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 anything might happen at this stage! (And hopefully for the better!)

I’ve just caught up and finished this week’s chapters - great cut-off point! All very exciting and it marks another big change in the story - all that secrecy for years and years, and now it’s coming out into the open! It looks like loose ends are about to start getting tied up…

Also enjoyed all the thread talk about ligatures - I’ve learned something new!

@TonTonMacoute I agree, Nicholas Jenson's 15th c Roman typeface is beautiful.

Wow, these chapters are eventful! I agree with @DuPainDuVinDuFromage that the story has taken a new turn. For one thing, we're finally getting to hear some of the count's private thoughts -- we are privy to his interior self again.

Mercedes has definitely vindicated herself, and she's done a great job bringing up Albert.

Enough already though with all these noble male heroes deciding to commit suicide! Honestly I'm fed up! Ha.

Also, the Count having convinced himself that he's the tool of Providence seems more than a little dodgy from a psychological point of view, but it's interesting. It explains why he thinks he has carte blanche from a moral point of view to tamper with other people's lives.

So he had a brief moment of thinking, oh dear, I'm not the special emissary of God after all. But then after the dramatic events of today's chapter he's back to, yes I am, hurrah!

It would be interesting to know how deeply Dumas went into the psychology of Edmond, if at all.

He really does believe that the reason he was spared, managed to escape etc was because god had decided that he should revenge himself on those who had wronged him. Edmond seems have developed this other separate persona as the count to carry out this revenge in a detached way. He genuinely likes Alfred but would be prepared to kill him in a duel to get revenge on Fernand I think.

It's interesting to see that detachment breaking down a bit now, at the Moncerf's party the Count does not know who Mercedes is, but in their midnight meeting he becomes Edmond again and knows exactly who she is.

I was taken in initially by Mercedes hiding in bed and not being willing to tell Albert what she knew, I was delighted that we got to see she is still decent and was covering all cases, begging the Count for Albert's life as well telling Albert the whole story.

I wish I was half as confident in life that the Count is regarding his mission from God!

I still have no utterly no idea what is going to happen next. I would guess this story will start to spread, they are all a bit gossipy. Surely Villeforte and Danglers will hear that this is to do with Fernand and the plot they cooked up all these years ago? I hope it makes them nervous....

I think him having to kill Albert is a point of honour too. He made the slap the count with the glove and openly challenged him in public, honour is then bound to follow through. We saw this with Pierre and Dolokhov in W&P as well. A challenge was taken as a severe affront to masculinity. Does he have to shoot to kill, no, but in the 19th century you might die of a basic wound if it was not correctly and quickly tended to.m and were extremely careful about infection.

I was taken in initially by Mercedes hiding in bed and not being willing to tell Albert what she knew, I was delighted that we got to see she is still decent and was covering all cases, begging the Count for Albert's life as well telling Albert the whole story

Of course previously she only knew that her beloved Edmond had been arrested and imprisoned as a Bonapartiste. She didn't know that it was Fernand who had grassed him up until Edmond shows her the letter in this chapter. It's learning that that changes her whole view.

Providence my eye! Mercedes fixed it.

I liked this chapter. We had access to Edmond's inner thoughts for the first time since he was in prison. So, we have two characters in one; Edmond and his divine alter ego, the Count. He seems he can do whatever he wants (including tampering in people's lives) because he has the divine right to revenge. Hmm! I think he has lost his humanity, but Mercedes is bringing him back to himself.

It's a bit mad that Beauchamp was offering the Count the set of new pistols that he had bought ahead of his duel with Albert for the duel that the Count was going to have with Albert. How did they all manage to stay alive?! Disaster averted anyway thanks to Mercedes (not Providence).

Just thinking about the women in the book. Mercedes and Haydée don't feature often, but they are strong characters. Quiet but powerful.

Mme de Villefort is also quiet and powerful. In a deadly sense, however!

We’ve just sat down to watch the film that came out last year - from the very first scene it’s completely different from the book! Aargh! Of course they would need to make some changes but it’s unrecognisable!

Oh shoot, DuPain! I was looking forward to watching it once I'm finished reading the book.

To be fair, I think it's probably more suited to being a TV series because of all the twists and turns. When we watched the 2002 film DH got very annoyed at how different from the book that was so I think it's a universal problem.

I agree - it's hard to imagine fitting such a long eventful book into just a couple of hours of film.

I watched the new film with DH (who read the book last year) and we both enjoyed it but he did say they changed a LOT. Remembering it now, and thinking about the bits we have passed this far, the bit on the ship with the letter is completely different (new character, think they write out Noirtier), and they put Mercedes and Fernand in a fairly rich, well to do family, with Edmond’a father in their employ, which it totally different! Not sure why they did that!

I think maybe you have to enjoy each one on its merits…

Years ago we watched the Depardieu TV series which was more faithful - not completely, but better. (Depardieu being problematic notwithstanding). If I remember correctly, I think in that version Valentine was played delightfully by Julie Depardieu, his daughter.

The Depardieu version has the benefit of being in French, which I very much enjoyed when I last watched it. (I did need the subtitles but I loved hearing the French).

The new version is in French too, which I agree makes it feel more authentic! We watched approximately the first hour of the film last night and it did improve after the scene-setting - the bit in the chateau d’If was quite similar to the book, for example. As @MotherOfCatBoy says, it should be watched on its own merits rather than comparing it to the book! It does irritate me though 😂

I console myself that if the film is good then it might encourage more people to read the book, and there will still be extra things for them to enjoy!

I thought the Count is well cast in the film and does look like I imagine him - more so than Depardieu in fact, who always just looks like Depardieu.

I'll still watch the film. I realise that it has to be adapted for the screen, though if it's a big change, I will probably be annoyed!

I think that middle-aged Depardieu would make a good Caderousse. Agree, not the Count!
'Depardieu always looks like Depardieu'. 😄 yes!

I'm still really enjoying all the discussion here - so many interesting things that completely passed me by! I have to confess that I have almost finished the book though. I don't know whether it's down to my lack of will power or the book itself, but this is the first readalong where I have found it really difficult to stick to the chapter a day pace.

Just looked up the Depardieu version and, for some reason, my library has 4 copies of the dvd! 😆 I can't find the newer version though - where did you all see it?

It was released last year and I guess will be available from the usual sources.

This is the trailer for it

Back on track - both with the book and the new thread.

Lots of action. In the most recent chapters I was surprised that Mercedes seemed so willing for Edmond to sacrifice himself for Albert. Whilst I know she had a plan, Edmond didn't know that so she could have displayed a little more gratitude. The Count/Edmond's musings seem to suggest that there's still a lot to come.....

Interesting to have it confirmed the relationship with Haydee is strictly paternal as I had wondered...

Enjoying the translation and script discussions. Disappointed to hear that the film does not adhere to the book. Saw a T-shirt yesterday which said "The book was better" - feel like every 50 booker needs one!

I plan to watch every single version I can lay my hands on. I’ve even come across a Turkish mini series which will likely take 128, 2h episodes. To be honest, this is the stuff of 1970s Middle Eastern melodrama so I’m not at all surprised.

Most excited for a new French version though.

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS: the chapter titles below seem a teeny bit spoilery to me, and sort of point to where the narrative might go. I think overall we find these useful, and I am sure we will continue to be surprised by the way things actually unfold, but I thought a disclaimer worth while so you can scroll quickly past, should you want to.

So, for those who are managing to contain themselves and keep pace (very difficult, given the last few chapters).

Monday
Mother and Son
’With a smile full of melancholy …’

Tuesday
Suicide
‘Meanwhile Monte Christo had also gone back into town…’

Wednesday
Valentine
’The reader will have guessed …’

Thursday
A Confession
’At the same moment, M. de Villefort …’

Friday
Father and Daughter
‘In the previous chapter we heard…’

Saturday
The Marriage Contract
’Three days after the episode that we have just described…’