East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Spoiler Alert: Plot Summary
We have two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons. Cyrus is the father of Adam and Charles, and he's married to Alice. Alice is the mother of Charles - Adam's mother died. Alice is sweet, but sick, and dies fairly soon after the novel begins. Charles and Adam have a tenuous relationship growing up on a farm in Connecticut, and Charles almost kills Adam once after they both give their father a birthday present and Cyrus seems to reject Charles' present. Cyrus was in the army briefly, but he becomes a war hero and gets moved to Washington to consult after he fabricates an extreme knowledge of all things war-related. Adam is sent off to fight in the war with the Indians (sorry, really don't know what war they're referring to, or if it has an official title) though he is sweet and tender and doesn't want to fight. He is eventually discharged from the army, but doesn't know what to do with himself, and he ends up re-enlisting, and then he ends up getting arrested for being a vagrant after he refuses to go home. Charles continues to work the farm, Adam eventually returns home, and their father dies. Adam and Charles discover a girl who has been beaten within an inch of her life at their doorstep, and despite what everyone will say (and perhaps think) they take her in. (We know that she's a crazy girl who burned her parents' house down (while they were in it) and then became a whore and then got good with the pimp and then cheated him and broke his heart and then he tried to kill her, but they don't know any of this). Adam falls in love with her (of course) and moves with her out to California. Cathy (the woman) gets pregnant, tries unsuccessfully to abort it (did I mention she slept with Charles before she left?) and then gives birth to twins. She is creepy and clearly very unhappy, and she up and leaves after the twins are born. (Well, to be precise, she shoots her husband, Adam, and then goes into the city to become a whore again.) Adam is both nearly dead and heartbroken, but he manages to survive with the help of Lee, his Chinese servant, and Sam Hamilton, his neighbor. The twin boys are named Caleb and Aron, and Adam ignores them for about 10 years before he finally comes back to life. Everyone in town eventually figures out that Cathy is the new whore in town, Kate, and Kate eventually murders the existing madam, Faye, and takes over the whorehouse. Caleb (Cal) and Aron grow up and have a similar relationship to Adam and Charles. Oh, and Adam is rich because Charles dies and leaves him lots of money from the farm, and he also got money from his father's death. Adam eventually finds out that Cathy is whoring in town, and he confronts her but he's over her. Caleb has some trouble finding his place as he grows up, but he eventually figures out how to be a good son, and falls in love with his father (and his brother's girlfriend, Abra). Aron decides to go to college and go into the ministry, but returns from college unhappy and confused. Cal tries to win his father's love (after Adam loses a large portion of his income through an experiment with ice trucks to transport fruit) by making 15,000 dollars through selling beans and futures, but his father sees the money as stolen, and Cal is heartbroken. In his sorrow, he takes his brother Aron to see their mother (Cal knew she was in town, but Aron thought she was dead) and, heartbroken by this discovery, Aron joins the army and disappears. Cal feels guilty, but doesn't tell his father, Adam suffers some kind of mini-stroke, and eventually they get a telegram that Aron has died. Adam has another stroke, and in the last scene of the book, Lee asks Adam to forgive Caleb for sending his brother to war.
Spoiler Over: Continue Here
Well, this book was incredible, and though I was a little overwhelmed by the Cain and Abel metaphors that happened TWICE in the book, it has hands down some of the most exquisite figurative and descriptive language that I have EVER read.
In case you didn't catch this from the plot summary (I didn't catch it until almost the last minute with the second round) there are two Cain and Abel metaphors in the story, Charles and Adam, and Caleb and Aron. (Get it? C & A, C & A?) Each story includes a moment where the C brother (Charles/Caleb) "kills" or almost kills his A brother (Adam/Aron). And to top it off, the second set of boys have a father named Adam.
For those of you not familiar with the Cain and Abel story, here's the version from the Bible:
"And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden."
The book also deals heavily with the translation of the lines about sin - Lee, the Chinese servant and philosopher ends up studying the lines and translating the Hebrew to mean not "Thou Shalt" conquer over sin, nor "Thou will" conquer over sin, but "Thou mayest" conquer over sin, meaning that man has the opportunity to prove himself and his worthiness, even after he "kills" his brother. I like this idea that we aren't just pre-destined to fix our mistakes, but that we have the opportunity to prove ourselves after we've made them. I thought the metaphors were more interlaced and less hit-you-over-the-head earlier in the book, but I was a bit disappointed that they became so overt at the end.
Some of my favorite parts:
- The language and lyricism of Steinbeck. Case in point: "Adam Trask grew up in grayness, and the curtains of his life were like dusty cobwebs, and his days a slow file of half-sorrows and sick dissatisfactions, and then, through Cathy, the glory came to him." What lovely turns of phrase.
- The relationship between Lee and Adam and Lee and Sam Hamilton is fascinating. (By the way, I apologize to the Hamiltons, who I've pretty much left out of the plot summary. They aren't unimportant, but Sam is really the most important, and his large family (wife Liza, kids Olive, Una, Mollie, Lizzie, Dessie, Tom, Will, George, and Joe) are characters, but not really major players in the story. Aside from the fact that John Steinbeck is the son of Olive Hamilton. ahem.) Lee pretends to speak only Pidgin English in the beginning of the novel, and when Sam Hamilton finds out he can speak perfect English, Lee tells him that he prefers Pidgin because that's what people expect him to sound like, and they're confused when he speaks normally. He slips in and out of Pidgin for the rest of the novel, but each moment is interestingly depicted when he slips back into Pidgin.
- When Adam is completely lost after his wife shoots him, Sam comes over and visits, and he says this to Adam:
"Act out being alive, like a play. And after a while, a long while, it will be true."
"Why should I?" Adam asked.
Samuel was looking at the twins. "You're going to pass something down no matter what you do or if you do nothing. Even if you let yourself go fallow, the weeds will grow and the brambles. Something will grow."
Adam did not answer, and Samuel stood up. "I'll be back," he said. "I'll be back again and again. Go through the motions, Adam."
I thought this was an extremely poignant conversation. I think we've all had moments where we just need to go through the motions, and Sam really keeps Adam connected to the world during his moment (that happens to last 10 years).
I also like it because it reminds me of one of my favorite lines from "Sleepless in Seattle", when Tom Hanks is on the radio show talking about life after the passing of his wife:
Doctor Marcia Fieldstone: People who truly loved once are far more likely to love again. Sam, do you think there's someone out there you could love as much as your wife?
Sam Baldwin: Well, Dr. Marcia Fieldstone, that's hard to imagine.
Doctor Marcia Fieldstone: What are you going to do?
Sam Baldwin: Well, I'm gonna get out of bed every morning... breathe in and out all day long. Then, after a while I won't have to remind myself to get out of bed every morning and breathe in and out... and, then after a while, I won't have to think about how I had it great and perfect for a while."
- There's a fascinating comparison of churches to whorehouses. Steinbeck writes, "While the churches, bringing the sweet smell of piety for the soul, came in prancing and farting like brewery horses in bock-beer time, the sister evangelism, with release and joy for the body, crept in silently and grayly, with its head bowed and its face covered. You may have seen the spangled palaces of sin and fancy dancing in the false West of the movies, and maybe some of them existed - but not in Salinas Valley. The brothels were quiet, orderly, and circumspect. Indeed, if after hearing the ecstatic shrieks of climactic conversion against the thumping beat of the melodeon you had stood under the window of a whorehouse and listened to the low decorous voices, you would have been likely to confuse the identities of the two ministries."
Steinbeck really has a way with words, and his comparisons and metaphors and similes are just unparalleled.
- This is for anyone at work who happens to be reading this, but I was thrilled to find an example of SAY-SEE-DO teaching in the book. When the twins and their father get their first car, a Ford, they're taught how to use it by a man who tells them the step, points out the car part, and then the whole group is asked to respond chorally the name of the part. They continue to start the car using this choral memory response throughout the book. It's been around for ever!
- Tom Hamilton blames himself for the death of his sister, Dessie, who dies of a stomach illness (unfortunately many of the Hamiltons die throughout the course of the book). It's a very sad moment, but I loved the conversation Tom has with himself, and the way Steinbeck describes it. Tom is also talking to his father (who has passed away at this point).
"Tom ignored his father. He said, "I'm busy greeting my friends," and he nodded to Discourtesy and Ugliness, and Unfilial Conduct and Unkempt Fingernails. Then he started with Vanity again. The Gray one shouldered up in front. It was too late to stall with baby sins. This Gray One was Murder."
Last, but not least, I'll share this quote that I liked, as I think, in particular, my mother will appreciate it, as it relates to her thesis work:
"We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is."
Off to England, Pip, and Magwitch!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The friends of today are the enemies of tomorrow.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Spoiler Alert: Plot Summary
The Count of Monte Cristo is a tale of romance, adventure, vengeance, sorrow, and redemption. Our story begins with a young sailor named Edmond Dantes in Marseilles, a city in southern France. Edmond is kind, generous, loves his father and his bride-to-be more than anything in the world, and has just been promoted by his boss, Monsieur Morrel. Everything seems to be going his way. While he is on leave between voyages, he is to be married, and his friends and family flock to the pre-nuptial feast. On the very moment he is about to leave for the church with his blushing bride, Mercedes, however, he is arrested and accused of Bonapartist activities. We as readers (and in this case, omniscients) know that three men (Caderousse, a greedy neighbor of Edmond's; Danglars, the ship's mate, who is jealous that he was passed over by Morrel in favor of Edmond; and Fernand, Mercedes' cousin who loves her passionately and wishes Edmond's death if it means he can be with her) made a pact to mail a letter revealing Edmond's supposed revolutionary activities. Edmond did, in fact, deliver letters on the orders of M. Morrel (who was in, fact, a Bonapartist) but he was unaware the extent of the letters and was, on the whole, blameless. We think at first that the procureur du roi (kind of like the D.A. of the time), Villefort, will be sympathetic to Edmond, as he has just come from his own wedding. It turns out (in an evil twist of fate) that Villefort's father has been implicated in the letters that Edmond received after stopping on Elba, and in order to cover up this heinous shame, Villefort condemns Edmond to the Chateau D'If, an infamous prison just off the shore of Marseilles. Edmond is imprisoned for over a decade, without even knowing the particulars of how or why he was accused. He despairs and almost kills himself by starvation, but meets a man, the Abbé Faria (a fellow inmate) by digging a tunnel and intercepting his. They hoped to escape, but their attempts are thwarted by various natural obstacles in the foundation of the prison. They maintain a great friendship, however, and the Abbé teaches Edmond all about literature and science and everything a sailor of the time would have no reason to know. The Abbé talks of a mysterious treasure that he has discovered, but Edmond (like everyone else) believes the Abbé is mad. He is finally convinced one of the last few times he sees the Abbé, and the Abbé informs him that he is dying. He suffers several strokes, and Edmond is able to save him with a few drops of a potion the Abbé created, but the last one is too much, and the Abbé dies. Edmond is heartstricken at the death of his only friend. In a deft maneuver, however, he switches places with the Abbé's body and sews himself into the sack meant for the Abbé, planning to dig his way out of the grave and escape to freedom. To his horror, the men who remove the body pitch him off a cliff with a cannon tied to his legs, chuckling about the sea being the grave of the Chateau D'If. Edmond manages to extricate his legs and escape notice due to the darkness. He swims to shore and encounters a fishing boat. He serves as a pirate in their smuggling crew until he manages to get himself shored on the Isle of Monte Cristo. He discovers his treasure and returns home to Marseilles, swearing vengeance against Danglars, Fernand, and Villefort (he found out in prison that they were responsible for his imprisonment). He finds, much to his horror, that his father has died of starvation, poverty stricken. Mercedes is gone. The story picks up again with Edmond (now styled the Count of Monte Cristo) in Rome, where he meets Albert de Morcerf (Mercedes' son with Fernand) and Franz D'Épinay, a friend of Albert's. They enjoy carnivale, Albert gets himself captured by Italian bandits, and the Count gets Albert freed because he's an old pal of the head of the bandits, Luigi Vampa. The Count and Albert become friends, and the Count hatches a number of plots to bring down the men who wronged him. It's a long story (and I won't share all the details) but Fernand kills himself out of shame when it becomes known that he was a traitor to France while fighting in Turkey (for a man who turns out to have been the father of Haydée, the Count's "slave"/ward) and after his wife and son leave him. The Count was going to fight Albert and kill him (when Albert found out that his father was accused of treason by the Count) but then the Count was going to lose on purpose (aka die) because Mercedes begged for his mercy (and she was the only one who recognized him from the get-go) but then Albert apologizes for challenging the Count when he realizes that his dad is basically a total tool. Danglars abandons his wife after his daughter runs off to pursue her singing career after his daughter almost married a man who turned out to be a thief and a murderer and who was actually (DUN DUN DUN) Villefort's son with Danglars' wife through an illicit affair. They don't realize this until the man, Benedetto, is on trial for murdering Caderousse (after he and Caderousse tried to rob and kill the Count - big mistake). Oh, and the Count basically bankrupted Danglars, so Danglars peaced out with the receipt from the Count and planned to make bank and leave the hospital (who was going to receive 5 million francs from Danglars) penniless. But of course the Count makes him pay by getting his Roman bandit friends to capture Danglars and starve him until he paid all the money back for food and then finally the Count reveals himself to Danglars and Danglars escapes with 5000 francs and gets to live because the Count is feeling a little over-vengeancy at that point. Oh, and Villefort's wife (it turns out, unrelated to the Count's vengeance agenda) has been poisoning his entire family (successfully killing Villefort's former mother-in-law (his first wife died) and father-in-law and his father's servant, and HE THINKS, his daughter Valentine, who the new wife didn't like because she was her stepdaughter, and we all know how stepmothers hate their stepdaughters when large amounts of money are involved that could be going to their darling little sons named Edward) and when Villefort tries to make her pay after he finds out by telling her she better kill herself before he throws her in jail, he goes to court only to have it revealed that Benedetto, the murderer and thief and almost hubby of Eugénie Danglars (he was called Andrea Cavalcanti and everyone thought he was a prince (thanks to the Count of course)) is his illegitimate son. Crazed, shamed, dishonored, and potentially in legal trouble, Villefort returns home, only to find the Count there (who reveals himself in another AHA moment) and his wife and son Edward dead at her hand. The Count is kind of horrified by the level of trauma at the Villeforts, though he secretly helped Valentine fake her death to save her life - and did I mention that the Count saved the Morrels from bankruptcy way back when and M. Morrel's son Maximilian and daughter Julie and her husband Emmanuel are the only people the Count loves and who love the count and that Maximilian falls deeply, madly, hopelessly in love with Valentine but she's engaged to Franz D'Épinay, and she only gets out of the marriage when Noirtier (Villefort's dad, Valentine's grandfather) [who happens to have suffered a stroke and speaks only through a series of blinks] reveals to Franz that he KILLED FRANZ's father back when Noirtier was a badass Bonapartist (but the death was from a duel of honor, not an ambush, like Franz thought). Oh, but then Maximilian thinks Valentine is dead (only the Count and Noirtier know) and he is sooooo sad and the Count keeps telling him to give him a month and then when he thinks he's dying because the Count offered to help him commit suicide (but really it's just a perception-altering hallucinogen, of which the Count has many), the Count reveals Valentine to him on the Isle of Monte Cristo and they stroll on the beach and Haydée reveals that she Loooves the Count and the Count decides maybe he doesn't have to die now that his vengeance is over and they disappear into the sunset.
Spoiler Over: Continue Here
WHEW! That was exhausting! Well. Now I know for SURE what is in the unabridged version. I am glad that I got the full experience, though 1462 pages is quite a lot to take in. I think it would have been a real thrill to read it in serial form as it was originally published, but alas, it was not to be.
Have you read the complete version? See here for my notes on a comedy of errors...
I loved this book, though I admit I did balk at the sheer enormity of the tome. I liked Edmond, and Dumas is truly a craftsman when it comes to merging descriptions and imagery with swashbuckle and romance. Ultimately, I got a little mired down by all of Edmond's various plots to complete his vengeance, and I felt that the three separate reveals to his accusers were a little much. But then again, the whole book has a very over-the-top adventure feel to it, so I shouldn't have been surprised.
Since the book is so long (and there really are a lot of great parts that I don't want to ruin for you if you haven't read the unabridged version - which, apparently, you probably haven't, since they don't sell it in that many places and the average book store thinks you CAN'T HANDLE IT) I'll share my feelings in a few choice quotes.
This one is from a conversation between Edmond and the Abbé Faria, toward the beginning of the book:
Edmond: "If you thus surpassed all mankind while but a prisoner, what would you not have accomplished free?"
Dantes: "Possibly nothing at all; -the overflow of my brain would probably, in a state of freedom, have evaporated in a thousand follies; it needs trouble and difficulty and danger to hollow out various mysterious and hidden mines of human intelligence."
I thought this was a fascinating concept, but also quite poetic. I'm not sure whether imprisonment would drive me to moments of brilliance or sheer insanity, but I suppose when one is imprisoned alone and when one is fully aware of one's innocence of any crime, the situation is rather different. Also, I think I probably could have handled 19th century prison better than I would handle the prison of today. What do you think? Not that I'm planning to go to prison or anything, but Edmond wasn't really planning on it, either.
Edmond to Mercedes: "From good-natured, confiding, and forgiving, I became revengeful, cunning, and wicked, or rather immovable as fate."
What would you do if three people in your life - not necessarily friends, but acquaintances who didn't really seem like they had any beef with you - just up and accused you of a crime, and you not only got arrested, but you were jailed for 14 years afterward? Would you be able to come out with a heart of forgiveness? Or would you let the rage fester and find a way to make them pay, like Edmond did? I like to think I would find a way to forgive them, but I really don't know if I could - especially if the deal included losing the one I loved and my closest kin.
I think the really heartwrenching thing about this novel is when Edmond starts to question the extent to which he's playing God. He truly believes that he is acting on the behalf of Providence for a large portion of the vengeance gig, but after Villefort's son and wife die, he seems a little overwhelmed. I mean, I guess after the three men ruined his life, he feels he has the right to ruin theirs, but he ruined at least 5 lives, where they only tampered with one. I don't know; I get the whole maligned feeling Edmond channels during his vengeance, but I don't know how he is so driven by vengeance and devoid of love and real happiness. How much of his life did he spend ruining the lives of others? How much good could he have done in his own life and other people's lives instead? Maybe no one wants to read that book.
I'll close with this quote from the Abbé to Edmond, after the Abbé has helped Edmond to piece together the details of how he came to be imprisoned: "Is there anything I can assist you in discovering, besides the villainy of your friends?"
Adieu! I encourage you to tackle the unabridged version, just remember to bring your stamina and your patience for intricate, incestuous plots. I'm on to North of Purgatory. Or something like that. ;)
Spoiler Alert: Plot Summary
The Count of Monte Cristo is a tale of romance, adventure, vengeance, sorrow, and redemption. Our story begins with a young sailor named Edmond Dantes in Marseilles, a city in southern France. Edmond is kind, generous, loves his father and his bride-to-be more than anything in the world, and has just been promoted by his boss, Monsieur Morrel. Everything seems to be going his way. While he is on leave between voyages, he is to be married, and his friends and family flock to the pre-nuptial feast. On the very moment he is about to leave for the church with his blushing bride, Mercedes, however, he is arrested and accused of Bonapartist activities. We as readers (and in this case, omniscients) know that three men (Caderousse, a greedy neighbor of Edmond's; Danglars, the ship's mate, who is jealous that he was passed over by Morrel in favor of Edmond; and Fernand, Mercedes' cousin who loves her passionately and wishes Edmond's death if it means he can be with her) made a pact to mail a letter revealing Edmond's supposed revolutionary activities. Edmond did, in fact, deliver letters on the orders of M. Morrel (who was in, fact, a Bonapartist) but he was unaware the extent of the letters and was, on the whole, blameless. We think at first that the procureur du roi (kind of like the D.A. of the time), Villefort, will be sympathetic to Edmond, as he has just come from his own wedding. It turns out (in an evil twist of fate) that Villefort's father has been implicated in the letters that Edmond received after stopping on Elba, and in order to cover up this heinous shame, Villefort condemns Edmond to the Chateau D'If, an infamous prison just off the shore of Marseilles. Edmond is imprisoned for over a decade, without even knowing the particulars of how or why he was accused. He despairs and almost kills himself by starvation, but meets a man, the Abbé Faria (a fellow inmate) by digging a tunnel and intercepting his. They hoped to escape, but their attempts are thwarted by various natural obstacles in the foundation of the prison. They maintain a great friendship, however, and the Abbé teaches Edmond all about literature and science and everything a sailor of the time would have no reason to know. The Abbé talks of a mysterious treasure that he has discovered, but Edmond (like everyone else) believes the Abbé is mad. He is finally convinced one of the last few times he sees the Abbé, and the Abbé informs him that he is dying. He suffers several strokes, and Edmond is able to save him with a few drops of a potion the Abbé created, but the last one is too much, and the Abbé dies. Edmond is heartstricken at the death of his only friend. In a deft maneuver, however, he switches places with the Abbé's body and sews himself into the sack meant for the Abbé, planning to dig his way out of the grave and escape to freedom. To his horror, the men who remove the body pitch him off a cliff with a cannon tied to his legs, chuckling about the sea being the grave of the Chateau D'If. Edmond manages to extricate his legs and escape notice due to the darkness. He swims to shore and encounters a fishing boat. He serves as a pirate in their smuggling crew until he manages to get himself shored on the Isle of Monte Cristo. He discovers his treasure and returns home to Marseilles, swearing vengeance against Danglars, Fernand, and Villefort (he found out in prison that they were responsible for his imprisonment). He finds, much to his horror, that his father has died of starvation, poverty stricken. Mercedes is gone. The story picks up again with Edmond (now styled the Count of Monte Cristo) in Rome, where he meets Albert de Morcerf (Mercedes' son with Fernand) and Franz D'Épinay, a friend of Albert's. They enjoy carnivale, Albert gets himself captured by Italian bandits, and the Count gets Albert freed because he's an old pal of the head of the bandits, Luigi Vampa. The Count and Albert become friends, and the Count hatches a number of plots to bring down the men who wronged him. It's a long story (and I won't share all the details) but Fernand kills himself out of shame when it becomes known that he was a traitor to France while fighting in Turkey (for a man who turns out to have been the father of Haydée, the Count's "slave"/ward) and after his wife and son leave him. The Count was going to fight Albert and kill him (when Albert found out that his father was accused of treason by the Count) but then the Count was going to lose on purpose (aka die) because Mercedes begged for his mercy (and she was the only one who recognized him from the get-go) but then Albert apologizes for challenging the Count when he realizes that his dad is basically a total tool. Danglars abandons his wife after his daughter runs off to pursue her singing career after his daughter almost married a man who turned out to be a thief and a murderer and who was actually (DUN DUN DUN) Villefort's son with Danglars' wife through an illicit affair. They don't realize this until the man, Benedetto, is on trial for murdering Caderousse (after he and Caderousse tried to rob and kill the Count - big mistake). Oh, and the Count basically bankrupted Danglars, so Danglars peaced out with the receipt from the Count and planned to make bank and leave the hospital (who was going to receive 5 million francs from Danglars) penniless. But of course the Count makes him pay by getting his Roman bandit friends to capture Danglars and starve him until he paid all the money back for food and then finally the Count reveals himself to Danglars and Danglars escapes with 5000 francs and gets to live because the Count is feeling a little over-vengeancy at that point. Oh, and Villefort's wife (it turns out, unrelated to the Count's vengeance agenda) has been poisoning his entire family (successfully killing Villefort's former mother-in-law (his first wife died) and father-in-law and his father's servant, and HE THINKS, his daughter Valentine, who the new wife didn't like because she was her stepdaughter, and we all know how stepmothers hate their stepdaughters when large amounts of money are involved that could be going to their darling little sons named Edward) and when Villefort tries to make her pay after he finds out by telling her she better kill herself before he throws her in jail, he goes to court only to have it revealed that Benedetto, the murderer and thief and almost hubby of Eugénie Danglars (he was called Andrea Cavalcanti and everyone thought he was a prince (thanks to the Count of course)) is his illegitimate son. Crazed, shamed, dishonored, and potentially in legal trouble, Villefort returns home, only to find the Count there (who reveals himself in another AHA moment) and his wife and son Edward dead at her hand. The Count is kind of horrified by the level of trauma at the Villeforts, though he secretly helped Valentine fake her death to save her life - and did I mention that the Count saved the Morrels from bankruptcy way back when and M. Morrel's son Maximilian and daughter Julie and her husband Emmanuel are the only people the Count loves and who love the count and that Maximilian falls deeply, madly, hopelessly in love with Valentine but she's engaged to Franz D'Épinay, and she only gets out of the marriage when Noirtier (Villefort's dad, Valentine's grandfather) [who happens to have suffered a stroke and speaks only through a series of blinks] reveals to Franz that he KILLED FRANZ's father back when Noirtier was a badass Bonapartist (but the death was from a duel of honor, not an ambush, like Franz thought). Oh, but then Maximilian thinks Valentine is dead (only the Count and Noirtier know) and he is sooooo sad and the Count keeps telling him to give him a month and then when he thinks he's dying because the Count offered to help him commit suicide (but really it's just a perception-altering hallucinogen, of which the Count has many), the Count reveals Valentine to him on the Isle of Monte Cristo and they stroll on the beach and Haydée reveals that she Loooves the Count and the Count decides maybe he doesn't have to die now that his vengeance is over and they disappear into the sunset.
Spoiler Over: Continue Here
WHEW! That was exhausting! Well. Now I know for SURE what is in the unabridged version. I am glad that I got the full experience, though 1462 pages is quite a lot to take in. I think it would have been a real thrill to read it in serial form as it was originally published, but alas, it was not to be.
Have you read the complete version? See here for my notes on a comedy of errors...
I loved this book, though I admit I did balk at the sheer enormity of the tome. I liked Edmond, and Dumas is truly a craftsman when it comes to merging descriptions and imagery with swashbuckle and romance. Ultimately, I got a little mired down by all of Edmond's various plots to complete his vengeance, and I felt that the three separate reveals to his accusers were a little much. But then again, the whole book has a very over-the-top adventure feel to it, so I shouldn't have been surprised.
Since the book is so long (and there really are a lot of great parts that I don't want to ruin for you if you haven't read the unabridged version - which, apparently, you probably haven't, since they don't sell it in that many places and the average book store thinks you CAN'T HANDLE IT) I'll share my feelings in a few choice quotes.
This one is from a conversation between Edmond and the Abbé Faria, toward the beginning of the book:
Edmond: "If you thus surpassed all mankind while but a prisoner, what would you not have accomplished free?"
Dantes: "Possibly nothing at all; -the overflow of my brain would probably, in a state of freedom, have evaporated in a thousand follies; it needs trouble and difficulty and danger to hollow out various mysterious and hidden mines of human intelligence."
I thought this was a fascinating concept, but also quite poetic. I'm not sure whether imprisonment would drive me to moments of brilliance or sheer insanity, but I suppose when one is imprisoned alone and when one is fully aware of one's innocence of any crime, the situation is rather different. Also, I think I probably could have handled 19th century prison better than I would handle the prison of today. What do you think? Not that I'm planning to go to prison or anything, but Edmond wasn't really planning on it, either.
Edmond to Mercedes: "From good-natured, confiding, and forgiving, I became revengeful, cunning, and wicked, or rather immovable as fate."
What would you do if three people in your life - not necessarily friends, but acquaintances who didn't really seem like they had any beef with you - just up and accused you of a crime, and you not only got arrested, but you were jailed for 14 years afterward? Would you be able to come out with a heart of forgiveness? Or would you let the rage fester and find a way to make them pay, like Edmond did? I like to think I would find a way to forgive them, but I really don't know if I could - especially if the deal included losing the one I loved and my closest kin.
I think the really heartwrenching thing about this novel is when Edmond starts to question the extent to which he's playing God. He truly believes that he is acting on the behalf of Providence for a large portion of the vengeance gig, but after Villefort's son and wife die, he seems a little overwhelmed. I mean, I guess after the three men ruined his life, he feels he has the right to ruin theirs, but he ruined at least 5 lives, where they only tampered with one. I don't know; I get the whole maligned feeling Edmond channels during his vengeance, but I don't know how he is so driven by vengeance and devoid of love and real happiness. How much of his life did he spend ruining the lives of others? How much good could he have done in his own life and other people's lives instead? Maybe no one wants to read that book.
I'll close with this quote from the Abbé to Edmond, after the Abbé has helped Edmond to piece together the details of how he came to be imprisoned: "Is there anything I can assist you in discovering, besides the villainy of your friends?"
Adieu! I encourage you to tackle the unabridged version, just remember to bring your stamina and your patience for intricate, incestuous plots. I'm on to North of Purgatory. Or something like that. ;)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
I am still working, but I require a brief respite.
Dearest blog enthusiasts,
I'm not sure whether any of you have been waiting with bated breath for my next entry, but I am writing (alas) to inform you that it will not be coming in the immediate future. I am taking a brief hiatus to focus on preparing for a prestigious fellowship for which I have been selected as a regional finalist. I don't know what to expect, or if I have even the slightest chance of advancing, but I want to give it my full effort. This means I am not, therefore, giving my full effort to the poor Count of Monte Cristo.
I will, however, share a brief story about my efforts to procure a copy of the novel.
I was thrilled when I realized I would be reading The Count of Monte Cristo. I read the book (or so I thought) in 8th grade, and remembered loving it. I happily dug around my room for the copy I'd purchased around Christmastime from Borders. When I sat down and opened the cover, however, I was shocked (dismayed! horrified!) to discover that I had unknowingly purchased an abridged edition.
I promptly announced this shocking discovery to my roommate, who is also an avid fan of the Count. She happily offered to search for her personal copy of the book. She trundled away to her room and dug in the abyss that is her living space, emerging triumphantly with a smaller, but thicker, copy of the book. We opened the cover together excitedly, only to find that this copy was ALSO abridged.
I remembered that another one of my roommates had recently landed a crate full of classics from a coworker who had stopped loving them. I ran downstairs and rifled through the pile, triumphantly discovering yet another copy. Alas, this third copy was also abridged. I now found myself in a quandary; had I really read the book at all? How much had each of these copies removed from the true tale?
Thoroughly angry with Borders for having sold me a copy of the book that was abridged without telling me, I marched back to the store (without a receipt. or (ahem) even a price tag) and demanded an unabridged version. The clerk reluctantly (and in an extremely bored tone) offered me store credit toward the purchase of the unabridged version. I happily accepted, and ran to the "literature" section to find an unabridged version. I yanked out a copy and started walking back toward the front desk. Halfway there, I checked the page count of the unabridged version - a whopping 1462 pages! As I purchased the new version, I joked with the clerk about them trying to cheat me out of a thousand pages. "Look how much more there is! I would seriously have missed out with that abridged version, eh?" (To which she offered a small forced chuckle, which was followed immediately by the return of her completely blank stare. You work in a book store and you don't enjoy creepy book patron jokes? Come on!)
So, needless to say, the unabridged version is taking me some time. I'm over the 900 page mark, and I'm certainly enjoying it, but it's going to take me some time to finish it.
I hope you enjoyed this little tale, and I'll do my best to get back to this blog as soon as I can.
Happy St. Patrick's day! Ta ta!
I'm not sure whether any of you have been waiting with bated breath for my next entry, but I am writing (alas) to inform you that it will not be coming in the immediate future. I am taking a brief hiatus to focus on preparing for a prestigious fellowship for which I have been selected as a regional finalist. I don't know what to expect, or if I have even the slightest chance of advancing, but I want to give it my full effort. This means I am not, therefore, giving my full effort to the poor Count of Monte Cristo.
I will, however, share a brief story about my efforts to procure a copy of the novel.
I was thrilled when I realized I would be reading The Count of Monte Cristo. I read the book (or so I thought) in 8th grade, and remembered loving it. I happily dug around my room for the copy I'd purchased around Christmastime from Borders. When I sat down and opened the cover, however, I was shocked (dismayed! horrified!) to discover that I had unknowingly purchased an abridged edition.
I promptly announced this shocking discovery to my roommate, who is also an avid fan of the Count. She happily offered to search for her personal copy of the book. She trundled away to her room and dug in the abyss that is her living space, emerging triumphantly with a smaller, but thicker, copy of the book. We opened the cover together excitedly, only to find that this copy was ALSO abridged.
I remembered that another one of my roommates had recently landed a crate full of classics from a coworker who had stopped loving them. I ran downstairs and rifled through the pile, triumphantly discovering yet another copy. Alas, this third copy was also abridged. I now found myself in a quandary; had I really read the book at all? How much had each of these copies removed from the true tale?
Thoroughly angry with Borders for having sold me a copy of the book that was abridged without telling me, I marched back to the store (without a receipt. or (ahem) even a price tag) and demanded an unabridged version. The clerk reluctantly (and in an extremely bored tone) offered me store credit toward the purchase of the unabridged version. I happily accepted, and ran to the "literature" section to find an unabridged version. I yanked out a copy and started walking back toward the front desk. Halfway there, I checked the page count of the unabridged version - a whopping 1462 pages! As I purchased the new version, I joked with the clerk about them trying to cheat me out of a thousand pages. "Look how much more there is! I would seriously have missed out with that abridged version, eh?" (To which she offered a small forced chuckle, which was followed immediately by the return of her completely blank stare. You work in a book store and you don't enjoy creepy book patron jokes? Come on!)
So, needless to say, the unabridged version is taking me some time. I'm over the 900 page mark, and I'm certainly enjoying it, but it's going to take me some time to finish it.
I hope you enjoyed this little tale, and I'll do my best to get back to this blog as soon as I can.
Happy St. Patrick's day! Ta ta!
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