>>8114596
Would reading the edition you buy be too simple a solution?

>>8114603
Appearantly, certain editions are abridged, and some people even think that the abridged versions are superior.

I'm just looking for advice so that my first reading is optimal.

>>8114596
Penguin Classics should be good. They seem to hold up better than Oxford, particularly their bigger books. I've read my penguin Quixote 3 times and it still is in terrific condition. I've read my Oxford Huck Finn 3 times and it's warped as hell.

>>8114613
I guess I don't understand why you are buying the Penguin Classics edition if you are still undecided about which edition you want to read. A normal person would first figure out the edition they want to read, and then purchase that edition.

>>8114596
why, ever? pages are thin as shit and those editions get destroyed so easily. get the vintage one

>>8114647
Because it's readily available to me and cheap. Plus, I tend to like Penguin.

Just wanted a confirmation that I'm not wasting my money on an inferior version.

Lowell Bair translation has the best quotes.

>>8114688
Of course it's an inferior edition - it's Penguin.

Then again, it's a pleb-tier book in the first place, so why not.

>>8114725
>Of course it's an inferior edition - it's Penguin.
good explanation friend

>>8116656
He's full of shit and doesn't realize how hard he's been memed into hating Penguin. The penguin Monte Cristo is the only uncensored and unabridged edition of the book that I know to be readily available in English translation. Easily the best choice for an english speaker, and like you said, the price is excellent.

Great story, great characters. A slow burn with building intensity that ends in a pitch of near frenzy. Hope you enjoy the ride as much as I did when I first read it.

>>8116667
Is this a joke?

Why the fuck would you want to read this shit? This is probably my least favorite classic of all I read, and that's a fair amount. The book is dreadfully boring, fueled by the fact that the author was paid extra for word count, and the concept, while really awesome and gripping in theory, falls absolutely flat on it's face. Bar a couple moments from the beginning and end, the fact that the protagonist is downright annoyingly slow at accomplishing anything practical kills this book. Again, I have to ask, why? For fuck's sake there have been books written since man discovered how to write at all, so why would you go out of your way to acquire one of, if not the most annoyingly bad classics there are? It's not even a fucking meme, so you couldn't even do it ironically. Honestly, the book is bible-thick, and none of those hundreds of pages contains ANYTHING worth delving into; not prose, plot, or characters. Do not read the damn book, period - it's not fucking worth your finite years

>>8116699
Double dubs don't deceive

>>8116699
I read it a few months ago and fucking loved it. I dunno why you're so angry about someone reading a book you dislike, anon.

File: 51WJhBdXDDL.jpg (39 KB, 305x500) Image search: [Google]

39 KB, 305x500

>>8116699
I'm reading it right now rarepepe.jpg

>>8116667

Modern Library version is the same thing. They're all based on an anonymous English translation which is superb.

>>8114725

Fuck off back to the DFW general you slave

>>8116699

I don't know if it was the translation, but I honestly could not make it the whole way through. I stopped around 75%; I literally forgot why I was supposed to care about any of the characters. It's a shame because the first 300 pages are great adventure, but after the story leaves the Count's head it just slumps along.

>>8116699
>boring
>slow
Why don't you take your goldfish attention span and redirect it to reality TV

>no interesting characters
The Count is arguably the single most thorough literary depiction of a renaissance man ever written, and his sinister and pained motives prevent this from ever becoming stale.

>>8117278
Hadn't looked up the ML version when first looking through publishers a few years ago, but it looks like you're right, (and they have a rep of not abridging even otherwise-universally abridged books). Cheers!

>>8117290
What the fuck
All of that build-up, all of the tension steadily rising, all the work Edmond put into setting everything up perfectly, and you don't feel like seeing it through to the end?

>>8117571

I know, I was amazed too. But I reached a certain point and I realized that didn't care about the fruition of his plan because I no longer cared about any of the characters, including the Count, who was such a cipher once we left his POV.

>>8116699
I agree. Dumas is a fucking hack. Find some better literature to spend your time with

ITT contrarians