sclerck t1_itkned9 wrote on October 24, 2022 at 10:43 AM

My favourite book of all time. The revenge story is super cool but something people forget is that this book really details what it means to be super wealthy. He casually buys a premier place on the Champs Elysees and fills it with the finest furniture and tapestries known to man and doesn't bat an eyelid.

It opened my eyes and I still talk about it many years later.

SleptLikeANaturalLog t1_itltp9i wrote on October 24, 2022 at 4:25 PM

I considered much of those immediate purchases coupled with immediate decorating to be part of the unrealistic fantasy world in which the Count had so perfectly plotted every precise piece of vengeance. Even with the mega-wealthy, so much of this stuff takes time and requires the expertise of true professionals in those industries …as opposed to slaves or former criminals who are merely so devoted to their new master that they’ve acquired such attention to his details that they’ve organically developed the skill set that would take real professionals years or decades to develop.

Tacotuesdayftw t1_itm1w1k wrote on October 24, 2022 at 5:18 PM

I can’t remember the timings of it all, but even though he spent 13 years in prison he still spent a lot of time afterwards gaining his knowledge of the world, and relationships. He spent a lot of time in Italy for instance before fully formulating his revenge plot and cultivating his life.

SleptLikeANaturalLog t1_itmb0cb wrote on October 24, 2022 at 6:17 PM

This true, but he acquired a level of knowledge about the world and borderline omniscience of the personalities and circumstances of the main people in France that to me exceeds what a motivated human could be capable of. (I admit maybe I’m just envious or being small-minded.)

In addition to that, the Count’s slaves invariably succeed at achieving the Count’s exact wishes from his often broadly-described requests. At one point he even comments about how that are so attuned to his needs that this type of perfect service is possible. These servants/slaves are in Paris (and working with the highest society) for the very first time, yet they still always manage to carry out the Count’s requests on expedited schedule and with zero hiccups.