Take a photo of a barcode or cover
jamesfromboise 's review for:
The Three Musketeers
by Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas is a wonderful author. He is an expert story teller and creates great characters. I would not hesitate to read any of his works after sampling The Count of Monte Cristo and then this one. But I do not think I would recommend this as a must read. It is interesting and engaging, but unlike the Count of Monte Cristo, it feels pretty hollow. We follow the story of a wonderfully portrayed character, Dartagnan, but his life is fairly meaningless. He has his share of swashbuckling adventures and run-ins with royalty, but overall the weight of the story is hampered due to the frivolity of his lifestyle. As a reader you're glad to see him survive his escapades just by nature of his being the protagonist, but it's hard to justify the harm he causes to those around him for the most insignificant of motives.
Now that I've taken the time to be cynical, I'll allow some space for what I enjoyed about this book. There is something absolutely captivating about the concept of dignity which the four main characters of this book base their existence upon. If a man so much as looks at you sideways it would defile your honor to let him escape without being stabbed through the heart. This is somehow incredibly interesting and fun to read. Would any reasonable human ever behave this way? No. But wow is it easy to cheer for them and see them defend their honor against the most trivial of offenses.
The friendship of Aramis, Porthos, Athos, and Dartagnan is very wholesome. It's camaraderie to the extreme. They share all things and would not allow one of them to have an even slightly lower quality of life than the others. This extreme care for one another is gratifying to experience as a reader and was one of the most fascinating part of the book for me.
One element of the book that surprised me was the romantic one. In The Count of Monte Cristo, the protagonist is so upright and honorable that the notion of a mistress would be absurd. In The Three Musketeers, our Dartagnan has multiple lovers and is praised for his exploits by his friends. Given that this book was written in 1844, I imagined this type of character would be very unpopular to readers of the time. I would love to know what perspective the people of France had for his literature after reading this in their cultural context. Was The Three Musketeers the mid eighteen hundreds version of a trashy novel? If so, it's a wonder what time can do because this is certainly considered a true classic in our modern world.
After reading this I'm left in a quandary. I certainly didn't dislike it, but I'm not sure I'm invested enough to read the two sequels. I think I would sooner read one of his other works before I would finish this series. However, I do think I will read all of his works before I die, purely due to his excellent writing style and character development.
Now that I've taken the time to be cynical, I'll allow some space for what I enjoyed about this book. There is something absolutely captivating about the concept of dignity which the four main characters of this book base their existence upon. If a man so much as looks at you sideways it would defile your honor to let him escape without being stabbed through the heart. This is somehow incredibly interesting and fun to read. Would any reasonable human ever behave this way? No. But wow is it easy to cheer for them and see them defend their honor against the most trivial of offenses.
The friendship of Aramis, Porthos, Athos, and Dartagnan is very wholesome. It's camaraderie to the extreme. They share all things and would not allow one of them to have an even slightly lower quality of life than the others. This extreme care for one another is gratifying to experience as a reader and was one of the most fascinating part of the book for me.
One element of the book that surprised me was the romantic one. In The Count of Monte Cristo, the protagonist is so upright and honorable that the notion of a mistress would be absurd. In The Three Musketeers, our Dartagnan has multiple lovers and is praised for his exploits by his friends. Given that this book was written in 1844, I imagined this type of character would be very unpopular to readers of the time. I would love to know what perspective the people of France had for his literature after reading this in their cultural context. Was The Three Musketeers the mid eighteen hundreds version of a trashy novel? If so, it's a wonder what time can do because this is certainly considered a true classic in our modern world.
After reading this I'm left in a quandary. I certainly didn't dislike it, but I'm not sure I'm invested enough to read the two sequels. I think I would sooner read one of his other works before I would finish this series. However, I do think I will read all of his works before I die, purely due to his excellent writing style and character development.