Dog Ears #2: The Count of Monte Cristo

Damn the last 484 pages of TCOMC were sweet.

I'd be lying if I said I were sad to finish the book, as I've spent chunks of the last five months reading it and I have a dent in my chest from propping it up in bed, but it ended with a magnificent and heartbreaking crescendo that I won't soon forget. Overall the most impressive book I've ever read, and Dumas' insights into human nature are still uncomfortably spot-on in 2007.

I enjoyed jotting down unusual or archaic words and particularly incandescent bits of prose from the first two thirds in Dog Ears #1, so I thought I'd complete the process now.

p1024. "Really, my dear count, you seem to throw a sort of magic influence over all in which you are concerned; when listening to you, existence no longer seems reality, but a waking dream."

p1036. "cartouche" |kärˈtoō sh | noun. a carved tablet or drawing representing a scroll with rolled-up ends, used ornamentally or bearing an inscription. • Archaeology an oval or oblong enclosing a group of Egyptian hieroglyphs, typically representing the name and title of a monarch.

p1056.

"With whom are you going to fight?"
"With Beauchamp."
"Is he one of your friends?"
"Of course; it is always with friends that one fights"

(sad but true...)

p1093 "fruiteress" \Fruit"er*ess\, n. A woman who sells fruit. [1913 Webster]

(hard to believe this essential word has fallen out of favor)

p1095 "pilchard" |ˈpil ch ərd| noun a small, edible, commercially valuable marine fish of the herring family. • Sardinops and other genera, family Clupeidae: several species, including the European Sardina pilchardus. See also sardine.

mmm... crunchy

p1197 "I know the world is a drawing-room, from which we must retreat politely and honestly; that is, with a bow, and all debts of honor paid."

p1204 "nothing induces serious duels so much as a fruitless one."

p1231

"...is someone dead in his house?"
"The general has just blown his brains out," replied Monte Cristo, with great coolness."

(who knew that the phrase "blowing your brains out" has existed for over 160 years?)

p1270 "britska" a long carriage with a calash or movable top, and constructed to afford space for reclining on a journey. Source: W. H. De Puy The People's Cyclopedia (New York: Phillips & Hunt: 1881)

if you're not reclining on your journeys, you're not really journeying

1287 "lazaretto" |ˌlazəˈretō| noun ( pl. -tos) chiefly historical– an isolation hospital for people with infectious diseases, esp. leprosy or plague. • a building (or ship) used for quarantine. • a military or prison hospital.

p1359 "But the excitement had calmed down, and they felt themselves obliged to descend from dreams to reality; after having exhausted the ideal, they found they must talk of the actual."

(I think we've all been there... every rush must eventually be slowed, right?)

p1424 "... who immediately entered into conversation with two or three of those industrious idlers, who are always to be found in Rome at the doors of banking-houses, churches, museums, or theatres."

(I just love the idea of the "industrious idler"... could be to the 'aughts what the term "slacker" was to the '90s)

p1435 "As I was saying last night, they intend me to be ransomed. Holla! here is my watch! Let me see what time it is."

(and I thought "blowing your brains out" seemed anachronistic!)

And finally, my favorite sentiment in the book. Those who haven't already read TCOMC may want to click away now, as these lines represent (IMHO) the culmination of the entire experience and journey of the book...

a view from a cell in the actual Chateau d'If (where Edmond spent 14 long years)

p1461 "There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life."

Truer words have never been written.

Dog Ears #1: The Count of Monte Cristo

I know it's silly to buy "classic" books when there's a perfectly good library walking distance from the house (especially when said house's bookshelves are already double-stacked) but you just can't dog ear pages from library books.


The classic in question is Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo, written in 1844-45. I'm presently on p. 978 (of 1462) and am still completely enthralled by the narrative, the characters and, especially, the exquisitely vivid prose. Many books from the canon can feel like work or eating your vegetables from start to finish, but this one's a joy. To list the subsequent books and films who've made use of/paid homage to/stolen from Count's plot points, literary devices and character motivations would require a separate blog.

Suffice it to say that the saying "Revenge is a dish best served cold" might as well be tattooed across protag Edmond Dantes's shoulderblades.

Anyway, because of the exceptional length of the book, I wanted to jot down some of the select interesting words, timeless observations, lightning-bolt quotes and sly turns of phrase that caught my eye before I reach the conclusion. So, without further ado...

p195 "to learn is not to know; there are the learners and the learned. Memory makes the one, philosophy the other."

p255 "Pain, thou art not an evil."

p380 "yataghan" |ˈyatəgən; -ˌgan| noun, chiefly historical, a sword without a guard and typically with a double-curved blade, used in Muslim countries.

that's a mighty long yataghan you have there.

p538 "cavil" |ˈkavəl| verb [ intrans. ] make petty or unnecessary objections : they caviled at the cost.

p538 "Punctuality is the politeness of kings."

p665 "non bis in idem" | Latin for "not twice for the same thing"

p680 "Those born to wealth, and who have the means of gratifying every wish," said Emmanuel, "know not what is the real happiness of life; just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone estimate the value of a clear and serene sky."

p713 "Eh indeed, does mankind ever lose anything? The arts are removed, and make a tour of the world! Things change their names, and the vulgar do not follow them- that is all; but there is always the same result."

p895 "parvenu" |ˈpärvəˌn(y)oō| often derogatory noun a person of obscure origin who has gained wealth, influence, or celebrity : the political inexperience of a parvenu. adjective having recently achieved, or associated with someone who has recently achieved wealth, influence, or celebrity despite obscure origins : he concealed the details of his parvenu lifestyle. ORIGIN early 19th cent.: from French, literally ‘arrived,’ past participle of parvenir, from Latin pervenire ‘come to, reach.’

p933 "myosotis" |ˌmīəˈsōtəs| noun a plant of a genus that includes the forget-me-nots. • Genus Myosotis, family Boraginaceae.ORIGIN modern Latin, from Greek muosōtis, from mus, mu- ‘mouse’ + ous, ōt- ‘ear.’

"let me show you somethin'"

that's all for now. pray I don't pull my paperbacks down one by one and un-dog ear the dog ears of the past...