The Three Musketeers (1844)

Este livro conta a história de um jovem de 20 anos, proveniente da Gasconha, D'Artagnan, que vai a Paris buscando se tornar membro do corpo de elite dos guardas do rei, os mosqueteiros do Rei. Chegando lá, após acontecimentos similares, ele conhece três mosqueteiros chamados "os inseparáveis": Athos, Porthos e Aramis.

The heroes weren’t always easy for me to root for, but the story certainly kept me engaged. ( )

Glad I re-read it in the original translation of 1946. There were lots of words I had to look up. I enjoyed the pace of the writing - the musketeers, and others, tearing around, always in a hurry, whether to find their next meal, or chasing a villain - and the short chapters complimented that perfectly. As a teenager I mostly missed the casual violence - enjoying the daring-do and romance - but I've certainly had to revise my opinions of what was my top favourite character Athos, I can't condone his treatment of his young wife no matter how wicked the lady becomes later. And I appreciate far more both Lady De Winter and the cardinal. Still it is a wonderful romp through Paris, France and London, and a heartfelt celebration of brotherhood and loyalty. ( )

** WARNING this review contains (mild) spoilers, read at your own risk ;) **

The first part is quite humorous, laugh-out-loud funny at times, but then the narrative starts to drag, and towards the end it spirals into a dark tale.
I'm not sure I like the progression of the 4 musketeers's character, towards the end they turn into rather unpleasant people.

Also, I found Dumas's portrayal of Milady... annoying (for lack of a better word). On the one hand, he describes her as a villainous mastermind, cunning and devious, and the next moment he turns her into a feeble woman, paralized by her emotions. The way he writes it, she just doesn't add up as a character, there are too many contradictions (unless she's schizofrenic?)
The other female characters are just there to sit around, be pretty and be the motive behind the heroes' actions (and I use the term 'hero' loosely, because some of the actions of the musketeers are anything but heroic).

The only few chapters that attempt to bring a bit of depth to Milady are those where whe's imprisoned by Lord de Winter, and she schemes and manipulates to facilitate her escape.

All in all, after like the first third of the book, I became rather disenchanted by it. With all the repetitions and unnecessary elaborations, the book could easily have been about 200 pages shorter and the story not suffer from it. ( )

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.

Real historical characters in this story:
Historical characters
King Louis XIII of France: weak monarch often manipulated by his chief minister.
Queen Anne of Austria – Queen of France.
Cardinal Richelieu: Armand Jean du Plessis, the King's chief minister, who plots against the Queen in resentment at having his advances rebuffed.
M. de Tréville – captain of The Musketeers, and something of a mentor to d'Artagnan, though he has only a minor role.
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham - a handsome and charismatic man used to getting his way: he thinks nothing of starting a war between England and France for his personal convenience. His courtship of Anne of Austria gets her in trouble.
John Felton – a puritan officer assassinates Buckingham ( )