Reviews with content warning for Murder - Les Trois Mousquetaires | The Three Musketeers

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Les Trois Mousquetaires | The Three Musketeers by Sylvie Thorel-Cailleteau, Michael York, Alexandre Dumas, Alexandre Dumas, Pierre Toutain-Dorbec, Giorgio Manganelli, S.M. Sheley, Philip Bates, S.N. Rizvi, Brett Helquist, Walter Covell

18 reviews

loyaultemelie's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I had a bit of trouble trying to rate this book. In terms of readability Dumas deserves every laurel he ever received. This book is so eminently readable it's almost ridiculous. Twice I read 200 pages in two days. As the story progressed the pace only picked up, so at times it felt the reader - like the musketeers themselves - was on a horse riding towards some exciting destination.

Dumas is also superb in balancing comedy and seriousness. I thought that the tone would be the biggest problem of the novel. I found myself pleasantly surprised, it did not seem too much of a problem. Though perhaps this is because, by my interpretation, I think Dumas means for us to laugh at the musketeers more often than not. Even Athos, a character that I loved, felt the subject of satire on more than a few accounts. Still Dumas obviously loves these characters he has created, and it is this love that manages to make the ups and downs of emotion not nearly as jarring as they might have been. That and undeniable skill as a writer.

So why isn't this five stars, since I have so much praise for it? I do think that the Three Musketeers is not necessarily a book that changes a person in the way that heavier books like Les Mis does. I don't think the Dumas was going for that either. I find this book hard to rate because I think for what it set out to do it did it masterfully. Not only is it incredibly entertaining, but it has quite the scope of history, and a wonderful ear for drama. I was not unmoved by our characters - ridiculous though they are. I shuddered at Milady de Winter, and I genuinely felt D'Artagnan's excitement and naivete, all without irony. But I do not know if this book has really changed me in a way that I think five star fiction should. This rating may change if I feel the story stick with me for a while - I think five star books are mostly rated by their longevity than anything else - so for now I will stick to four.

I will say, I have rarely had so much fun reading a book and talking about a book to others. And evil and despicable and even disgusting as Milady de Winter was sometimes, boy did she girlboss.

Also shoutout to Aramis for either being in love or considering the convent. Me too buddy. Me too...

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goldripred's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

It was entertaining in some parts. Like the gambling of horses by "noble" Athos that absolutely wrecked D'Artagnan was hilarious. But Milady characterization as a femme fatale was so sad. Beyond belief. I could not believe the author did her such a bad turn and that she was sentenced to death. D'Artagnan should've been called D'Astardly because he was actually pure evil in forcing himself on Milady and using false pretences the second time.

The murders that the Musketeers commit is so numerous you couldn't count them on two hands and go unpaid. Meanwhile Milady kills one girl and gets condemned to death. Also it is insanity that she is punished with a "fleur-de-lis" for having had sex as a minor. It may be my modern sensibilities, but that branding led to her almost dying of hanging by Athos. Seems like a huge overreaction. This book could be a good companion novel to Just Mercy because the justification of her sentence of death was ludicrous and as soul-crushing as some of the examples in that book. After having read this book two things have been made clear to me: the death penalty is immoral, and dueling is injurious to health. Au revoir.

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hjb_128's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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soph22's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This book was great, but never lived up to the hope I’d built around following reading The Count of Monte Cristo. It’s adventurous and in some parts really fun, but was slightly ruined for me by the way women are used and portrayed

I also believe that some of what D’Artagnan did would constitute as rape with today’s morals - it should have done them too!

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kim_lommaert's review against another edition

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adventurous funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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giohebe's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Un classico, che racchiude azione e storia. La scrittura di Dumas è incredibile, nonostante la mole del libro, che può spaventare, è di facile lettura, ogni capitolo ti porta a voler leggere il successivo. Non mi ha mai, mai annoiata, il che, su più di 700 pagine, è dire tanto.
Ho visto recensioni lamentarsi di alcuni argomenti abbastanza forti, consiglio a proposito di leggere i trigger warning, ma sinceramente il libro va contestualizzato al periodo storico in cui è stato scritto e soprattutto a quello in cui è ambientato. Ovviamente se leggessi di determinati argomenti sul giornale sarei disgustata, ma ripeto, parliamo di un libro dello'800 ambientato nel 600, quindi non si può, e non si deve giudicare un periodo storico con la mentalità di un altro.
Detto questo lettura assolutamente consigliata se si vuole un classico un po' diverso da quelli sempre consigliati. Da recuperare tutti gli altri libri di Dumas padre, perché è un autore brillante.

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