THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO - CHAPTERS 35-37

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO - CHAPTERS 35-37

TCOMC journeyed with me to Meadowbrook for a basketball game last night. This book has seen a few miles!

Each time I finish up our reading I find myself shaking my head wondering how Dumas can keep so much excitement going! Certainly, there has to be a moment of lull, but instead the storm continues to rise!

Did you figure out who Albert is? If not, he is the son of Fernand and Mercedes. Does the count's interest now make sense? Do we now understand the tremble in the handshake?

Questions are answered but new questions constantly arise. There is an air of constant mystery around our count as to his relations with so many different types of people such as the bandits.

Poor Albert and his failings at love!

Last thing I want to mention in this reading is the imagery of the mocoletto candles at the close of the carnival. The quote " The same is true of the mocoletto as of life: mankind has so far found only one way of transmitting it, which he owes to God. But he has found a thousand ways to extinguish it- and here the Devil has surely given him some little help" gives us an image of what the count was earlier discussing with Franz and Albert before the executions. Franz's melancholy and despair at the point of extinguishing the candles is very telling as well.

Speaking of that, the count has revealed his plan to us. No quick death is in the works for those that have wronged our protagonist. Intense suffering and pain equal to what he has experienced is on the menu for these men. He has the means and connections to accomplish just that.