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The Three Musketeers (The D'Artagnan Romances #1)

by Alexandre Dumas, Lowell Bair (Translator)

4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 · rating details · 96,255 ratings · 2,501 reviews

Perhaps the greatest “cloak and sword” story ever written, The Three Musketeers, first published ion 1844, is a tale for all time. Pitting the heroic young d’Artagnan and his noble compatriots, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis against the master of intrigue, Cardinal Richelieu, and the quintessential wicked woman, Lady de Winter, Alexandre Dumas has created an enchanted France o...more

Paperback, 635 pages

Published June 1st 1984 by Bantam Classics (first published 1844)

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Mar 10, 2010 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: french, history-and-biography, well-i-think-its-funny, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts

This is a kick-ass novel, and I am indeed kicking my own ass for not having read it earlier. I'm ashamed to say that I thought it was a children's book. My wife indignantly refuses any responsibility for my mistake... as she points out, it's entirely my fault if I drew the wrong inferences from the fact that her mother read it aloud to her as an eight year old. It turns out, on closer examination of the facts, that Elisabeth's mom must have skipped about a quarter of the text - but I digress. No...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: celebrity-death-match, pooh-dante

For the Celebrity Death Match Review Tournament, The Lord of the Rings (2) versus Les Trois Mousquetaires (31)

Three musketeers for the elven kings under the sky
Seven for the dwarf-lords in their halls of stone
Nine for mortal man, doomed to die
One for Cardinal Richelieu

It's a beautiful afternoon here at the Coliseum, and they're cleaning up after the Lions v Christians fixture... Christians lost as usual, ha ha... everyone's looking forward to the main event, we hear they've got a surprise plann...more

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Sep 14, 2011 Madeline rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: the-list, all-time-favorites, historic-fiction

I thought that Queen Margot couldn't be topped. I should have known better.
Honestly, I do not have enough space to fully explain all the ways I adore this book. But I'll try to condense it.
-First, the four main characters. Love, love, love, and more love. Aramis and Porthos - the Merry and Pippin of the group, if you'll excuse the extremely dorkish LOTR cross-reference - made me laugh; D'Artagnan was charming even though (or maybe because) he had multiple moments where, were I in the story, I...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Mariel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: blowhard diehards

Recommended to Mariel by: swaggart braggarts

Celebrity Death Match tournament versus The Divine Comedy.
"You're in hell. This is the purgatory part but I'm here to take you back to the beginning of the inferno. Mariel has never read The Divine Comedy and it is probably a sound idea to begin from the beginning."
"So we're in hell. I take my sword from my hip and angle the blade to sight and slight my enemies from the blight of this night." Athos puts his hand on his hip as a placeholder where his holster would once have been. His other hand r...more Celebrity Death Match tournament versus The Divine Comedy.
"You're in hell. This is the purgatory part but I'm here to take you back to the beginning of the inferno. Mariel has never read The Divine Comedy and it is probably a sound idea to begin from the beginning."
"So we're in hell. I take my sword from my hip and angle the blade to sight and slight my enemies from the blight of this night." Athos puts his hand on his hip as a placeholder where his holster would once have been. His other hand reaches for his favorite sword. It's good to know that it is there, in times of need.
Porthos pats the sides of his mouth from the sumptuous meal they had enjoyed pretending to eat. The Three Musketeers did not let their spirits dampen in this airless dominion. Aramis was busy smooching the air-headed bimbo taking up the empty space in his encircled arms. At least someone had air. "You're welcome, my fair maiden. Feel free to continue to show me your gratitude..."
"Seriously, you're in hell. I know about this. You're not the first group of a-holes I've come across. I have other things to do so if you don't mind..."
"Well, I couldn't possibly partake of another Micky Mouse ice cream on a stick so let's get to this. You in it, fellows?" Asks Porthos. Of course he knows the answer is no shit, what do you think? They are The Three Musketeers! If one of them suggests something at least two have to naysay it. If it is naysayed it is a no shit given that the denied will go ahead and do it anyway, leaving the deniers no other choice but to save his ass.
"All for one!" Grins Aramis, sliding his hand down further to pat the sweet little ass. Porthos admires his friends imagination. Not to be outdone, he ups the ante. "So are there monsters in this hell?"
"All kinds of torment! Endless torment! All of the torment you could imagine and then some." This new person (he must be some foe thought up by Athos. He's looking sick from eating too many Mickey Mouse pops) sure is gruesome. He probably spent his childhood behind an iron mask. That would do it to a guy.
"I take my sword and I slay the torment!" Porthos stands up and spreads his arms out big to gesticulate the enormity of this torment and its slayage. Also, his butt was falling asleep.
"That's nothing!" The never to be outdone Aramis butts in, with a sly look at the airy fairy beauty at his side. "I took the dragon by the tail and put it in my pocket! I took him by the balls and then I put those in my pants pocket as an extra set of balls for the next twenty dragons I slayed!"
Armis and Porthos forgot that they were standing in the silver caves and the light of the dragon flames reflected onto them tenfold the light and they were burned alive. Porthos was really starting not to like this new guy. Not to be cliquey, or anything, but it was hard to just up and let a new guy in on the dynamic. A fourth Musketeer was as rare as a fifth Beatle.
"Oh yeah! Well..... uh... You forgot that I was wearing my trusted amulet given to me by the King of France for saving his buxom teenage daughter that time."
"YOU forgot that I am the King of Thieves and stole the amulet before you entered the caves."
"No, YOU forgot that only at midnight on the seventh moon of the seventh harvest day I have all immunity from death!" Aramis gave Porthos an approving look for that one.
"You forgot that my sword was imbibed with the spirit of the twelve beautiful mermaids!"
"You forgot that my sword has extra power whenever a soul is killed while enjoying indie rock music in a car commercial filmed in the South of France!"
Athos was starting to feel left out when yet another new voice entered the bloodless bloody fight.
"You forgot that I am the dungeon master and I locked you in those caves for all eternity with nothing but Micky Mouse pops to eat and plastic-less blow-up sex dolls to have sex with. My bff The Count of Monte Cristo sends his regards. Cliquey mothereffers."
Win: The Divine Comedy(less)

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Sep 09, 2007 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If I was a Physicist, I would explain it like this: Athos, Porthos and Aramis are like the protons in an atom. D'Artagnan the neutrons that stabilize it. Actually, this would mean they are Lithium. So, keep them away from water. Or else...unfortunately the King sends them on an expedition to the isles. Now, they would have to cross the channel to get there, would they not?
On their way, however, it shows that rivers and winecellars are no good either.
action - reaction. Everybody under their desk...more

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Apr 12, 2009 Daniel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

I've had more fun reading "The Three Musketeers" than I've had with any book in a long time, and my only regret is that I didn't find my way to Dumas sooner. It's bursting with swordplay, political intrigue, romance, fortunes won and lost, mistresses kept and stolen, poisoned wine, devious nobility, and vengeance sought and attained. What more could a reader ask for? While "The Three Musketeers" isn't the most intellectually challenging book ever written -- though it does offer, in passing, the...more I've had more fun reading "The Three Musketeers" than I've had with any book in a long time, and my only regret is that I didn't find my way to Dumas sooner. It's bursting with swordplay, political intrigue, romance, fortunes won and lost, mistresses kept and stolen, poisoned wine, devious nobility, and vengeance sought and attained. What more could a reader ask for? While "The Three Musketeers" isn't the most intellectually challenging book ever written -- though it does offer, in passing, the occasional insight into the human race -- it might be the best guilty-pleasure book of all time. And while it's long for such a book at 650-plus pages, not a word is wasted.

Is there a more intriguing villainess in literature than Milady? A more fascinating hate-him-one-moment, forgive-him-the-next character than Cardinal Richelieu? And that's not to ignore d'Artagnan, who, with a youthful foolhardiness and energy that eventually gives way to gravitas, only the hardest hearted of readers could not love. And while Porthos, Aramis and Athos may spend most of the book as flat characters -- and I'm using that term the same way E.M. Forster does, not as an insult but to distinguish them from multifaceted, "round" characters -- they each have their more complex moments, Athos especially.

I do have one minor complaint about "The Three Musketeers." While the long section detailing Milady's imprisonment by her brother-in-law is a fine story on its own, it does tend to drag on too long in the context of the "The Three Musketeers," mostly because it causes readers to spend too much time away from the Musketeers themselves. And while Milady's corruption of Felton does have its interests, we as readers don't spend enough time with him ahead of it to really feel as bad as we should.

But this is a minor quibble. As should be obvious by my five stars, which I give unreservedly, I really did love the book on the whole. And, on a side note, I like that "The Three Musketeers" concludes with a brief what-happened-to-each-character section, something Dumas did long before the film "Animal House" or Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" video. (And this, by the way, may mark a rare time Van Halen and Dumas are mentioned in the same sentence. Someone please Google that to make sure.)(less)

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May 19, 2008 J rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There exist in the world authors from previous eras whose characters have become so ubiquitous in the popular culture that they undergo a strange kind of infantalizing. The rather serious philosophical questions Robert Louis Stevenson posed about mind-body duality and evolution are passed over in favor of the monster story of wicked Mr. Hyde. Jonathan Swift’s venomous satires of English life are reduced to the tale of an island of little people and an island of giants.

And even as I knew this, I...more

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May 14, 2013 Malapata rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Entretenido, ameno, divertido, con unos protagonistas al mismo tiempo valientes y pendencieros, generosos y aprovechados, nobles y villanos. Dumas no tiene problema en mostrar las facetas menos heroicas de sus protagonistas, haciéndolos humanos y entrañables.

No le doy la quinta estrella por culpa de algunas partes más farragosos, sobre un tramo al final del libro donde la acción decae y se hace a ratos pesado. Pero salvo eso una auténtica gozada, un ejemplo de como debe ser un libro de aventuras...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Anna Matsuyama rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Anna by: YLTO Low Octane ABC

Shelves: 1001books, classic, historical-fiction, made-into-a-film, read-in-2013, unreliable-narrator, francais

I'm surprised that d'Artagnan and his three friends in so many people eyes are heroes and "good" guys. Because they are not. Author has made cruelty, crime and sinful deeds OK if its done by "inseparable" friends and cloaked it in heroism and gallantry.
I had a lot what-the-heck moments. Almost every chapter.

The book is full of "Duma's occasional lapses of memory"
However the story is interesting and the book is a true page turner.

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Nov 07, 2011 Peter rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Did you know there were 4 musketeers? Did you also know they were not very nice guys? One guy won't let his servant ever speak. One is having an affair with a married woman, and ridicules her for gifts she buys him. Another can't decide whether to have an affair or be a priest, but constantly pinches his ears to make them a more attractive color. Since they don't seem to be paid much to be musketeers they are constantly grifting off of other people. One of their brave deeds is too have breakfast...more

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Mar 02, 2008 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, it was no Count of Monte Cristo, but it was still exciting and dramatic. I was much more into the second half, when it starts focusing on the diabolical Lady de Winter. One disappointment was that I had always envisioned the Three Musketeers to be noble, just, Robin Hood-type characters. It turns out that, though brave, they are quite selfish and immoral, and tend to murder people with little provocation. None of the musketeers was very likable to me. Women also don't fare very well here a...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Everyone is familiar with the first half of this book as that is the part (or some version of it) that usually makes the movies. The rest of the book being much darker and sadder (view spoiler) Go ahead see the movies, just don't confuse them with the literature.

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Dec 05, 2011 Sally rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1600s, country-france, adventure, sexy-heisst-eine-frau-die-kaempft, epic, seen-on-stage, i-own-this, own-gardiner

OMG OMG OMG that was seriously the most awesome fun ever! :D I'm so glad I finally did read it - the insane length kept me away for so long... 720 pages! Tiny font! But oh, it was so worth it. And I found it to also be a very engrossing read, and quite fast as well. If I hadn't been working so much I could have finished it much faster - the pages just fly by! There's a lot of dialogue, which helps. And the story is so rich and fun, such a brilliant adventure. Lots of deaths though :P I was wary...more

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Jan 13, 2008 Russell rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I cruised through this book in two days (December 29,30) since I wanted to have it done before the new year. I was excited to read another Dumas book and especially this one due to the bits of pieces I've learned about it from various media spins using it over the years. I had a hard time getting into it though, I really had a hard time liking d'Artagnan. He seemed brash and brazen, belligerent and a bit of a doofus.

I continued reading because I was interested to see how things would turn out: t...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Connor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People who love classics

Shelves: re-readable-faves, classics, historical-fiction, real-literature, dumas, fench-literature, favorites, books-i-own

This is a great book! I would recommend it to most people. It may be a little on the harder side depending on how much you read. I really liked the time period of this book. I really was mad at some of the characters, even though they were in the book. Some of the characters were real. D'Artagnan (the main character) was a real musketeer. Duke Buckingham was a duke of England around the time period. I believe the Cardinal existed as well, but I'm not so sure.

D'Artagnan heads to Paris to apply fo...more

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Feb 02, 2011 Kwesi 章英狮 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned, alexandre-dumas, 2011

Review will be posted soon..

Rating - The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, 5 Sweets and a lady who always in your heart no matter how deadly you are. (I want to make sure that this book is so thick, and it takes time to read, the letters were so small but the book was translated in a very easy way to read and liked by common readers. Received from Mommy Gege of Flip Flipping Pages last December of year 2009.)

Challenges:
Book #1 for 2011
Book #1 for Off The Shelf!

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Feb 20, 2011 Tally Song rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone, especially teens

Recommended to Tally by: My Dad

Shelves: a-dying-breed-classics

I have had a crush on the swash-buckeling original Zorro, sorry Antonio, since my early teens. Call me a Romantic...and I will answer. What else is better than a young, cocky, heart-of-a-lion boy chasing a dream of being the best, a member of the elite in the name of good? As young adults, we all like to believe these things are true, somewhere in time.

As young girls we would all like to believe that we can find these qualities in someone with whom we can give our love too. Yeah chicas, talking...more

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Apr 05, 2012 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Finally got my hands on a non-altered, non-shortened version of this (except it was a translation) which made this read better than the previous ones.

Is it weird that I find the musketeers childish (yet funny) and mylady a likeable character? Sure, she did kill some innocents, but before that. A good husband does not HANG HIS WIFE IN A TREE when he finds out she's a criminal - looking at you, Athos. As for d'Artagnan: Who pretends to be someone's boyfriend and has sex with them in the darkness?...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Em Elle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 1305-book-list, adventure, read-in-2012, favorites

The female villain in this book is a great one. I loved all the characters, and I loved the plot. It is different than The Count of Monte Cristo. Both are wonderful, but The Three Musketeers is more action-packed, from cover to cover, while The Count of Monte Cristo has more down time. I look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series.

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May 16, 2012 melydia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My familiarity with this story was limited to the Disney film and the sort-of sequel, neither of which have much to do with anything. Our hero, the young d’Artagnan, longs to become a Musketeer. While he is proving his worth, he befriends the titular Three Musketeers: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. I had not realized that most of the characters in this book are based (however loosely) on real people, but considering I knew pretty much nothing about any of them going in, it didn’t really matter. Mos...more

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Feb 27, 2009 Silver rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: best-books, historical-fiction, classics, 1001books, french

For just about as long as I could remember I have loved the Three Musketeers, and have seen just about every movie made about the story. Sword fighting adventure, how could I resist, right along with Zorro, Robin Hood, King Arthur.

But I had never read the book before up until recently and when I was younger I did not even know that it was originally from a book, so of course I had to read the novel as soon as I as able to do so, but I did not know quite what to expect. I knew it would not be th...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Raechella rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, reviewed, historical-fiction, political

The Three Musketeers is indeed one of the most celebrated historical romances and well-known classic tale of all time. A perpetual favorite amongst a variety of audiences—from juvenile to stripling ones, to a cluster of full-fledged devotees—it has been adapted to a series of media types. There are movie adaptations, TV shows, and even cartoon shows. Altogether tells the story of the dashing musketeers namely: Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Still, it is inevitable that the media may tarnish the genu...more The Three Musketeers is indeed one of the most celebrated historical romances and well-known classic tale of all time. A perpetual favorite amongst a variety of audiences—from juvenile to stripling ones, to a cluster of full-fledged devotees—it has been adapted to a series of media types. There are movie adaptations, TV shows, and even cartoon shows. Altogether tells the story of the dashing musketeers namely: Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Still, it is inevitable that the media may tarnish the genuine foundation of the story. I say if you want to know the real story, then go read it. I am certain you’ll devour it as much as I did.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, every so often, the media muddles the original plot of the story. The latest movie version proved otherwise. At the course of my reading, I’ve been consistently waiting for a portion of the movie scenes to occur in this book, but much to my regret, this was different. So much for my Logan Lerman fandom. *sigh* However, my interest still did not dwindle. The gallant Gascon young man will always be Logan to me. That sure gratified me, ha!

Probably the best thing about this book is that it was based from real history—real events and real people. Who could not resist a peek into the good old days? Definitely not me. Ameliorating it by adding a fabrication of Dumas’ imagination wouldn’t hurt either.

And though sword fighting isn’t really my type of action, these swashbuckling heroes did not dismay me. Truly, there weren’t any dull moments that had me yawning in ennui.

Dauntless and chivalrous they may be, the musketeers including our Gascon fellow, are also liable to troublesome and displeasing deeds. They constantly try to resolve predicaments, even petty ones, through duels; hot-headed, brusquely mannered; and one fellow doesn’t even respect his lackey—he doesn’t allow him to speak when not spoken to. But what would you expect, humans aren’t perfect, and so Dumas concocting a realistic individuality to his characters is acceptable, at least for me.

By no means is this novel a bodice-ripping one. Albeit the presence of lovers and mistresses of the protagonists strewn all throughout the book, Dumas carefully crafted an intelligent style of subtlety by which no amount of sensual hints were encouraged. Young readers may likewise take a plunge on this wonderfully written novel even without supervision.

The most intriguing villainess in the world of literature, only here, you will meet. How many people has Milady de Winter deceived and victimized before leading to her death? I was actually trying to find something good in her albeit all her evil-doings. The tale she confided with that poor bloke, Felton, had me convinced that she’s not so bad after all, but then again, I was wrong.

Dumas must be the master of cliffhangers. Every chapter ends with a cliffhanger that pulls you more into the world of sword plays, deceptions, political intrigues, love founded and lost, nobility, vengeance, etc. It strikes as a sin putting it down, but what would you ask for a 750-page book?
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Feb 28, 2013 Nat rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Okay let me start this off by confessing that I never actually finished reading this book. I was about 80 pages from the end when the library threatened to charge me $225 for kidnapping Dumas, and as much as I was enjoying his company I think I much rather enjoy having $225 (haha just kidding I don't even have that kind of money).

The Three Musketeers is completely different from what I was expecting, but not necessarily in a bad way. It was fun, it was goofy (I don't know if this was on purpose,...more Okay let me start this off by confessing that I never actually finished reading this book. I was about 80 pages from the end when the library threatened to charge me $225 for kidnapping Dumas, and as much as I was enjoying his company I think I much rather enjoy having $225 (haha just kidding I don't even have that kind of money).

The Three Musketeers is completely different from what I was expecting, but not necessarily in a bad way. It was fun, it was goofy (I don't know if this was on purpose, but this is the French we are talking about so it is kind of hard to avoid), it was unpredictable. The most unpredictable and coincidentally infuriating part was how much of a bunch of butts D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers were. I am not a student of French history or literature, so maybe I am missing out on the appeal their boyish charm. And by boyish charm, I mean they are douchebags. They are constantly terrible to everyone around them, especially women and servants. Every time they interacted with their servants I found myself wondering "Where my proletariats at" because seriously can we get a revolution in here to make these guys stop being such terrible butts.
D'Artagnan deserves an honorable mention because he is an idiot and also a brainless "romantic" who goes after every other woman he sees unless she isn't pretty enough, in which case he almost goes for her but stops to remind himself, "Nope, not hot enough, move on buddy." I think you are supposed to be charmed by how naive and genuine he is, but in truth he is just a butt.
I have mixed feelings about Athos because he is arguably the biggest butt of them all, but he is like the dark sulky cool guy of the group and I think it is mandatory to like him (actually he is just a butt prone to "that was kind of cool but you are still a butt" activities).

The only consolation I have about them being butts is that they are not real or at least they are extremely dead.

The best character in this novel is Milady and if you disagree you are wrong and/or drunk (if it's the latter it's okay because then we have something in common). Her history and establishment as a villain are pretty weak, but she makes up for it by being a boss. Her seduction of John Felton is the best part of the book (from what I read, oops) and if the library ever lets me back in I would gladly kidnap the novel for another five months just to read that section over and over again. She is by far the most complex and well developed character in the story (yes even more than Athos; being an alcoholic does not automatically make you complex it just makes you an alcoholic). Milady deserves her own offshoot feminist lit a la Wide Sargasso Sea because she is totally fascinating and rescued this novel from being a goofy story about a bunch of buttheads.

I would suggest getting a copy with end notes because a good part of the hilariousness is how much Dumas completely screws up his timelines before throwing up his hands and saying "screw you guys time is a subjective concept anyway". (less)

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Oct 27, 2012 Susan Ferguson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, fiction, 2012, classics

I bought this new translation - my younger son has read it (I read it originally years ago in another translation - but these are the ones who did the new translation of Anna Karennina which I loved). My son, John, assures me that this is THE translation of the Three Musketeers, so I've started reading it among all the other books I'm reading. I hope to be able to concentrate on it, soon.

This was a very enjoyable read. I suppose it being a new translation I understand things I didn't before sinc...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Two Bibliomaniacs rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: evan-top-1-100

The title of this novel is deliberately misleading. Dumas really missed the boat on this one by not calling this masterpiece The Three Musketeers and One er, Guardsman. Who knew that “all for one, one for all” actually meant “all FOUR one, one FOUR all? We didn’t, although the list of things we don’t know can at times be staggering (really, people actually make blankets with arm holes?). Anyway, today, let’s concentrate on the things we do know...

In route to ask the captain of the Musketeers fo...more The title of this novel is deliberately misleading. Dumas really missed the boat on this one by not calling this masterpiece The Three Musketeers and One er, Guardsman. Who knew that “all for one, one for all” actually meant “all FOUR one, one FOUR all? We didn’t, although the list of things we don’t know can at times be staggering (really, people actually make blankets with arm holes?). Anyway, today, let’s concentrate on the things we do know...

In route to ask the captain of the Musketeers for a job, young d’Artagnan makes a habit of challenging anything with breath to a duel. Three men in particular who fit this category are the infamous musketeers; Athos, Aramis, and Porthos and end up scheduling duels with d’Artagnan all on the same day. Just as the first swordfight commences enemies of the Musketeers approach and three friends quickly become four. From that point on, the group is nearly inseparable and find themselves engaged in a disturbing scheme involving the royal family and the Cardinal and a few other sinister people. Love, honor, and life are all at stake as d’Artagnan and his three Musketeers fight to uncover the plot.

Alexandre Dumas had us at The Count of Monte Cristo and now after The Three Musketeers he’s officially entered the very elite Two Bibliomaniacs Favorite Dead Author club. Dumas was a brilliant writer and was able to pack oodles of action, mystery, and humor all into a great narrative. The story was thick with storylines, yet easy to follow and the characters were all unique – although a tad bit touchy.

While the 3 musketeers were certainly admirable with a sword, they did struggle in the departments of money, love, and sobriety. Although, come to think of it, even their swordplay could be called into question due to the frequency in which each member of the group was stabbed. Of course, they were all mere flesh wounds. Still, it was easy to root for the band of four friends and even more fun to question their rash decision making. We only wish it was somehow possible to enjoy more of d’Artagnan adventures....

Oh, snap! Something else can officially be remove from our above referenced list of things we don’t know. The Three Musketeers is actually the first in a series that make up the d’Artagnan Romances. Has anyone ever read Twenty Years After or The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later? At least the titles seem to be pretty clear on the timeframe covered in the novels; although given Dumas’s record they probably take place something like 12 years later...
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Apr 09, 2012 Gaijinmama rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, classics

It has taken me weeks to post this! Meanwhile, I've been grumbling about this book in my groups. I finished it, and didn't hate it, but it bothered me. In fact I nearly chucked it across the room a few times, but as a rule I do not finish books that I don't believe are worth my time. This one was. My rating is sort of an average between a 5 for the book's literary merit and just barely a 2 for my enjoyment (or lack thereof).

First the good stuff: it's a classic and deservedly so. I'm glad to say...more

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Sep 16, 2011 Bettie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

REVIEW FOR CELEBRITY DEATH MATCH ONLY:

LORD OF THE RINGS WINS BY A DROP GOAL AND CONVERSION

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Oct 28, 2008 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Three Musketeers

...more
The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers was written by Alexandre Dumas. Alexandre was born on June 24th 1802. His first few plays were Henry III and His Court (1829). The Tower of Nesle (1832), Kean (1836), and his Byrone Anthony (first performed in 1831) which were inspired by Lord George Gordon Byron. He was an avid reader of William Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott whose dramas were immensely popular, being among the first of the Romantic Movement, along with friend and sometimes rival Victor Hugo’s (1802-1885).
They were a major change from the Neoclassic style that had dominated the Parisian stages at the time. He also wrote The Count of Monte Cristo. He soon sought a place of refuge to concentrate on further writings, so he bought a piece of land and built the Chateau de Monte Cristo (nicknamed Chateau d’If) which is now a museum. This was in Port Marly, Yvelines, France. He died December 5th 1870.

I found The Three Musketeers quite an entertaining book. It had a very good tone to it. It was a clever blend of humor and seriousness. I like how he made d’Artagnan a clueless person. This causes d’Artagnan to have little fear, if any at all, when facing opposing people in duels. He faced Bernajoux, who was one of the cardinal’s best men, without knowing that fact. Fear is normally one of the only things that will slow a person down, but if you don’t know what to be afraid of you can’t be afraid of it normally. Alexandre brought the characters alive. He gave Aramis his own peace-loving quality, Athos his silence, and Porthos his boisterous nature.

He might have explained a bit more of the history of the book. H sort of starts in the middle of a story and continues it from there. This left me very confused at the beginning. It was quite comical how the “gentlemen” back then would react to duels. They would insist on fighting even till the finish. Their honor meant so much to them. To be called a coward was a very grave insult. Sometimes the author would lay out a plan from Athos and it would be confusing because you didn’t know what he was talking about. Other times the author would expect you to know something from that time that you do not know, but that is only because the author was writing in his own time.

Despite the novel’s weaknesses, it was a very enjoyable read. I think that this book would definitely fit people who are looking for action. There’s a lot of dueling and it has a very thick plot. It is amazing in how many twists and turns this book can take. In five pages the whole story is sort of explained.

Credits:
http://www.online-literature.com/dumas/

(less)

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Sep 25, 2008 Crazy Uncle Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

If your whole concept of The Three Musketeers comes from that nincompoopish little farce that Disney made a few years ago than you really know nothing about this great story. The Three Musketeers is an exceptional piece of historical fiction filled with political intrigue, great heroes and sinister villains. What it doesn’t have is an overabundance of slapstick jokes, “Porthos the Pirate,” a wimply Lady DeWinter, the nauseating overuse of the line “all for one and one for all” (they say it exact...more

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Aug 16, 2007 Keely rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novel, reviewed, french, swashbuckling, favorites

Remarkable book. I have been, on occasion, accused of some sort of self-set elitism which suffuses my opinions and critiques on literature. It seems people are often more likely to think one has an ulterior motive for liking or not liking a book rather than looking at the presented arguments. In any case, I would posit this book as the countermand to that sentencing. It is not a literary book, as such, as it does not place itself in a deep referential or metaphorical state. Though it is certainl...more Remarkable book. I have been, on occasion, accused of some sort of self-set elitism which suffuses my opinions and critiques on literature. It seems people are often more likely to think one has an ulterior motive for liking or not liking a book rather than looking at the presented arguments. In any case, I would posit this book as the countermand to that sentencing. It is not a literary book, as such, as it does not place itself in a deep referential or metaphorical state. Though it is certainly influenced by many great works, it is, in its whole, no more nor less than the reigning king of the pulp adventures.

Built on the ridiculous, the humorous, the exciting, and deeply in the characters, this work creates a world of romance (in that oh-so-classic sense) and adventure which conscripts the reader and delivers him to the front lines. I am alway amazed by this book's ability to invoke lust, pity, wonder, respect, scorn, and hatred, all while driving along a plot filled with new events and characters.

Should there be any future for Fantasy, it lies not in the hands of Tolkien-copying machines, nor even in Moorecock's 'un-fantasy', but in whatever writer can capture Beowulf, The Aeneid, The Three Musketeers, or The White Company and make a world which is exciting not because everything is magical and strange, but because everything is entirely recognizable, but much stranger. Of course, one may want to avoid going Mervyn Peake's route with this, and take a lesson from the driving plot and carefree frivolity that Dumas Pere and his innumerable ghostwriters adhered to.

It is amusing here to note that Dumas has accredited to his name far more books than he is likely to have ever written. As he was paid for each book with his name on it, he made a sort of 'writing shop' where he would dictate plots, characters, or sometimes just titles to a series of hired writers and let them fill in the details.

So, praises be to Dumas or whichever of his unrecognized hirees wrote such a work.(less)

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About Alexandre Dumas

This note regards Alexandre Dumas, père, the father of Alexandre Dumas, fils (son). For the son, see Alexandre Dumas fils.

Alexandre Dumas, père (French for "father", akin to Senior in English), born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world. Many of h...more

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