I was planning out an elaborate post summarizing, analyzing, and reviewing The Count of Monte Cristo, but then too much time passed (one week?) and I lost the motivation to do it. So in a nutshell, here is what you need to know about the novel version of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo:
The writing of the novel: Dumas was known to collaborate with other authors, and was often accused of having not actually written the majority of the novels that he laid claim to. He "borrowed" from outside sources, including historical events and entire plot lines from other authors, all of which he out his own spin on. It is widely believed that for this novel, Dumas received entire plot outlines from a collaborator, and merely wrote them out in his own words. There are certain chapters in the book that, as one is reading, seem to be written by two different people, with two different styles. This collaboration may explain why.
Another obvious point about Monte Cristo is its painstaking length. It drags on for over 1300 pages, (give or take, depending on which translation you are reading) and there are many, many chapters (and characters) that the novel really could have done without. However, this is understandable since Dumas was actually getting paid by the word! So can you really blame the guy?
The Count of Monte Cristo is admittedly the story of a real man named Francoise Picaud. The novel is his life retold in Dumas' melodramatic fashion. As far as the main plot line is concerned, nearly everything that happens to Dantes, happened to Picaud.
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Reading Resolutions?
Wow. First of all, I can't believe that I haven't posted since November. I didn't realize that it had been that long.
Secondly, Happy New Year, everyone.... all5 7* of you. :-) I'm hoping to make changes this year and am resolving to post more.
That's it.
That's my resolution. For this aspect of my life anyway. I have a million others in relation to myself, my family, and home life. But that's for a different blog.
Anyway. I'm going to try to set monthly goals for myself and for this blog. My goal for this month is to finish Agatha Christie's autobiography. I have already finished her novels and short stories (if you're wondering when this happened, it happened in November, which is probably why I didn't blog at all; too busy reading! I was going to write about it, and in fact started the post, but then something happened to distract me and I gave it up. Story of my life. But here it is in all of it's wonderous glory):
"I have officially finished ALL of Agatha Christie's novels and short stories!"
Yup. That's as far as I got. I am a woman of many words.
I also finished reading her memoir Come, Tell Me How You Live in which she describes her adventures in the Middle East with her archaeologist husband, second husband, that is. In short, is was an enjoyable, and often humorous read, and I recommend it. (A post was started about this one too, but obviously never finished. Here is how it started):
Secondly, Happy New Year, everyone.... all
That's it.
That's my resolution. For this aspect of my life anyway. I have a million others in relation to myself, my family, and home life. But that's for a different blog.
Anyway. I'm going to try to set monthly goals for myself and for this blog. My goal for this month is to finish Agatha Christie's autobiography. I have already finished her novels and short stories (if you're wondering when this happened, it happened in November, which is probably why I didn't blog at all; too busy reading! I was going to write about it, and in fact started the post, but then something happened to distract me and I gave it up. Story of my life. But here it is in all of it's wonderous glory):
"I have officially finished ALL of Agatha Christie's novels and short stories!"
Yup. That's as far as I got. I am a woman of many words.
I also finished reading her memoir Come, Tell Me How You Live in which she describes her adventures in the Middle East with her archaeologist husband, second husband, that is. In short, is was an enjoyable, and often humorous read, and I recommend it. (A post was started about this one too, but obviously never finished. Here is how it started):
Monday, November 15, 2010
"By the Pricking of My Thumbs..."
"...Something wicked this way comes." William Shakespeare – Macbeth (Act IV, Scene 1)
I have been conducting a little "experiment" where I am leaving my computer off for the day to see how much I can get accomplished. If I turn it on at all, it is not until night time. I have accomplished so many things in the past three or four days of doing this. I won't bore you with everything that I have finished, but I have been able to finish TWO books, Endless Nights and By the Pricking of My Thumbs, both by Agatha Christie.
This novel, published in 1968, features two of Christie's regular characters, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. They are, by this time, quite older than in their spy-games days, as they are now grandparents. It's nice to see them resurface in a later novel. (They first appeared in their early twenties in The Secret Adversary, published in 1922).
In By the Pricking of My Thumbs,while visiting an aunt in a nursing home, they encounter an elderly woman by the name of Mrs. Lancaster. She utters a bewildering comment to Tuppence about something behind the fireplace and a poor child. When Mrs. Lancaster suddenly disappears, and the Beresfords discover a painting of a house in connection with Mrs Lancaster, a house that Tuppence knows she has seen somewhere before, the wheels are in motion. Tuppence cannot fight the feeling of danger and is determined to find out what has happened to Mrs. Lancaster and how the painting, or the house are connected.
I have been conducting a little "experiment" where I am leaving my computer off for the day to see how much I can get accomplished. If I turn it on at all, it is not until night time. I have accomplished so many things in the past three or four days of doing this. I won't bore you with everything that I have finished, but I have been able to finish TWO books, Endless Nights and By the Pricking of My Thumbs, both by Agatha Christie.
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This novel, published in 1968, features two of Christie's regular characters, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. They are, by this time, quite older than in their spy-games days, as they are now grandparents. It's nice to see them resurface in a later novel. (They first appeared in their early twenties in The Secret Adversary, published in 1922).
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Saturday, November 13, 2010
"Endless Night"
Guess what folks? I am this close to accomplishing my goal of reading all of Agatha Christie's stories. I have read 72 novels and 140+ short stories thus far! I am entering the 1970s, 1972 to be exact. But prior to that, I finished reading Endless Night which was published in 1967.
When I started reading this novel, I was surprised as it started reading like one of Christie's Mary Westmacott "romances". It is told in first person, the narrator being a young man, and begins with his thoughts and feelings about falling in love with both a place and a girl. It does not initially read like a typical Christie mystery to me.
The majority of this novel is a story about the young couple as they fall in love, marry, and begin their life together. They have built a dream home that they had been planning together since the day they met. Everything seems to be going well, and, in my opinion, it would have remained so if Christie had continued with this aspect of the story. However, like most of her stories, there is a pretty big twist at the end that changes the story from what the reader has expected. Brief rundown of the main conflict: they move into their house, but are soon threatened by a local gypsy who warns them that there is a curse on their land yadda, yadda, yadda. There is also some conflict between the couple and their various family members, but for the purpose of this post, I'm skipping over those details.
As I was thoroughly enjoying the "romance" story between the two main characters, I found myself to be very disappointed with the ending. While the first three-quarters of the novel seemed to occur at a comfortable pace, the ending seemed too rushed. Everything was happening too quickly, without any real details. All of a sudden, there have been three deaths, only one presented to the readers; the other two were revealed through correspondences. I also felt that there were too many loose ends that were left hanging, not tied up or concluded in any way. There were too many coincidences among the characters; they were connected in ways that were a little unbelievable, if not bewildering. It seemed as though Christie was throwing in as many little red herrings as she possibly could with this one.
But what I was most disappointed with was the twist at the end. And I suppose that's mainly because I prefer to see the good in people,and would like to believe that what we see, and what we are told can be trusted.
Not so with this novel.
I was surprised to learn that this novel was actually a favorite of both Christie and her husband. The reason being the exact one that I ended up disliking about it; the twist at the end. Without giving any details away, it basically involves a character who chooses "evil" over "good".
I think that this story would have been more successful (for my tastes) if Christie had chosen to go in a different direction with it. As it is, I would probably only recommend Endless Night to people who enjoy unexpected, unbelievable twists, who are thoroughly bored and desperate for a book to read, or who, like me, have set a personal goal of completing all of Agatha Christie's novels.
When I started reading this novel, I was surprised as it started reading like one of Christie's Mary Westmacott "romances". It is told in first person, the narrator being a young man, and begins with his thoughts and feelings about falling in love with both a place and a girl. It does not initially read like a typical Christie mystery to me.
The majority of this novel is a story about the young couple as they fall in love, marry, and begin their life together. They have built a dream home that they had been planning together since the day they met. Everything seems to be going well, and, in my opinion, it would have remained so if Christie had continued with this aspect of the story. However, like most of her stories, there is a pretty big twist at the end that changes the story from what the reader has expected. Brief rundown of the main conflict: they move into their house, but are soon threatened by a local gypsy who warns them that there is a curse on their land yadda, yadda, yadda. There is also some conflict between the couple and their various family members, but for the purpose of this post, I'm skipping over those details.
As I was thoroughly enjoying the "romance" story between the two main characters, I found myself to be very disappointed with the ending. While the first three-quarters of the novel seemed to occur at a comfortable pace, the ending seemed too rushed. Everything was happening too quickly, without any real details. All of a sudden, there have been three deaths, only one presented to the readers; the other two were revealed through correspondences. I also felt that there were too many loose ends that were left hanging, not tied up or concluded in any way. There were too many coincidences among the characters; they were connected in ways that were a little unbelievable, if not bewildering. It seemed as though Christie was throwing in as many little red herrings as she possibly could with this one.
But what I was most disappointed with was the twist at the end. And I suppose that's mainly because I prefer to see the good in people,and would like to believe that what we see, and what we are told can be trusted.
Not so with this novel.
I was surprised to learn that this novel was actually a favorite of both Christie and her husband. The reason being the exact one that I ended up disliking about it; the twist at the end. Without giving any details away, it basically involves a character who chooses "evil" over "good".
I think that this story would have been more successful (for my tastes) if Christie had chosen to go in a different direction with it. As it is, I would probably only recommend Endless Night to people who enjoy unexpected, unbelievable twists, who are thoroughly bored and desperate for a book to read, or who, like me, have set a personal goal of completing all of Agatha Christie's novels.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Make an Appointment with Death
I just finished reading Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie (I know, big surprise there, huh?). I have to say that this story is one of my favorites top picks of her crime stories.
At the time of publication, this book received mixed reviews. Some critics cited it as being brilliant and among her best, whereas others claimed that it is lacking in plot, and too full of psychology. This last complaint is perhaps the reason why I ranked it among my top favorites, (excluding her Westmacott novels).
The story takes place in Petra, Jerusalem, which to me is neither here nor there, as the setting itself doesn't really play any essential role in the story. The first half of this book, Part I, focuses primarily on the Boynton family. It is essentially a psychological glimpse, or character sketch, of a family who is governed by a sadistic matriarch. The other members of the Boynton family, including three step-children, one daughter-in-law and one daughter, all ranging between ages 17-30, are entirely dependent on Mrs. Boynton, both financially and psychologically. They are all stuck at home under their mother's thumb; she limits their contact with the outside world and controls their every move as though she has them hypnotized. Christie's description of Mrs. Boynton as a domineering tyrant is haunting, and the torment that her children are put through is worthy of anyone's pity.
I enjoyed the first half of this book because of it's focus on the family and their influence on the people who are outside looking in, the unknown observers. The second half, however, was exactly what I would expect any of Christie's crime novels to be; it was both predictable and unexpected at the same time. Part II ran like a typical Hercule Poirot novel. The pattern, the tone, and the plot are characteristic of a Christie story. Poirot as a character is his usual egotistical, over-confident self. He pulls his clues and his solution seemingly out of nowhere, and sets up his dramatic reveal at the end as he always does. He gathers everyone in a room and goes through his process step-by-step until he finally reveals the murderer, who really has nothing to do with the speech and clues that he has just spent a hundred hours spewing out.
After reading as many of her novels as I have, (over 40), some solutions are starting to become a little too obvious. I had a sneaking suspicion as to who the murderer would be revealed to be, but I doubted it because it seemed a little too obvious, as it was the character least likely to be the murderer. But as most of Christie's novels turn out, it often IS the least likely character.
I would recommend reading this novel only if you are bored with her regular crime stories, and enjoy the ones that delve into the psychology of the characters.
At the time of publication, this book received mixed reviews. Some critics cited it as being brilliant and among her best, whereas others claimed that it is lacking in plot, and too full of psychology. This last complaint is perhaps the reason why I ranked it among my top favorites, (excluding her Westmacott novels).
The story takes place in Petra, Jerusalem, which to me is neither here nor there, as the setting itself doesn't really play any essential role in the story. The first half of this book, Part I, focuses primarily on the Boynton family. It is essentially a psychological glimpse, or character sketch, of a family who is governed by a sadistic matriarch. The other members of the Boynton family, including three step-children, one daughter-in-law and one daughter, all ranging between ages 17-30, are entirely dependent on Mrs. Boynton, both financially and psychologically. They are all stuck at home under their mother's thumb; she limits their contact with the outside world and controls their every move as though she has them hypnotized. Christie's description of Mrs. Boynton as a domineering tyrant is haunting, and the torment that her children are put through is worthy of anyone's pity.
I enjoyed the first half of this book because of it's focus on the family and their influence on the people who are outside looking in, the unknown observers. The second half, however, was exactly what I would expect any of Christie's crime novels to be; it was both predictable and unexpected at the same time. Part II ran like a typical Hercule Poirot novel. The pattern, the tone, and the plot are characteristic of a Christie story. Poirot as a character is his usual egotistical, over-confident self. He pulls his clues and his solution seemingly out of nowhere, and sets up his dramatic reveal at the end as he always does. He gathers everyone in a room and goes through his process step-by-step until he finally reveals the murderer, who really has nothing to do with the speech and clues that he has just spent a hundred hours spewing out.
After reading as many of her novels as I have, (over 40), some solutions are starting to become a little too obvious. I had a sneaking suspicion as to who the murderer would be revealed to be, but I doubted it because it seemed a little too obvious, as it was the character least likely to be the murderer. But as most of Christie's novels turn out, it often IS the least likely character.
I would recommend reading this novel only if you are bored with her regular crime stories, and enjoy the ones that delve into the psychology of the characters.
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