Mary Jo Tate

After his escape from the Château d’If, where he has wrongly been held prisoner for fourteen years, Edmond Dantès seeks shelter on a boat operated by a band of smugglers. When the smugglers land at the island of Monte Cristo, where the Abbé Faria had told Dantès a great treasure is concealed, Dantès reflects condescendingly … Read more

Dantès: “You must teach me a small part of what you know….” Faria: “Alas! my child, . . . human knowledge is confined within very narrow limits; and when I have taught you mathematics, physics, history, and the three or four modern languages with which I am acquainted, you will know as much as I … Read more

Dantès: “I was reflecting, in the first place…upon the enormous degree of intelligence and ability you must have employed to reach the high perfection to which you have attained;—if you thus surpass all mankind while but a prisoner, what would you not have accomplished free?” Faria: “Possibly nothing at all;—the overflow of my brain would … Read more

Faria: “I will freely confess that my historical labors have been my greatest solace and relief. While retracing the past, I forget the present; and while following the free and independent course of historical record, I cease to remember that I am myself immured within the gloomy walls of a dungeon.” (The Count of Monte … Read more

Faria: “I speak five of the modern tongues; that is to say, German, French, Italian, English, and Spanish; by the aid of ancient Greek I learned modern Greek—I don’t speak it so well as I could wish, but I am still trying to improve myself.” “Improve yourself!” repeated Dantès; “why, how can you manage to … Read more

In The Count of Monte Cristo, the Abbé Faria tells Edmond Dantès: “I possessed nearly 5000 volumes in my library at Rome, but after reading them over many times, I found that with 150 well-chosen books a man possesses a complete analysis of all human knowledge, or at least all that is either useful or … Read more

I have a confession to make. I watched the movie first. That violates one of my cardinal principles:  read the book first. Nevertheless, it prompted me to plunge into a substantial classic book that I otherwise probably wouldn’t have gotten to for years. The movie of The Count of Monte Cristo (starring Jim Caviezel) had … Read more

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them. ~ Mark Twain What good books are you reading?  What are your favorites, and why? I’d love to hear from other bibliophiles. Mary Jo

There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and a tired man who wants a book to read. ~ G. K. Chesterton How true this is!  Sometimes I am eager to read, particularly to learn something practical from a nonfiction book, or perhaps to devour a … Read more

Books are a delightful society. If you go into a room filled with books, even without taking them down from their shelves, they seem to speak to you, to welcome you. ~ William E. Gladstone from The Writer’s Quotation Book