Comment by palerdot | Hacker News Reader

Comment by palerdot | Hacker News Reader

The Count of Monte Cristo - This is one breathtaking epic. I have been putting off reading this novel for quite some time and occasionally see this name popping up in HN too, but never gave a serious thought for giving it a go. Was I wrong! This is an epic in its true sense, and you will feel a sense of amazement as you progress through the novel. I'm quite a reader, and I have not experienced such amazement when reading any other book (atleast in recent times). Perhaps, I read this book when I was pretty down and kind of hopeless where my life is taking me, because this book is all about HOPE. Even if you are not a reader, the storyline itself will beat any of the entertaining stories out there. But this book is more than its storyline. At the minimum, you will learn to hope which is a big takeaway from this novel. If you are on the fence reading this, just go for it.

Other books which I find interesting

- The Slight Edge

- Sapiens

- The Master and Margarita (apart from the fact it is a great novel, this is so wickedly funny )

I'll second the recommendation of The Count of Monte Cristo.

There's a user on HN who learned French just so he could read it in the original, and I can see why.

If you read it, make sure to read the unabridged edition, and not any of the many abridged editions, which are often targeted at children and are a travesty to the mature themes in the original.

I can personally recommend David Clarke's reading of it on Librivox,[1] who does an excellent job.

[1] - https://librivox.org/the-count-of-monte-cristo-version-3-by-...

Counterpoint: I prefer the abridged version. Dumas was originally paid by number of pages and it shows IMO.

Which one would you recommend?

He was paid by the number of lines -- which actually does show by, for instance, the number of dialogues with Noirtier, a mute who mostly responds "yes" or "no."

Completely agree for the Count of Monte Cristo, but wanted to add that I had a similar experience more recently with Shogun (James Clavell) which I found equally inescapably immersive.

Thanks for the suggestion. Adding 'Shogun' to my reading list

If you are adding Shogun then surely you also must add Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. A sprawling epic loosely based on history, with real historical people as characters

Thanks for suggestion. Added to my reading list ...

Highly recommend the audio book, if you're into that.

If by 'inescapably' you mean trapped in sprawling meandering threads with no meaning or relevance to the story that must be read out to completion before you realize you've been had, sure.

The sword buried in earthquake and the samurai-wife subplots come to mind even all these years later.

Still, it was riveting compared to the shaggy dog that was Tai-Pan, the only book I've had the distinction of hurling at the wall in disgust at its non-conclusion.

There is a 70s TV mini series that did a good adaptation of the Shogun book. So I decided to read the book, it was well worth it. At 1000+ pages I wish it could have been longer. I loved it.

The Master and Margarita is one of the best novels I've read this year too. It is funny and is so fresh with its humour, despite being several decades old.

I guess it's a testimony of how fresh it feels, the book has been written in the 1930s

Funny coincidence. I just finished The Count of Monte Cristo and started reading The Master and Margarita after that few days ago. Nice to see that they are well recommended here.

Edit:

I read Robin Buss Unabridged version from penguin for "The Count of Monte Cristo".

Also, some of other interesting books I forgot to mention in my original list

- How to Change Your Mind (don't be put off by title)

- Meditations, Marcus Aurelius (good peek into the mind of one of the greatest emperors of all time)

I picked up The Count of Monte Cristo on a dusty shared bookshelf on some combat outpost in Afghanistan circa 2010. I read through it in two days and loved it so much that I ordered the unabridged as soon as I had the means. Fantastic read.

The Count of Monte Cristo is a true masterpiece. I have the unabridged version and have recommended it to others many times. Dumas has profound insight into human nature--the characters are beautifully drawn (even the villains) and with such realistic contours that they seem like actual people. A brilliant read.

Which translation (if so) of "The master and Margarita" have you read? It's on my to read list for some time but when it's time to pick it up, i'm always turned off from finding the right one.

DIANA BURGIN AND KATHERINE O’CONNOR's translation

It is a great book but I honestly felt like nearly all the action in Rome could have been done without.

There's a Count of Monte Christio movie that's very good too. I highly recommend it.

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