“Which English audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo should I listen to?”
I can’t tell you whose voice you’ll enjoy spending 40+ hours with; that’ll depend on your personal preference. You’ll probably want to listen for yourself before deciding.
All the readers of unabridged versions of The Count of Monte Cristo happen to be male, except in the case of the collaborative Librivox recording, which includes female volunteers as well as male volunteers.
For the solo recordings, I’ve marked which narrators sounded British and which sounded American when I listened to the audio samples.
“Can I get a free audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo?”
Yes, there are free audiobooks at Librivox, produced by volunteers from public domain translations. There are three different versions: two are collaborative (read aloud by different contributors in charge of producing different chapters) and one is solo (read entirely by a single contributor). All three are based on the Gutenberg.org version of the unabridged anonymous 1846 translation.
“What if I want to read *and* listen to The Count of Monte Cristo?”
Because of the weird translation history, it might be hard to get exactly matching versions.
However, you can be sure that the unabridged AmazonClassics Kindle and Audible versions match!
» AmazonClassics Kindle edition of The Count of Monte Cristo
» AmazonClassics Audible edition of The Count of Monte Cristo
The Anonymous translation, available as a free ebook from Gutenberg.org, is the basis of several audiobooks:
» Gutenberg.org ebook of The Count of Monte Cristo
» Naxos Bill Homewood audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
» Librivox free audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo (3 versions to choose from)
» Richard Matthews audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo: Translation History
There have been only three translations. Pretty much every edition after the anonymous 1846 translation was based on it, Bair and Buss being the exceptions.
- 1846 – Anonymous, published by Chapman and Hall
- ???? – Anonymous, abridged
- 1954 – Lowell Bair, abridged
- 1990 – Anonymous, revised by David Coward
- 1996 – Robin Buss
If you want to learn about all the translations, please visit What’s the best translation of The Count of Monte Cristo?
“Are any of the audiobooks abridged? Why are the running times different?”
Among the unabridged versions, the running times are different mainly because the narrators naturally speak at different speeds. Over the course of a book, small differences add up.
I put the abridged versions, dramatizations, and retellings in the Other Info and Audio Resources section at the bottom of the page. I’m not sure which (if any) of the abridged versions are based on the “standard” abridged version. The super short ones must have been essentially written from scratch.
All these versions were made from the anonymous public domain translation, but the source text may have been tinkered with, so unless noted, it won’t necessarily match a particular print or electronic version.
Get the Blackstone Anonymous audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
One reviewer on Audible said this version matches the Modern Library edition that has an introduction by Lorenzo Carcaterra.
Narrated by John Lee (British male).
Available as a digital download. Unabridged. Running time 46h 56m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the Naxos Anonymous audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Based on the Gutenberg version.
Narrated by Bill Homewood (British male).
Available as a digital download. Unabridged. Running time 52h 41m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the B.J. Harrison Anonymous audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Narrated by B.J. Harrison (British male).
Available as a digital download. Unabridged. Running time 52h 41m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the Trout Lake Media Anonymous audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Narrated by Alan Munro (American male).
Available as a digital download. Unabridged. Running time 57h 20m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the Great Literary Classics Anonymous audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Narrated by Andrew Timothy (British male).
Available as a digital download. Unabridged. Running time 50h 44m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the AmazonClassics Anonymous audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Use Whispersync to easily switch between this audiobook and the AmazonClassics ebook!
Narrated by Guy Mott (British male).
Available as a digital download. Unabridged. Running time 55h 37m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the Goffin Media Anonymous audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Seems a little short…
Narrated by Philippe Duquenoy (British male).
Available as a digital download. Unabridged. Running time 45h 4m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the Librivox Anonymous audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Librivox Version 1, read by Librivox volunteers taking charge of different chapters. Available for download free!
Narrated by multiple narrators.
Available as a digital download. Unabridged. Running time 49h 43m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the Librivox Anonymous audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Librivox Version 2, read by Librivox volunteers taking charge of different chapters. Available for download free!
Narrated by multiple narrators.
Available as a digital download. Unabridged. Running time 49h 48m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the Librivox Anonymous audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Librivox Version 3, read by a single narrator. Available for download free!
Narrated by David Clarke (British male).
Available as a digital download. Unabridged. Running time 54h 16m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the Matthews Anonymous audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Narrated by Richard Matthews (Simon Vance) (British male).
Available as a digital download. Unabridged. Running time 43h 13m.
Free sample available at the link.
I put the all the abridged versions in the Other Info and Audio Resources section at the bottom of the page because I’m not sure which (if any) of the abridged versions are based on this “standard” abridged version of the text.
My internet buddy at The Abbreviated Monte Cristo calls Lowell Bair’s version the “gold standard” for abridgements of The Count of Monte Cristo.
I thought there was an audio version of the Bair abridgement because Random House made one with the same cover and put it on the same page. But that one (the Matthews audiobook) is also a recording of the anonymous translation.
Oxford hasn’t produced an audiobook of the David Coward revision of The Count of Monte Cristo. Sorry. You could still get the ebook and ask some software to read it to you.
Sadly, (as of September 2023), Penguin hasn’t yet produced an audiobook of the the excellent new totally unprecedentedly complete translation of The Count of Monte Cristo by Robin Buss. Redditors are saying Penguin had scheduled one and started taking preorders, but it got cancelled. I kinda think there will be one eventually?
Meanwhile, you could still get the ebook and ask some software to read it to you. Sorry, I know text-to-speech is not as good as a trained narrator.
Here are a few more versions, ranging from 56 minutes to 43 hours! (Audible reviews say the Peter Batchelor one is definitely missing some content.)
Get the EDCON audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Adapted into 10 short chapters. Includes original music. Suitable for children.
Narrated by Iman (American female).
Available as a digital download. Abridged. Running time 56m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the ABN audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Dramatization. Originally broadcast by the Mercury Radio Theater in 1938.
Narrated by Orson Welles, Anges Moorehead, and Ray Collins.
Available as a digital download. Abridged. Running time 59m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the Radio Spirits audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
This radio dramatization of the classic movie originally aired on February 6, 1939.
Narrated by Robert Montgomery.
Available as a digital download. Abridged. Running time 1h.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the CSA Telltapes audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Narrated by Tim Pigott-Smith (British male).
Available as a digital download. Abridged. Running time 2h17m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the Talking Classics audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Narrated by Anthony Valentine (British male).
Available as a digital download. Abridged. Running time 2h 23m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the Tantor audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Narrated by David Case (British male).
Available as a digital download. Abridged. Running time 17h 18m.
Free sample available at the link.
Get the Trout Lake Media audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo
Narrated by Peter Batchelor (British male).
Available as a digital download. Abridged. Running time 43h 52m.
Free sample available at the link.
The most popular one seems to be the version narrated by John Lee, which won two awards: AudioFile Best of 2009 Classics and Audie Award 2009.
Have a favorite? What do you like about it? Let us know in the comments!
Are you SURE the Richard Matthews (Simon Vance) is Abridged? the Libro site says in unabridged and its 117 chapters long like the book/others
Hm. I listed it as abridged for three reasons:
(1) Random House lists the Matthews audiobook on the same page as the Bair abridgement, and gave it the same cover.
(2) The fact that the audiobook says “unabridged” could just mean that the audiobook does not leave anything out *compared to the specific printed book it was made from*.
(3) The running time is 43h 13m, shorter than any of the other unabridged versions.
However, I’ve looked at the beginning of the Bair abridgement and listened to the beginning of the Matthews audiobook, and they don’t match. The Matthews audiobook is in fact a recording of a version of the original anonymous translation.
Thanks for catching this! I’ve updated the page.