Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Book Twenty - The Count Of Monte Cristo - Part Five

But however the mind of the young man might be absorbed in these reflections, they were at once dispersed at the sight of the dark frowning ruins of the stupendous Colosseum, through the various openings of which the pale moonlight played and flickered like the unearthly gleam from the eyes of the wandering dead.
Dumas came this close to making the book a zombie story.

Albert... knowing full well that among the different states and kingdoms in which this festivity is celebrated, Rome is the spot where even the wisest and gravest throw off the usual rigidity of their lives, and deign to mingle in the follies of this time of liberty and relaxation.
So there’s this guy named Albert, right? And he’s quite the ladies’ man in Paris but in Italy no one will give him the time of day. The women are all faithful to their husbands and lovers. They don’t cheat on the men they’re cheating with. This distresses Albert, who was looking to hook up in Italy during the Carnival. Dumas' handling of Albert is hilarious.  

Most of my readers are aware that the second act of "Parisina" opens with the celebrated and effective duet in which Parisina, while sleeping, betrays to Azzo the secret of her love for Ugo.
Well, duh, of course we know that. I believe Hurley on LOST was named after Ugo. (The way his mama pronounces it, anyway.)

I got a bit confused about someone who, as it turns out, is not really dead but only mostly dead so I Wikipedia-ed the character. And I found this picture of Dumas --



He looks very familiar. Who does he resemble? At first I thought it was one of the Three Stooges, but now I'm not so sure.

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