Thursday, October 29, 2015

Monkalong Part V/Finale: I have sold distant and uncertain happiness for present and secure

Here we are, the final post about The Monk. Let's jump right in, shall we?
I didn't actually expect Ambrosio to rape Antonia. I was a liiiittle worried when Virginia showed up and Lorenzo was all "If I wasn't so in love with Antonia, I would totally tap that" but thought "Well, Antonia's probably going to die but she's not going to get raped. Something is going to stop this." AND THEN IT DIDN'T. NOTHING STOPPED IT.
I was very upset reading this section.

I was trying to figure out how I would react to this in the post. It mostly amounted to me trying to think up exactly what terrible things should happen to Ambrosio. And then he was tortured by the literal Spanish Inquisition AND the literal Devil so. Fine. I approve of said punishment.

Good job, Alice, for calling from the beginning that Matilda was a demon THE WHOLE TIME. Or at least, that's what I understood, right? Something created by the Devil to get Ambrosio when he saw how faux-righteous and jerktastic he was, and he has been planning this for awhile. The monk sees one boob and then he's a couple months away from matricide and incestuous rape.
I wonder if the Devil knew it would all happen so quick. I bet the he had all sorts of other things lined up and is now just going to have to save those for someone who doesn't fold so easily. I hope he can use Matilda for other soul-stealing cos otherwise it seems like a waste.

We also got Agnes's story but we all already knew this, right? We knew that was her when Lorenzo found her, we knew she was trapped down there and starving. Then we get a whole bunch where Lewis tries to convince us that Virginia wasn't some homework he forgot about and then did on the bus that morning before turning it in and I did not care about any of this. I would way rather get some pointless Raymond stories. Or some more Christoval. He should have made another appearance. And the Bleeding Nun. Would have loved to see more of her.

This was a roller coaster that I was absolutely not anticipating. There was so much crazy shoved in a few pages. Thank you, Alice, because there is no way I would have read this if you hadn't hosted this readalong.

Comments (17)

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WHAT A TERRIBLE BOOK THIS WAS. Agnes's story was basically what we all knew already (Matthew G. Lewis, we are not idiots!), but I was glad she mentioned it since up to that point, it seemed like everyone was forgetting about her terrible suffering and only worrying about Lorenzo's fee-fees.
1 reply · active 489 weeks ago
I forgot that Lewis hadn't already done the REVEAL of Ambrosio being Antonia's sister and Elvira's son so I was confused at first why the Devil was reminding us what we already know. I feel like Lewis did not give his audience a lot of credit figuring out these relationships.

"I'm sorry your beloved, whom you met twice, is dead. I cave birth in a prison while starving and watching my infant die, but no, you're right, let's focus on your pain, Lornenzo"
"I bet the he had all sorts of other things lined up and is now just going to have to save those for someone who doesn't fold so easily."

"Then we get a whole bunch where Lewis tries to convince us that Virginia wasn't some homework he forgot about and then did on the bus that morning before turning it in and I did not care about any of this"

ahahahahaha

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING ALLEY this book was real weird.
1 reply · active 489 weeks ago
This book was not what I expected at all. So nuts...
Ah, Matilda isn't real! Of course. Can't have a woman that smart and devious. She must be supernatural. Ambrosio is the most gullible of all men.
1 reply · active 489 weeks ago
Haha I hadn't thought of that. Dammit, Lewis.
The monk sees one boob and then he's a couple months away from matricide and incestuous rape.

The beginning of the last chapter even says "But a few weeks had elapsed since he was pure and virtuous".

I would have loved to see Christoval and Marguerite get together. Would there be fanfic??
6 replies · active 489 weeks ago
I feel like just the fact that this is over such a short period of time means that there's no way he was every pure and virtuous. Though then it seems odd that the devil wouldn't know that.

Christoval & Marguerite would be great together!!
Hey, Pride is the mother of sins for a reason!

This was a deranged book. I liked it.
If he was so proud from the start, does that mean he was never really pure or virtuous? And if that's the case, kinda makes the Devil's acquisition of him kinda less impressive
Yeah, it does really. Speaking properly theologically, Ambrosio's arrogance is quite enough of a sin. However, never let it be said that Lewis let theology get in the way of a good melodrama!
The devil was shooting fish in a barrel. Unworthy of him, really.
If I were the devil I don't think I'd do my best to remove Ambro from the earth as a punishment, because isn't the devil ALL ABOUT SINNING? I'd be like "sweet, an evil monk I can use for my own devices. Gonna bring this whole thing down from the inside!" I certainly wouldn't remove the evil monk from usefulness in the space of a few weeks.

I SENSE A PLOT HOLE, DEVIL.
3 replies · active 489 weeks ago
That is a good point. Maybe it was a lesser demon that set this up and then the Devil saw the plan was already in motion and was like "You moron, you are wasting resources. Ugh fine, listen, I will deal with the rest of this but next time you pick a righteous target, run him by me first"

Cos Hell is a lot of middle-management, right?
That is quite literally the premise of C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. A far superior Lewis.
Well that sounds AMAZING and I think I might actually need to read that now

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