Bienvenue à Paris - The Count of Monte Christo, thread 2

[LeylaOfCircassia]

Welcome back - we now find ourselves in Paris, where we have discovered:

• the Count has unlimited resources
• apparently unlimited patience
• is being rather harsh on Mercedes
• has unmasked adultery and a rather tragic act and reunited father, mother and son, but with an incestuous twist, everyone remains in innocent ignorance
• grandparents have died, there may have been foul play
• a couple of women don't want to marry a couple of men, who in turn, also don;t want to marry them

If you are new and joining us - God Speed.

Previous thread here

Next week, from 31st
Monday - Lemonade
Tuesday - The Accusation
Wednesday - The Retired Baker’s Room
Thursday - Breaking and Entering
Friday - The Hand of God
Saturday - Beauchamp
Sunday - rest

I think Fernand was a French officer at Janina - hence his betrayal was effectively in an official capacity, and covered up til now.

Who is going to flick back to earlier in the book and see?!

He’s referred to as the French officer who was instructing Ali Pasha’s troops, so it sounds as though he was there officially (as we sometimes still do today, eg didn’t British troops train the Afghan army etc?) - hence he’s brought the army and France into disrepute.
However I know bugger all about France’s involvement in Greece’s struggle for independence or all the little conflicts that went on in the Balkans/ Ottoman Empire…
(first pic is from the chapter when Beauchamp is telling Albert what he found in Janina, second is from Haydee’s testimony).

In terms of the newspaper reports, they get their info via the telegraph and we had that little escapade with the telegraph man and his garden, she def had a hand in that

I checked back to Caderousse's account given to Busoni, back at his auberge, and according to him Fernand was forcibly conscripted by Bonaparte, but deserted to the English, in company with a high ranking general, which gave him a strong supporter with the restored Bourbon monarchy.

Then he went to Spain, where he did very well, but when he returned he was a bit bored because there was no war (!).

France was tacitly supporting Greece in their war against Turkey, but did want to get officially involved. However, they did allow their own soldiers to go and fight as individuals if they wanted, although they remained under the ultimate control of the French army. I assume that just meant if they were recalled because France needed them then they would have to return.

I believe that the Greek/Turkish war was the same one that Byron also went to fight for the Greeks, but took ill and died. The famous portrait of him shows him in Greek costume.

That's a very grey area, but it kind of makes sense. So, was he a French soldier on an unofficial mission so to speak. He brought dishonour to his position.

Thank you to Mother and TonTon for looking it up. * *

MotherofCatBoy, is that an old edition in French? I don't remember ever seeing the little diacritic between 's' and 't' eg in Constantinople. (Wonder if I'm right saying it's a diacritic. Is it just the typeface?) It's lovely.

Many thanks to @MotherOfCatBoy and @TonTonMacoute and everyone else for their insights! I looked up the same passage TonTon cited ('Caderousse's Story', ch 27) and it's helpful. Caderousse says,

'Only Greece had risen against Turkey and begun its war for independence. All eyes were on Athens: it was fashionable to feel sympathy for the Greeks and to support their cause. The French government, while not openly taking sides, as you know, turned a blind eye to some active supporters. Fernand asked for permission to go and serve in Greece, which he obtained, while still remaining subject to the discipline of the army.'

There's also a footnote in Buss' English translation saying that Ali Pasha 'attracted support from both France and Britain, who saw him as a relatively enlightened ruler' (1253).

So with the context of many in France and Britain supporting Greece (Byron is an interesting example; thanks for that!), the French government's indignation about Fernand's betrayal does make more sense to me.

@FuzzyCaoraDhubh I have the same French edition as @MotherOfCatBoy and it's the one currently in print with Folio classique! I didn't even notice the typeface; you are very observant. I googled, and the official name for typographical links like the one between the 's' and the 't' is 'ligature'.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligature_(%C3%A9criture)

That's very cool.
Merci, @cassandre 🩷

I am just popping on to say that geeking out over these tiny details is why I love you all and you are my people.

I have just read The Insult and am very nervous what happens next. I might read ahead a little untill this particular dispute is resolved.

The Count is looking cold as ice and not bothered that his friend Albert has got caught up in his plans.

And I don't very highly of Mercedes at the moment, she could clearly explain a little to Albert about what's going on, and chose to keep quite instead.

I actually froze when I read those lines.
Does he really mean it? I agree that it's time for Mercedes to step up and intervene.

That’s beautiful! Thank you!

It doesn’t list the font though.. it says the edition is from 1981 though they’ve reprinted it with the new cover from the new film.

I'm feeling nervous too! I will lose all respect for the count if he does what he says he's going to do. It's not like him to back down though...

Also hoping that the Count does NOT kill Albert in a duel!

On the extremely geeky topic of ligatures, I also had the thought that they are a space saver (in typography), and maybe that's why they're used in this particular book. Given that the book is over 1000 pages long, even small space savers add up I guess!

Medieval scribes used them when handwriting manuscripts in Latin and other European languages (which is partly why medieval manuscripts can be hard to read, until you get used to the particular ligatures a scribe is using). Saving page space is even more important when you're copying a manuscript, because parchment and vellum were made of animal skin and were expensive! I suppose the tradition of ligatures then passed over from manuscript to print.

I started learning Arabic once but got quite daunted at the very beginning, the 'learning the alphabet' stage, because letters change shape depending on which letter they are linked with. Not the same as ligatures obviously, because that's the way Arabic is normally written, but it's hard because you can't just learn the shape of a single letter on its own, you have to learn the different shape combinations.

I'd still like to try to get further with Arabic though! Maybe when I get older and retire...

I’ve been enjoying all your updates and have just caught up. My chapter title tomorrow is different from the one listed here and I’m excited to read it!

Loving the geekiness here! I know nothing about it all so can't contribute, but I do so enjoy people being able to share little details of knowledge with others who can appreciate it 😊

I have read a day ahead. I'll wait til tomorrow to share but it's action packed as always!

Goodness, that's a very thorough article on ligatures @cassandre!

According to my book on history of the book (used to work in publishing) the early typefaces were trying to replicate the use of ligatures in handwritten Ancient Greek texts, until they realised it looked a mess and they didn't really need to! In fact I think those first fonts when they realised printed books didn't have to look like the old manuscripts are some of the most beautiful ever designed - mostly by Nicholas Jensen.

In the case of this French Folio edition I think they have just used a font that has retained these ligatures for stylistic reasons, and have chosen it because it's a classic text. I have several books from that publisher but none of them use that typeface, but they are all modern writers.

Anyway, cracking chapter today, especially as it's mainly dialogue. All pretence is abandoned and the truth is revealed. It seems to leave the count in a fix but he really seems to believe that he was spared by god in order to wreak vengeance so perhaps he trusts that god will find a way for him to do just that and keep his promise to Mercedes.

Read all this week’s chapters on a long train journey this morning. Utterly, compelling stuff. Won’t say too much until everyone is up to date tomorrow - but I am of the opinion that- what now?

I utterly ADORED the chapter at the opera. The dialogue, the emotions, even of the ancillary characters trying to calm the situation was so well done.

Yes and the Count maintaining his sang-froid was very entertaining!

This was another brilliant chapter. There have been so many high points recently.

So, Mercedes had recognised Edmond at the party, but I'm getting the impression in this chapter that he hadn't recognised her? He said 'Mercedes is dead' but he means the former Mercedes, the girl his lover. He did know who she was all along, didn't he? It was great to finally get the story out and tell her what happened.

The man needs to see a therapist though. There is so much to work through! As we suspected, he has turned himself into a weapon of vengeance spared to do God's work. He has lost his humanity, I think, or nearly lost it. But for Mercedes, he would have gone through with it and killed Albert.

I have the impression that he forced Albert's hand a bit in that he grabbed his glove and threw it down (the gauntlet!), but perhaps Albert was going to do it anyway. Albert looked horrified as if he realised the implications afterwards.

I also thought it was interesting that Beauchamp was trying to dissuade Albert from taking revenge and to go away ('marry a Russian princess') that he didn't have to stay around and suffer the sins of his father, whereas the Count is very much about retribution and punishment as is written in the bible and the the third or fourth generations will pay for the crimes of their fathers. It seems that time has moved on, but the Count has not moved on at all.

A brilliant chapter. Mercedes stepped up as she needed to and interceded for her son. There was a word in the French version that made me smile. She said she had been hiding in the 'baignoire' at the Opera (if that's right). I was going what...the bath?! No! The lower box or level.

It's very tense now. What's going to happen next?

Oh he definitely recognised her before, from the moment he walked into the Morcerf’s salon. There are lots of small incidences of him trembling or sighing - and again in the glasshouse at the summer party.

(I still want them to get back together).

Yes! You're right (also hoping they get together!)

Realistically, by the standard of the time Morcef has to die for that to happen. Not outside the realms of possibility for sure.