Add italics to monte cristo page

Author: devalog

_posts/2025-02-17-montecristo.md

@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ date: 2025-02-17
 tags: books
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-I bought a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo from my local Half Price Books when I was in high school. It remained on my shelf for all of high school, and I donated it (probably back to Half Price Books) when I went to college. Last month, over 15 years after I first bought the book, I finally read The Count of Monte Cristo. My first impression of the book was that it was boring. I thought it would be a lot more swashbuckling than it was – a tale of revenge! Perhaps I was also mixing up The Count of Monte Cristo with the author’s other famous work, The Three Musketeers. Even though I had a hard time getting into the book, once I was in it, I loved it. It’s a slow burn revenge plot – scenarios take years (and many chapters) for the Count of Monte Cristo to set up, but the final reveal is always incredible. 
+I bought a copy of *The Count of Monte Cristo* from my local Half Price Books when I was in high school. It remained on my shelf for all of high school, and I donated it (probably back to Half Price Books) when I went to college. Last month, over 15 years after I first bought the book, I finally read The Count of Monte Cristo. My first impression of the book was that it was boring. I thought it would be a lot more swashbuckling than it was – a tale of revenge! Perhaps I was also mixing up The Count of Monte Cristo with the author’s other famous work, The Three Musketeers. Even though I had a hard time getting into the book, once I was in it, I loved it. It’s a slow burn revenge plot – scenarios take years (and many chapters) for the Count of Monte Cristo to set up, but the final reveal is always incredible. 
 
-The Count of Monte Cristo was originally serialized in eighteen parts over the course of a year and a half (1844-1846), and it reads like it was serialized – lots of recaps and subtle reminders to the reader. There are so many characters, many with aliases or names that have changed (Fernand becomes the Count of Morcerf; Benedetto is known for a time as Prince Andrea Cavalcant).
+*The Count of Monte Cristo* was originally serialized in eighteen parts over the course of a year and a half (1844-1846), and it reads like it was serialized – lots of recaps and subtle reminders to the reader. There are so many characters, many with aliases or names that have changed (Fernand becomes the Count of Morcerf; Benedetto is known for a time as Prince Andrea Cavalcant).
 
 When the book opens, it’s 1815. Edmond Dantès arrives in Marseilles, France after completing his voyage. He’s about to be made captain of his ship and marry his true love, Mercédès. His jealous crewmate Danglers and Mercédès’s cousin (and thwarted lover) Fernand falsely accuse Dantès of being a Bonapartist conspirator. The magistrate Villefort, himself a fervent royalist who wants to distance himself as much as he can from his Bonapartist father. After being accused, Dantès visits Villefort to plead his case. Because of an inadvertent connection with Vilalfort’s father, Dantès has information on Villefort that could, if not ruin his career, at least call into question his loyalties. Villefort realizes that Dantès is innocent but imprisons him nonetheless and takes steps to ensure he will never be released.