated, and he has a right to be upset - it seems that wherever he turns, someone is trying to nab him. Despite Laurence's initial uncertainty and uselessness, he's a tough little boy, and once he comes to terms with his new lot in life, he swallows his tears and gets down to learning the ways of the street. One cannot help but like him, from beginning to end.
This is a fun adventure series set in a very fascinating time in history, well researched, and well written. I loved this book when I was a kid and I'll always be a fan. This is one of Avi's finest....more
This is a book that has an equal amount of flaws and good things, which balance each other out and make for an excellent story. Good things first: ChaThis is a book that has an equal amount of flaws and good things, which balance each other out and make for an excellent story. Good things first: Charlotte is an entertaining narrator, and sensible for being thirteen. She doesn't start out as being entirely so, but she matures as the story goes, and it's a fun progression to follow. Captain Jaggery is a pretty believable insane captain - he has enough sanity to appear normal to the everyday person, but spend enough time around him, and you'll see his loose marbles. And Avi took time to do nautical research.
But . . . For all of his research, he still seems to think "rope" and "line" are interchangeable, and some of the events are a little fantastic to be plausible, even in a fairly secluded scenario like a privately-owned merchant ship. Charlotte is a young well-bred girl whose ambition is to be a proper young lady, and while the events on board the ship that cause her to join the crew would certainly be shocking, I don't believe for a minute that it would change her mind about propriety so drastically that she would actually join the crew - even if she were in shock and were acting rashly. It's a big leap for a girl of her breeding to take after one occurrence. It's perhaps a little more believable that the captain would allow it, if only because he is insane, and he's setting her up. But it's still a little hard to believe.
So, circumstances are not entirely possible, but not so absurd as to override the fact that this is a fun adventure - and with a female character who doesn't have The Attitude! I loved this book when I was nine, and I still do, even if my older age has made me realize the improbability of events. I think a great many people will still enjoy it regardless....more