The Three Musketeers (Signet Classics) | Alexandre Dumas père

The Three Musketeers (Signet Classics) | Alexandre Dumas père | An all-time favorite

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The Three Musketee...

	The Three Musketeers (Signet Classics) Alexandre Dumas père Signet Classics, 2006 - 656 pages average customer review:based on 191 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

This swashbuckling tale, beloved around the world, follows the fortunes of d'Artagnan, a country boy who travels to Paris to join the Musketeers, save his Queen from scandal, and outwit the devious Cardinal Richelieu.

"Meung, a pretty market town on the Loire..."

In the very midst of the last Harry Potter being published, I picked up this title from my library, mainly because of the attractive cover and easy-to-read design and typeface. I also wanted to see what a great classic felt like. I was highly rewarded.
Certainly this amazing and ground-breaking work is dated in places, particularly when men are disposed of without the least thought and women are placed on pedestals like goddesses. Nonetheless, the ease with which Dumas develops the ties between Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan is a work of art in itself. One cannot say these sophisticated gentlemen are utterly carefree, but they deal with what life offers them with a very modern sense of skepticism, romance, and adventure. No religious figure can fool them with absurd piety. No falsity can entrap them. Each protects and supports the other, yet each character is unique, and we feel we know them thoroughly.
The plot tumbles forward, full of adventure, intrigue, romance, betrayal, and evil. Dumas is a great story teller, although at times wrapped up with himself to the point of tedium, but those passages can be read over quickly. A rich supporting cast of characters, from Cardinal Richelieu to Queen Anne to Milady, who is the incarnation of evil, make this work amazingly entertaining, even over the course of 600 pages.
It would be a great exercise to contrast this one work with that of Harry Potter. Obviously, Dumas, who was enormously popular, is writing for an adult audience, and does not spare us sexual exploits. But the forces unleashed are similar in both works: good, loyalty, and truth versus evil, deception, and falsehood. Interesting.
Just a word on the translation: It was lively, modern, and smooth. No awkwardness was apparent. Descriptions were crystal clear.

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An all-time favorite

I'm a big fan of Dumas and thus far have finished this and 20-years after (and will likely continue the series at some point).

There's not a whole lot I can add here as 186 people have already reviewed this, so I'll keep this brief.

On the edition, I read the Modern Library hardcover edition (I note this in case my review turns up under other editions, as often happens on Amazon) and I liked it. That said, I'm not familiar with any of the other translations so can't really provide a comparative analysis, but suffice it to say I found the modern libary edition very good (high quality materials and the translation was by all means easy to read).

On the story, it is in my opinion one of the most enjoyable I've ever read. It's entertaining, it's full of action, and it's humorous at times. But it's the characters that make it such an enjoyable, memorable read - d'Artagnan in my opinion is one of the most memorable and easiest to relate to protagonists in all fiction (whether we're talking about novels, film, or TV, Dumas' d'Artagnan is one of my favorite fictional characters ever), and his three friends (as well as his enemies) are equally well crafted.

Highly recommended - in fact I'd call it a must read.

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great book yet don't look at with modern values

Its a fast-paced book with few lulls, not 2 many dead moments. It is much funnier than I thought before picking it up, and the interaction between the 4 friends is classic. The style is brisk and light, often tounge-in-check. While long, it breezes by. But a few warnings: do not look at it with modern eyes. The value system is flawed (in addition Dumas has a habit of both glorifying & making fun of them nearly symultaneously) but this is not a book to read for a complex theme or deep thinking. To Dumas' credit, that is not at all what he set out to do, so its unfair when people hold that againist him. What this book is is a fun adventure that resists being put down.

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Three cheers!

This is the story of a poor, young, French man, named d'Artagnan Gascony. He leaves his home with only a sword, an old horse, and his family name. Fate steps in and he manages to meet and make angry not one, not two, but three of the kings swordsman, known as "Musketeers". They each decide to duel him, one right after the other, but only d'Artagnan knows this. When the first duel is to begin, all three Musketeers arrive, one to fight and the other two to act as seconds. Just as they begin exchanging blows the Cardinal's guard arrives and attempts to arrest the three Musketeers and d'Artagnan, forcing them to act together. The four defeat the Cardinal's guards and the adventure begins.

This book is loaded with characters who are either extremely evil such as the conniving Cardinal, or the wicked Midlady de Winter, or righteously heroic like the musketeers, d'Artagnan, his faithful servant Planchet , and love Constance. There are many tense moments, sword fights, and situation which require skill and offer danger to the friends of d'Artagnan.

When you consider that The Three Musketeers was written in 1846, over one hundred and fifty years ago, it is amazing that it can hold the attention of the modern reader, but that it does. Alexander Dumas allows you to see through his writing the details surrounding the situations, you are not a reader, but a by stander in d'Artagnan's exciting life. So dig in and be prepared to be transported back to France, in the 1800's, where wit, bravery, friendship and sword play will have you cheering for the Musketeers!

-- Peter Brodnax

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