The Count of Monte Cristo - Part 2

Well, I was right. Dantes escaped fairly quickly and wound up spending some time aboard a ship getting reacquainted with the world and forming his plans to get to Monte Cristo.  Eventually he did and I really liked the ruse he used to get his shipmates off the island so he could search for Faria’s treasure.  Now he’s been spending his money, time and talents in rewarding old and new friends alike.  I had to go and verify some passages in the PDF I have of the book because they were glossed over so quickly and were such big things that I couldn’t really believe what I’d heard.  Yeah, he bought Jacopo his own boat.  And then had one built for himself.  So great.

I loved the visit he paid to Caderousse, dangling all that wealth in his face and tempting him to basically tell the truth, but ensuring as much treachery as Caderousse dared to bring against Fernand and Danglars.  People only see what they expect to see half the time so if Dantes hadn’t worn a disguise and had looked like his old self, I don’t think the jerk would have recognized him anyway.  Still it was pretty moving to see all of Faria’s deductions borne out by Caderousse.  

Only Morrell is worthy of saving and it was wonderful to see Dantes go about it. Especially the part with the reappearing purse.  And the restored Pharaon, complete with cargo - wow, now that’s a gesture! Makes you almost believe in the goodness of humans again. Almost.  Now I’m at the part where the specter of revenge starts to haunt Dantes and his good deeds now done he can turn his mind to planning the downfall of the men who set him up.  I have a feeling all that tutoring Faria put him through will come in handy.  So far he’s shown that he can fake accents and appear as if he is a gentleman from alternately Spain, England and Italy.  Not bad for a sailor boy.  I wish that his training had more detail though; now it seems sort of miraculous that he can pull this off, but I guess it’s part of that whole suspension of disbelief thing.

I’m surprised he doesn’t have a co-conspirator or confidant to help him with his plans.  He seems willing enough to trust people, up to a point, so maybe he’ll get one in the future.  Anything elaborate or involved is going to require help.  At this point I can’t see where it will come from though.  More of what gives this book suspense and tension.  All the imaginings of what he’ll do and what forms his vengeance will take.  Like, will it be directed at Mercedes?  I like it and so far am anxious to read more.  I know from a few folks that it does slow down, but I haven’t gotten to that part yet and hope that it will still be at least interesting even if it isn’t tense.