Count of Monte Cristo: Chapter 34

[osprey_archer]

I am way behind on The Count of Monte Cristo. This is partly because I left it behind when I went to Chicago (it's such a big book!), but also partly because Dumas has started a lengthy digression about a couple of randos who are visiting Rome during Carnival.

Now admittedly, one of these guys is super curious about the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo, so it sort of ties in with the rest of the book, in the way that Hugo's giant digression about Waterloo ties in with the rest of Les Miserables because it ends with Marius's father meeting Thenardier, but mostly it is getting in the way of VENGEANCE. It's hard to share Franz's curiosity when I already know everything there is to know about Dantes!

And I am already pretty sure that Franz will never learn most of it, because Dantes doesn't seem like the kind of person who is going to sit him down all "I'm an escaped convict who is presumed dead and got really wealthy because I found a fabulous treasure in my cave on Monte Cristo."

However, we do have some bandits going on, so that's something at least. It's hard to say no to bandits.

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

However, we do have some bandits going on, so that's something at least. It's hard to say no to bandits.

Especially as they're liable to do you harm if you do. :-)

And, ahaha. I can't say things now, because it would be hard not to be spoilery.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Bandits! Won't take no for an answer.

[evelyn-b.livejournal.com]

Remember though! Albert de Morcerf is the only son of FERNAND and MERCEDES, who are now both rich and married to each other. He's not quite a rando (though I was several chapters into the Roman Tourism part before I remembered to flip back to Dantes' fact-finding mission and confirm this). The arc of history Roman tourism is long, but it bends toward VENGEANCE. Probably.

I'm enjoying Franz's suspicious bafflement! I do wonder what he will find out. Is Dantes going to reveal himself eventually as Dantes (I don't think he has done so at all yet, to anyone) or is he going to keep on being different people? I guess you have to keep it quiet if you're an escaped convict.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Agh, I didn't remember that AT ALL, clearly Albert and Franz should have had a long infodumpy conversation about Albert's beautiful and sad mother and then I might have cottoned on. OH WELL.

I hope Dantes doesn't decide to make Albert part of his VENGEANCE. Albert seems silly but basically harmless and his parents are not his fault.

Probably you do have to keep it quiet if you're an escaped convict, but at the same time perhaps eventually Dantes will get bored of keeping his secret? After all, a wonderful secret is less wonderful if you can't share it with anyone at all. But I think probably his bandit friends would be a better recipient for that secret than Franz, so if he tells anyone it might be them.