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tete1030's review against another edition
5.0
This corresponds to the translation I had already on paper, and it's amazing to see it come to life like this. It doesn't even feel like the same text. Simon Vance is a brilliant narrator. Very, very good!
Just two notes: Bragelonne is pronouced with a je sound (as in generous) and not with a ge sound (as in get); Anne of Austria is Spanish, not Austrian, and as such her accent, if there was any, should be Spanish, and not an Austrian one...
Small remarks only. On to Louise de la Vallière!
Just two notes: Bragelonne is pronouced with a je sound (as in generous) and not with a ge sound (as in get); Anne of Austria is Spanish, not Austrian, and as such her accent, if there was any, should be Spanish, and not an Austrian one...
Small remarks only. On to Louise de la Vallière!
h1914's review against another edition
3.0
"Yet what is expectation but a kind of folly, and what is that folly but an excess of hope?"
duffypratt's review against another edition
4.0
The D'Artagnan books are a trilogy - The Three Musketeers, 20 Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne. I'm actually not sure what the French name is for this 3000 page monster. It gets divided up into 3, 4 or sometimes 5 volumes. I'm reading a Kindle version which is in four volumes, each at a modest 750 pages or so. And this is the first installment.
Like all the D'Artagnan books, this is great fun. This one involves Louis XIV as he ascends to the throne, and what he needs to do to get out from under the thumb of Mazarin. D'Artagnan is disgusted with Louis, largely because Louis considers himself unable to help Charles regain the throne of England. Naturally, since Louis can't help, D'Artagnan decides that he will get back the throne for Charles all by himself. Athos, it appears, has similar plans, and the two of them acting independently of each other, and somewhat at odds, manage to accomplish the task.
D'Artagnan then gets re-enlisted into Louis service, where his is finally made the head of the Musketeers. He is also given considerable license to act on his own, and is made into a spy for Louis, who needs information about certain nobles who are threats to his power base. While spying, he encounters his friends Porthos and Aramis, who are working somewhat at odds with him (especially Aramis, who always seems to be a bit of a snake). There is a race back to Paris with the news of what D'Artagnan has learned, and a certain amiable tension has been established between D'Artagnan and Aramis.
This is an extraordinary amount of good stuff in what amounts to the first act of a very, very long book. I'm halfway through volume two right now, and it is considerably different that what has come before, but just as fun. These D'Artagnan books are just wonderful, about as good as this sort of light historical romance can get.
Like all the D'Artagnan books, this is great fun. This one involves Louis XIV as he ascends to the throne, and what he needs to do to get out from under the thumb of Mazarin. D'Artagnan is disgusted with Louis, largely because Louis considers himself unable to help Charles regain the throne of England. Naturally, since Louis can't help, D'Artagnan decides that he will get back the throne for Charles all by himself. Athos, it appears, has similar plans, and the two of them acting independently of each other, and somewhat at odds, manage to accomplish the task.
D'Artagnan then gets re-enlisted into Louis service, where his is finally made the head of the Musketeers. He is also given considerable license to act on his own, and is made into a spy for Louis, who needs information about certain nobles who are threats to his power base. While spying, he encounters his friends Porthos and Aramis, who are working somewhat at odds with him (especially Aramis, who always seems to be a bit of a snake). There is a race back to Paris with the news of what D'Artagnan has learned, and a certain amiable tension has been established between D'Artagnan and Aramis.
This is an extraordinary amount of good stuff in what amounts to the first act of a very, very long book. I'm halfway through volume two right now, and it is considerably different that what has come before, but just as fun. These D'Artagnan books are just wonderful, about as good as this sort of light historical romance can get.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
3.0
Elle vit les yeux humides du roi, son front pâle, ses lèvres convulsives, et s'écria avec un accent que rien ne pourrait rendre :Roman bavard, parfois nul mais presque toujours assez agréable à lire.
« Oh ! sire, vous êtes roi, vous pleurez, et je pars ! »
Le roi, pour toute réponse, cacha son visage dans son mouchoir.
L'officier poussa comme un rugissement qui effraya les deux chevaux.
Mlle de Mancini, indignée, quitta le roi et remonta précipitamment dans son carrosse en criant au cocher :
« Partez, partez vite ! »
Le cocher obéit, fouetta ses chevaux, et le lourd carrosse s'ébranla sur ses essieux criards, tandis que le roi de France, seul, abattu, anéanti, n'osait plus regarder ni devant ni derrière lui.
wynwicket's review against another edition
5.0
I confess to strong bias: Dumas is my favorite author. Even when his prose is at its purplest, it makes my heart beat a little faster.
Book 1 in The Vicomte de Bragelonne (a single LONG work broken into three books, of which this is the first, that culminates in and ends the Musketeer Saga with The Man in the Iron Mask) was excellent. D'Artagnan, who has always seemed flamboyantly over-cocky, is more grown-up now, and the power-mad Cardinal Richelieu has been replaced with the power-mad Mazarin and a very young Louis XIV, who is just starting to become the Sun King.
The history, though gently mangled by Dumas, is easier to follow here. There are plenty of secret plots, much manly chest-beating and defenses of honor, a touch of a love story or two, and a hint of derring-do. I live for this stuff.
Also, I have to add that the Oxford World's Classics edition has pages of good historical and literary notes, and there's a really good list of historical personages that appear in the saga.
Book 1 in The Vicomte de Bragelonne (a single LONG work broken into three books, of which this is the first, that culminates in and ends the Musketeer Saga with The Man in the Iron Mask) was excellent. D'Artagnan, who has always seemed flamboyantly over-cocky, is more grown-up now, and the power-mad Cardinal Richelieu has been replaced with the power-mad Mazarin and a very young Louis XIV, who is just starting to become the Sun King.
The history, though gently mangled by Dumas, is easier to follow here. There are plenty of secret plots, much manly chest-beating and defenses of honor, a touch of a love story or two, and a hint of derring-do. I live for this stuff.
Also, I have to add that the Oxford World's Classics edition has pages of good historical and literary notes, and there's a really good list of historical personages that appear in the saga.
teperehmi's review against another edition
4.0
Alexandre Dumas had done it again! I absolutely love the friendship between the four main guys as they get older. They drift apart but ultimately, they remain friends.
The one problem I had with my book: David Coward wrote an introduction which I decided to read (it was the INTRODUCTION). He gives away the ending of the entire series. The spoilers came out of nowhere and probably ruined things for me. I'm still going to read the next two novels but I am incredibly upset that this guy thought it would be okay to ruin the ending. Just because the series was written in the 1800s, it does not mean that everyone has either already read it or just isn't familiar with it.
The one problem I had with my book: David Coward wrote an introduction which I decided to read (it was the INTRODUCTION). He gives away the ending of the entire series. The spoilers came out of nowhere and probably ruined things for me. I'm still going to read the next two novels but I am incredibly upset that this guy thought it would be okay to ruin the ending. Just because the series was written in the 1800s, it does not mean that everyone has either already read it or just isn't familiar with it.
cmbwell's review against another edition
3.0
Don't be fooled by the title; this is still primarily a story about D'Artagnan. The Vicomte de Bragelonne has a minor role, although it might be a little more than he's had in the previous books.
It's obvious that the original book was broken up. This book builds but doesn't fully get anywhere, and the ending us abrupt.
It's obvious that the original book was broken up. This book builds but doesn't fully get anywhere, and the ending us abrupt.
mj44223's review against another edition
4.0
Then I had to read the whole series- boy did I learn my French History of the 17th Century!
heregrim's review against another edition
4.0
It is fun to see D'artagnan working on the opposite side as all of his friends in this story. Ultimately the story was as fun as I am use to, if lacking in action for the most part. Still, the pure audacity of walking into the enemy's camp to prove you can still shows that even without the constant fighting these men still have what it takes to shape the destiny of Louis 14th.