A brief essay about my long relationship with The Count of Monte Cristo - and its role in the genesis of the newly-in-paperback Harry, Revised - can be found today at Chekhov's Mistress.
After that, I put The Count of Monte Cristo away but he’s always loomed large in my personal mythology. Yes, it’s true that Dumas isn’t much for psychological realism. But one of the most elegant, least commented upon aspects of The Count of Monte Cristo is how Dantès essentially lets his foes undo themselves – he merely lays temptation in their way, and their natures, deformed by greed, by lust, by ambition, lead them headlong into ruin. Years later, when I taught writing to a group of at-risk boys, I substituted one of the required readings with a section from The Count. To my surprise, when I returned the following week, I learned the boys had sought out the book from their library, and as we discussed it, it became clear this dimension was not lost on them.
Dantes ability to snare his enemies within their own faults is brilliant and one of my favorite parts of The Count. Still, Dantes seems to shoulder responsibility for their misfortunes at the end of the novel when he questions whether or not he has gone to far.
Posted by: Tim | April 08, 2009 at 11:29 AM
I completely agree, Tim - there's actually a scene in my book where Harry starts to clue in to Dantes's gnawing discontent and it causes him to wonder if he's been taking inspiration from the most reliable of quarters. I also reproduce Dantes's closing letter in which he essentially repudiates his actions.
Posted by: TEV | April 08, 2009 at 11:50 AM
Speaking of Harry, Revised, whatever happened to it over at the Tournament of Books?
The rooster's bloody spur drips . . .
Posted by: BDon | April 08, 2009 at 12:55 PM
DBon, my feeling is that rage - even when it is as incoherent and narcissitic as David Rees's - is infinitely preferable to indifference. Something about my book got under his skin, which is always better than being ignored. Anyway, I beat out a Booker Prize winner en route to my Waterloo, so that's pretty rich, right?
Posted by: TEV | April 08, 2009 at 10:08 PM