The Three Musketeers (1844)

Most people know the story. At the very least, they know about the story or they can quote that famous line. I was one of those peeps. I had never bothered to read the book because I saw an adaptation or two. lol

I'm so silly.

So I finally read the book and it was better! Surprise, surprise, right? There's even MORE pathos, chivalry, swordplay, hails of bullets, swooning maidens, and truly an evil Cardinal and a nasty Milady to butt heads against. At first, I honestly thought the over-the-top preoccupation with honor and revenge was the brilliant prelude to a great satire, but it never lets up and there's never a punchline.

So, no. It's just exciting and silly and crazy fluff. :) Yes. Fluff. Hell, the writing style is fast and could be as modern as they come, all the characters larger than life, the action and intrigue and plot points as funny as they are old-school.

It makes for a very entertaining ride. :) There's absolutely nothing stuffy about this. And now I know why it's a classic. :) Classic popcorn fiction. :) ( )

Read for the first time. I am pretty sure I had never read it but probably saw various movies that were based on the book. The story of 4 men, three musketeers and a young man, d'Artagran who is an intern. The setting is France during the 1600s. The novel, while an adventure and romance, has a political setting. It is a time of religious upheaval with Luther and Calvin. Louis XIII is the king of France and Richelieu is cardinal who had control over the government and power over Louis XIII. In this setting, the story is of the three musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. The musketeers and d'artagran are caught up in a political conspiracy launched by the Cardinal. This is a an enjoyable, entertaining story as an adventure ought to be. ( )

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3312734.html

Well, this was a welcome revisiting of a past favourite. I first read it aged about eight, in an abridged version with all the sex taken out (which makes some of the plot twists even less comprehensible), and came back to it as an undergraduate in a more complete version. It's full of exciting fights and journeys, to England, to the siege of La Rochelle, to the palaces of the King and Queen and the Cardinal, and D'Artagnan, our hero, and the three musketeers of the title are all well enough delineated, cardboard with some decent background colour.

The big flaw is in the background and fate of Milady de Winter, the chief villainess. Aged only 22, she has already married Athos and (as far as he knows) been killed by him in retribution of dishonour, and yet also managed to marry de Winter's brother and become a trusted agent of the Cardinal despite her criminal record. It's a bit reminiscent of Patrick Ward in the Bloody Sunday Report. On top of this, the poor woman is subjected to summary execution by three men who she has wronged (two of whom have already tried to kill her), a deadly act given legitimacy by Porthos and Aramis, with the plausible deniability of actually beheading her in Belgium rather than France. I mean, she's not a nice person - the attempted poisoning of our heroes is a nasty thing to do - but one cannot really feel that she has been given justice. (I do like the transgender theory.)

And D'Artagnan's love life is barely coherent. He spent most of the book longing for Constance Bonacieux, who he has met about twice. He manages to deceive Milady into thinking he is the Comte des Wardes (how can she possibly make this mistake?) and his only really successful liaison with with Milady's maid Kitty, where they obviously have raucously glorious sex, even though he is using her for access to her boss (and she knows this deep down). It's a bit unpleasant to be honest, but also not all that convincing.

Still, the book really does succeed in evoking a complex political society in which young men thrash about violently and the real power-brokers try to shape their impulses to political ends. It has its internal inconsistencies but in the end it is generally great fun. ( )

Not all old books have held up--The Three Musketeers has. Yes, you can tell Dumas was paid by the word, but even so, wow, could he write. The book abounds with action, adventure, wit, and romance. I love how distinctly he wrote the characters--men and women--and made them far more realistic and nuanced than I expected. (Alas, movies versions make the cardinal into a mustache-twirling evil dude, and he's not written that way at all.)

This finishes up my personal challenge to read a classic book every month of the year. I plan to read more of Dumas in 2020! ( )

Uma boa aventura. Apenas senti falta de cenas narradas de luta dos mosqueteiros e mais mulheres na história (o que é perdoável dado o contexto de lançamento da obra). No geral é bastante divertido. ( )