The Count of Monte Cristo

[nerubian]

I have just finished this and have some thoughts and questions

 

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Did anyone else find the transition from Edmond to the Count rather abrupt and jarring?. The book basically cuts 10 years without blinking an eye or making any mention of it. It's like Alexander took a break for a year and resumed the story with a clean slate.
We have been reading about Edmond for hundreds of pages and then you turn 1 page and it is now the Count who at this point is essentially a totally different character. It is not for hundreds more pages that Edmond starts to leak out here and there until that sublime moment when Mercedes comes to his house at Auteil and calls him Edmond upfront.

Is there some deeper meaning or allegory attached to Caderousse?, because if there is it went over my head. Of the 4 conspirators Caddy is the least guilty by far and the only one who feels remorse for Edmond. Of the 4 Caddy comes out the worst.
Initially this comes across as a case of the good(er) guy comes last which fits in with the theme of railing against god, providence or lack of, divine vengeance etc. This then seems to be confirmed when the Count pays him a visit and revives his ailing fortunes. However it is then turned completely on its head, Caddy's life takes an even worse turn and he basically falls into the survival of the jungle trap with no redemption no greater meaning. He simply dies at the end a desperate and bitter man.

Why did the Count delay exposing his plan with Valentine to Max for so long?, this made no sense to me. He quite literally tortures Max with life for weeks just so he can set up a grand revelation. Near the moment, we have this passage where the count doubts Max truly wants to die and can still find satisfaction in life and that this makes his saving of them both a less worthy act and not a valid balance on the scales to counter the havok he has wrought with some goodness.
This is a bizarre and seemingly egregious conceit that comes out of nowhere. Good is good, to not do good because you think it is not a high enough caliber in your view is inane.

Why did he let Danglars go with 50,000 francs?. I can understand letting him go with nothing and leaving it up to god to see if Danglars can make a new life for himself from scratch or not. But Dangy was the lead conspirator, there is no reason for this mercy even if the excessive success and collateral damage from his machinations in the Villefort household are troubling him at this point.

Poor Mercedes!, she truly came out one of if not the worst of all the characters. She never truly got over Edmond's disappearance. Edmond's return destroys the life she had made in his absence and ultimately puts her in an irrevocable emotional position at the end.
I found it quite ironic that one of the two people Edmond loved most in the world ended up the most unhappy and sorrowful. For all the talk of divine vengeance, providence, a sublime god where was all this for Mercedes?. She did nothing wrong, she was a beautiful person (and im sure you know im not talking about the physical) and yet she suffered all through the story with her only happiness after Edmond being Albert who in the end leaves her, in all likeliness to die in a foreign land.
While it is clear he feels deeply for her, Edmond is still able set off at the end with a light in his heart as he leaves his soul mate to a grim and crushing end.



Lastly I have to say, Edmond Dante's is surely a polymath up there with the greats like Davinci and Avicenna etc. Faria's teaching plus ten years in the world may be a long time but even so only a human being of the highest intelligence, memory and constitution could learn and apply so much knowledge to such supreme effect.

[KEV67]

It was a great book. Whoever did the translation for my copy did a great job. I enjoyed the wit and intelligence in the conversations. The plot is over the top. I wondered at one point, maybe more than one point, where it was going and whether a plot hole had opened up. Maybe it was not a plot hole or maybe it was a plot hole but was noticed and patched up. Edmond Dante served revenge on everyone who betrayed him in a way that suited the form of their betrayal, but he was very severe. It started off slow, but it picked up speed in the second half, particularly after the count arrived in Paris.