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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
This is a book I would LOVE to be able to split stars on. For story and content: 5. I really loved the story, so different from any movie version of this book. The story really is about D'Artagnan, with only the 3 Musketeers as side characters. I felt like Dumas masterfully wove threads, that were all over the place for awhile, into one lovely little tapestry by the end. It also made me want to brush up on my French history. Was it really that bad that you could find yourself in a duel for looking at someone the wrong way? Yikes! However, I would give the book 2 stars for staying on point. Dumas would write on and on, off on a tangent that had no real bearing on the story. It was incredibly distracting and frustrating as a reader. Way too much digression for my tastes. I wanted to put the book down after five paragraphs describing the velvet and lace of so and so's jacket, or the painful chapter-long religious discussion between Artemis and the bishop. A great work of classical literature, as long as you can stick with it through the surplus.
Reading Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) is a great way to spend the summer. Like [b:The Count of Monte Cristo|7126|The Count of Monte Cristo|Alexandre Dumas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1611834134l/7126._SY75_.jpg|391568], The Three Musketeers found its way into popular culture. The story is familiar, though often altered: I now realise that the 2023 films starring François Civil, Eva Green and Vincent Cassel were not as close to the novel as I thought. (But still: excellent work! Hollywood could never have done such a terrific job.)
At its core, The Three Musketeers is a picaresque novel. In 1626, the young d’Artagnan travels from Gascony to the French capital to join the Musketeers, the famous guards of King Louis XIII (and, as Dumas describes: ‘devil-may-care fellows who are perfectly undisciplined to all but their captain’). On arrival, d’Artagnan manages to offend the three most fearsome among them: Aramis, Athos and Porthos. Before their duels start, however, they find a common enemy in the guards of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu, who runs the country from behind the scenes. D’Artagnan and his new friends soon discover a conspiracy surrounding the king’s wife, Queen Anne of Austria, and the English prime minister Lord Buckingham.
Dumas’ narrator is entertaining and exciting, albeit a tad on the long side. I like how the author made the three musketeers into entirely different characters, as if they were Spice Girls avant la lettre. Then again, I was surprised by their relatively small role in the story, given that the novel bears their signature. (It seems their motto ‘All for one, one for all’ gained its popularity in retrospect.) D’Artagnan is an interesting protagonist, but far too young (20!) for the credit Dumas gives him. Last but not least, the scene in which Milady De Winter attempts to escape from prison must be one of the most nerve-wracking in literary history!
At its core, The Three Musketeers is a picaresque novel. In 1626, the young d’Artagnan travels from Gascony to the French capital to join the Musketeers, the famous guards of King Louis XIII (and, as Dumas describes: ‘devil-may-care fellows who are perfectly undisciplined to all but their captain’). On arrival, d’Artagnan manages to offend the three most fearsome among them: Aramis, Athos and Porthos. Before their duels start, however, they find a common enemy in the guards of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu, who runs the country from behind the scenes. D’Artagnan and his new friends soon discover a conspiracy surrounding the king’s wife, Queen Anne of Austria, and the English prime minister Lord Buckingham.
Dumas’ narrator is entertaining and exciting, albeit a tad on the long side. I like how the author made the three musketeers into entirely different characters, as if they were Spice Girls avant la lettre. Then again, I was surprised by their relatively small role in the story, given that the novel bears their signature. (It seems their motto ‘All for one, one for all’ gained its popularity in retrospect.) D’Artagnan is an interesting protagonist, but far too young (20!) for the credit Dumas gives him. Last but not least, the scene in which Milady De Winter attempts to escape from prison must be one of the most nerve-wracking in literary history!
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm usually a fan of 19th century literature, but about halfway through, I lost patience with the adolescent bluster of the characters. I think I just read it too late in life.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Forget Jane Austen. All comedies of manners should come with a trio of drunken, carousing swashbucklers. I found it dragged a bit around the halfway mark, but it picks up again soon enough and builds to an exciting climax. The end feels a bit too pat, but on the whole well worth the read.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Awesome. Very good classic.
The book is so much more detailed than any movie based on it, including a lot more page time devoted to Lady DeWinter. Incidentally, Dumas is a writer of color- his grandmother was a slave from the Caribbean. I don't know why nobody told me this in high school. I enjoyed this and will read more by Dumas.
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated