Question on "The Count of Monte Cristo"

O.K., so I have a long (and I mean long) list of books on my "to read" list and, maybe not next, put pretty close to the top is "The Count of Monte Cristo". Well, The copy I have got meesed up so I want to buy a new copy. Now my question is in regards to the translations. Translation is always an important aspect of any novel and can make all the difference in your experience. Now, I'm trying to decide between the Robin Buss translation (which is the one I had) and the Lorenzo Carcterra version. For anyone who has read one or both of these, can you suggest one? And why?

I read the novel on this website, and really enjoyed it.There is a link to the novel under authors, and Alexandre Dumas.

I was in the same situation a couple months ago. I decided to buy the Modern Library Classics version translated by Lorenzo Carcaterra because it seems to retain a certain French influence and the language is more suitable to the time era in which the book was written. I found The Penguin Classics version to be more modernized, although this conclusion is based purely on my opinion.

However, I recommend the Oxford World’s Classics version translated by David Coward, who is the Senior Lecturer in French at the University of Leeds. The Oxford university Press books have A List of Historical Characters and Explanatory Notes at the back, which help you understand the book better. Therefore I suggest you look into buying this version.

Is the Oxford classic version unabridged? Because I refuse to read any abriged works.

I'll have to check my copy, when I get home. I know that it was printed in 1938 and is only missing a few scenes.

The other option, which is the one I usually do, is to read it online.

literature.org has it broken down into chapters and, as far as I can tell, is complete.

It can also be read on our site but I'm sorry I'm not sure who the translator was:
http://www.online-literature.com/dumas/cristo/

There is a note about publication/translation/abridgement here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo

Cool. Thanks guys, looking at that article, the Oxford and Modern Library edition are the same translation, Carcaterra merely did an introduction. So given they are both unabridged, if Oxford's includes the notes and charcter list, I'll go with that one. I prefer a hard copy because to me, reading an electronic version is rather cumbersome, and I don't have an e-reader so I can't take it with me anywhere. Now I better get the store so I get back before the Cavaliers game!

I have a 1936 copy which I took from my mother’s library after she passed away some years ago. It sat on my shelf for years before I picked in up and finished it just the other day. It appears to have been manufactured for Spencer Press by Cuneo Press, Inc., as volume 4 in a series entitled "World's Greatest Literature." I haven’t a clue as to who the translator was but I did note in Spencer version that the ship arriving at the beginning is referred to as the “Pharaoh.” The book is 479 pages and the intro only speaks to the fine binding of the book with a little history of Spencer Press. Me thinks I have an abridged version...... errrrrrr That would explain the gaps that left me a little unsettled.

I have a Wordsworth Editions copy (like most of my books:D ) and it is very good. What i love about these editions is that they have- in the beginning of each book- an essay written by some University teacher which explains certain aspects of the book and gives some historical background which is very usefull to the contemporary reader. And of course it is unabridged.

I read the Modern Classics version two times, and the Oxford once. Both seem great.