Almost the Final Post

A really important issue to understand this book is that many words are written in French to preserve the origins of the story; however it is difficult to understand the meaning when many French words are said in one phrase.  After I have read more than twelve hundred pages, I realized I can´t remember many of the characters that appear at the end of the stories and that were mentioned at the beginning. It is too difficult to recognize the connection between many characters because the author doesn’t mention it as a statement, but the readers most infer it.

If I had the option to go back in time and choose another book for this activity I would probably do it because it has been really difficult for me write about an story that is not extremely clear in my mind.  

My second opinion about Edmon Dante’s

I have to reconsider what I posted on my first opinion of Edmon Dante´s. I talked positive about the Count in the first post because he was looking for revenge and none wouldn´t do that after what they done to him; however as I advance in my reading, I have seen that the Count start harming innocent people to get what he wanted. He achieved enough hate in his heart to destroy many innocent lives without hesitate.

I think that the most affected character is Andrea Cavalcanti, he is selected by the count to be a piece in the revenge against Danglars. Edmond promoted the marriage between this character and Eugenie (Daughter of Danglars), saying that Andrea was a millionaire Italian prince and that the marriage would bring back to life Danglar´s business. As readers may have guessed, Andrea was not rich and at the wedding the police try to arrest him, shaming Danglar´s family.   

Reed really works.

I started this blog when I have already read more than six hundred pages and right know I am at page 1190 which is almost the end of the book. , This activity of reading and posting has not only improved me new vocabulary, but it has also introduced me into this author novels. I really liked this novel and I think I would like to read another Dumas novel which will probably be “The Three Musketeers”. Some other authors have already caught my attention like “Stephen king” or “Brandon Sanderson” because they are known all around the world that that leaves a good impression.

I am quite sure that reading novels in English will keep my abilities at top. I have already got two books to keep this strategy, those books are “Elantris”, written by Brandon Sanderson, and “the game of thrones”, which is a resent HBO novel.

My personal opinion about Edmond Dantes

Edmond was a good person before his great tragedy; he had neither cruelty nor the malaise inside him. After he suffered physically and mentally so many years, he was not the same person. No human can suffer that much and have no further consequences.

From my point of view, the count is a lonely soul who has been transformed and has to bear his own decision of punishing does that have made him suffer. It is because of this decision that he can´t be the person he was. Inside his mind he has no other purpose than vengeance.  If he could pardon, then he could recover his old life and be truly happy; however, I will not judge him as it might not be easy to pardon all that evil.

On the other hand, the count has also good intentions with does he loves. He looks after Hayde more than a real father would and he cares about Ali and his servants more than any other master would do. 

Traditions I have learned from the book.

The book has shown me many traditions in Franc and how they were carried out in that period. One thing that caught my attention was that if you were challenged by someone, you could only deny the duel if that person had a lower economic position. Also the person that was challenged was supposed to choose the weapon used in the duel, which could be a sword or a gun. I have also learned other traditions. In wealthy families, the marriages were arranged according to the needs of the family, Sometimes the marriage arrangement was because of economic interest, sometime for political interest and some other were made to erase some hostile feelings between two families.  All this costumes are quite different from what we are used to do in the twenty century and the costumes will probably be changing even faster than before.

About M. Nortier

M. Nortier is the father of M. Villefort and he supported the Napoleonic strike against the king´s government. He is a character which I admire in this novel because he became paralytic in an accident and even when the only thing he can do with his body is move the eyes, he can clearly transmit his desires and his thought to the people that he knows and love.  He is given a treatment to restore his movement; however it is a poisonous substance that if drunk in a big quantity by someone who is not costumed to it will die very fast. His servant was the most loyal men he had in his life and the servant also loved Nortioer´s granddaughter. One day in which the servant had helped Morrel to enter Villefort´s house, the servant was out of breath and so the granddaughter told him to drink a lemonade which was at a table. The lemonade was poisonous and so he died and Nortier showed maximum respect and love for this person. At the end of the story, Nortier helps her granddaughter and M. Morrel to get married.  

The Count´s new life

Some time has passed since the last part of the story I told. In this new part the count is already a known and important character in the society. He has shown his richness to everybody, and has bought a house in the Avenue des Champs-Élysées that once belonged to M de Villefort. Thanks to one of his servants Edmond knew that Villefort had committed a crime a long time ago in that house. With this advantage he starts his  revenge against this character. While all this happens, a new character has appeared, he is M. Morrel (the old Edmod´s boss) son, who also carried his name. This character is not wealth as his father used to be, however he is not poor. This new character has fall in love with Villeforts daughter but she is already engaged to Frans de Spinay (the one that became friend of the Count in Italy). Morrel ask for help to the count and Edmond does not deny it. Returning to Villeforts crime, is has been made long time ago when madam Dangalrs was not married yet. They used to be lovers and a baby was born due to his acts, however the baby was sick and not shore if alive or not, Villefort was about to bury him when suddenly he was stabbed in the back and lost conscience. The baby disappeared. The secret remained safe between them until know that Edmon´s knows it. 

So far, this is one of the best writing design I have ever read, the way in which the character are connected between each other is very complex, but terrific. 

The story continues

A new story is told in the next part of the book, in which two French friends go to Italy for the festival, and there they met the Count of Monte Cristo. They become friends and one night Morcef (one of the French friends) is kidnapped by a famous bandit named Luigi Vampa. Franz (the other friend) goes to the Count to asking for help and without any petition in exchange of his service the count went to see Vampa. As soon as the coutn was recognized by the bandits Morcef is released and Vampa asks for forgiveness.  In this part in the movie, everything is changed, in the move Monte Cristo pays Vampa to kidnap Morcef and then to release him when he appears. I didn’t like so many changes in the novel and in the movie, they are almost different stories. Going back to the book, the Count goes to France and meets with Morcef to be introduced with all the important French people. There he meets ones more with all the people that was in his past but none of them recognize him. The Count likes the idea of not being recognized and he has a nice life for a while with not much movement, but from here he starts his plans to seek revenge and he then knows that Mercedes was Morcef mother. 

About the Author

Alexandre Dumas was a French novelist best known for writing The count of Monte Cristo, The three Musketeers, The Vicomte de Bragelonne and Twenty Years After.  I read a part of his biography and I realize that he had a son with the same and he was also a famous writer, therefore some people confuse the novel´s real author.  I can´t really tell the way he wrote during his career because this is the first book I´m reading. However I can tell that he wrote The Count of Monte Cristo in a fictitiously world where the treasure he found had unlimited wealth. The characters are common people in the 1815 and the costumes they have are based on the costumes of the real life; However Edmon Dantes, the main character, has special attributes such as intelligence and knowledge far more than any other human.

some more information

 The next day he sow a ship passing nearby so he shout and called for them. When he got inside he realized that all the people onboard were smugglers. He decided to join them to make a little profit and then make an expedition into the Monte Cristo Island. He was appreciated by all the crew and he had a good salary, however he had found the island and the treasure so he had no need to keep  working. He send a man to France in search of all the people that he had loved in his passed life. The news came without any favorable response. They reported that his father had died and Mercedes, his betrothed, had married Fernando. Even with the disappointment of the news he bought a single sailor ship and sailed to Monte Crsito´s Island in there he took a part of treasure and began a new life.

I forgot telling that I am reading the first translated version (1946 , by McGrow-Hill Book Company) and the language used there is really old. Moreover the ages and some numbers are said with an estrange words order.  For example it sais five-and twenty instead of twenty five.  So far so good, I have enjoyed the book pretty much even when it has turned an obligation for my English class. 

First part of the story

The story begins when Edmon´s is the happiest person in the world. He had nothing else to desire, he is about to marry her love, he has just been promoted to captain of the best ship, his father is very healthy and all the people in town loves him. Suddenly all his fortune is threatened when he is sentenced to life prison by a reason he does not even know. Fernando and danglers had send a letter that was found at Edmon´s house to M. de Villefort and this letter seemed to be a Napoleonic conspiracy.  He was sent to prison without a trial and in there he thought about all the things he had lost. After a very long time he met a priest who was a very good thinker and they became family as they were the only human contact they could have besides the prisoner personal. After a long time the count learned all that the priest knew about idioms, science, politics and many other things. One day the priest suffered a heart attack and he died so Edmon got inside the funeral bag expecting to be buried in the cemetery and they he might be able to escape, but the bag was thrown into the sea so he had to swim a long distance till he reached an island.

In this fraction of the book I have had a lot of interest and felt attracted to continue reading. I have had different  emotions  and opinions toward the cruelty and drama that the novels shows however it can happen in real life so it gave me a perspective of how life can change in a moment. In my opinion, this book has a great example of how the injustice is spread all over the world and how it affect a lots and benefit a few, it is also an example that you can achieve anything if you put your mind and strive to achieve, as when Edmond escapes from prison risking his own life.

Mi opinion about the book

This book is a very good one. In my personal opinion it is very difficult to understand if English is not your native language. It is full of drama and adventure. It has lots of characters and they appear in different parts of the story; that makes it a little confusing when the conversations in the book are very long. It is also difficult recognize who is who and the relation between them, but the writing skills of Dumas makes it worthy to read it. It has many French words and names because the original version is written in French and it also may confuse the reader if he is not used to read frequently. 

Characters description

The count of Monte Cristo: He is the main character of the plot and after using his first name Edmon Dantes, he start using different names such as Wilmore, Abbé Busoni and Sinbad the Sailor to cover his real identity.

Mercedes: She was Edmons´s fiancée. After Edmon is sent to prison, she marries Fernando; however she never stops loving Edmon.

Fernando: He is the Rival of the count because of Mercedes. He is originated from a Spanish neighborhood.

M de Villefort: He is the man responsible of Dantes imprison and he becomes a public and important person.

Danglars: He was once Edmon´s partner on their job, however he felt jealous when Edmon was promoted and he helps Fernando to get rid of him by sending him to prison.

M. Morrel: He was a noble person and a ship owner. He was Edmons boss. He tried to help him when he was sent to prison but had negative results. Later on he is saved by Wilmore (the count) when he was in debt with a moneylender.

Louis Dantes: He is Edmons father and he died while his son was in the prison.

Albert de Morcef: He is son of Mercedes and Fernando. He became friend to the Count when he was rescued by him from and Italian bandit. He is one of the main characters of the second part of the book.

Franz: He met the count at his island and he introduces Albert de Morcef to him.

Abbé Faria: He was a very good thinker and he was a priest. He met Dantes at prison and then he helps him to escape and told him the secret treasure in the Monte Cristo Island.

Any character not mentioned here is not very important in the story, or will be mentioned as I continue reading and writing the story.

Reasons of why doing this blog

I am making this blog because it will help me to improve my English skills such as grammar vocabulary and my writing creativity. Another reason for doing this is that I will be able to share my opinion of the book with all the people interested on Dumas novels.