The Three Musketeers (Modern Library Classics)

by Alexandre Dumas

book data

9,622 ratings, 4.01 average rating, 736 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		33%
4		39%
3		22%
2		3%
1		0%

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published

February 13th 2001 (first published 1844) by Modern Library

binding

640 pages

characters

D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, ...more

setting

France

isbn

0375756744 (isbn13: 9780375756740)

description

First published in 1844, Alexandre Dumas's swashbuckling epic chronicles the adventures of D'Artagnan, a gallant young nobleman who journeys to Paris ...more

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01/01/09

Madeline rated it:

bookshelves: all-time-favorites, history, the-list

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 ...more 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 wouldn't know whether to kiss him or smack him upside the head; and the pure unfiltered AWESOME that is Athos cannot be put into words.
-My copy of the book is 754 pages, but I was able to finish it in less than two weeks and not even notice the length because the story was so engrossing. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to flip back to page 1 and start all over again.
-Duels. Lots and lots of duels.
-The only complaint I had regarding the other Dumas book I'd read before this (Queen Margot, as previously mentioned) was that there was a total lack of what I will bluntly call the dirty details. In Margot, all the sex scenes were kept out of the way and, judging by the description Dumas gave us of the characters' nighttime activities, no one managed to get laid for the entire book. The Three Musketeers, on the other hand, is by no means a bodice-ripper but is still very romantic. And then there's the scene where D'Artagnan decides that nailing Milady will be a good way to get revenge on her for kidnapping his girlfriend. Which brings me to my next point...
-Milady. Holy crap. I try to come up with words to describe her, but I can't do it because my brain sort of slows down until all I can hear are the words "Most. Badass. Character. Ever." repeating in my head over and over while the song "Cold Hard Bitch" by JET starts playing in the background. (if that makes any sense at all. Just go with it, okay?)
But seriously, let's talk about Milady for a minute. She keeps poison in her ring, seduces a guard who has been specifically warned that she'll try to seduce him, stabs herself in the chest to make people think she killed herself, regularly tries to assassinate D'Artagnan and his friends, and was generally such a psychotic bitch that even Cardinal Richelieu was afraid of her.
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06/23/07

Lisa rated it:

Read in May, 1986

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 unde...more

Like this review? yes (8 people liked it)

1 comment

02/13/09

Daniel rated it:

(review of isbn 0553213377)

Read in April, 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 off...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)

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

13 comments

05/19/08

J rated it:

Read in December, 2006

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 k...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

1 comment

12/11/07

Jessica rated it:

Read in March, 2008

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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01/12/08

Russell rated it:

Read in December, 2006

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...more

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01/14/09

Silver rated it:

(review of isbn 0553213377)

bookshelves: 1001books, best-books, classics, historical-fiction, international

Read in February, 2009

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 wou...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

2 comments

10/27/08

Eric rated it:

(review of isbn 1499032196)

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/

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03/06/08

Crazy Uncle Ryan rated it:

(review of isbn 0140440259)

bookshelves: classics

Read in December, 1993

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 ...more

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05/03/07

Bill rated it:

recommends it for: People who enjoy life

At long last, Agi and I are reading out loud to one together. It's one of my all time favorites and a close second to The Count of Monte Cristo for full-throttled Dumas fun and mayhem. There are half a dozen duels, several melees and countless intrigues in the first 50 pages alone.

The Three Musketeers is breezier, funnier and less brooding than The Count of Monte Cristo. I love the whole gallant, devil-may-care picture that Dumas paints, set out with the lines, "Loose, half-d...more

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08/25/07

Karri rated it:

(review of isbn 0192835750)

recommends it for: everyone

If I had to choose just one favorite book, it would be this one. It has everything, romance, intrigue, adventure, political discontent. I adore D'Artagnan, Porthos, Athos, and Aramis and admire them and I want to fight by their sides. I was thrilled to learn that the adventure does not end with this book but actually continues with a sequel called "Twenty Years After" and then the story keeps going with the trilogy "The Vicomte de Bragelonne," "Louise de la Valliere,"...more

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02/06/08

Peter rated it:

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 there brave deeds is too have bre...more

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12/20/07

Wouter rated it:

Read in January, 2006

With the story as well-known as it is I expected this classic to be a literary masterpiece, so I was a bit suprised when it turned out that it is far from that. It is one long ride of uncalled-for swashbuckling, intrigues, heroism, witticisms and romance - in other words pulp. Any deeper motives for all this action are, as far as I know, missing. The motives of the characters were at times beyond grasping, as their view on what matters in life on some points doesn't even resemble ours. But does ...more

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03/10/08

Aimee rated it:

Read in May, 2008

Phew! I finally finished this monster! For someone who can barely put 5 minutes together to read, this was quite the undertaking, but I really enjoyed it. The first couple-hundred pages worried me, and I wasn't so sure I could finish the book as a non-French-speaker, but I started really getting into the story. Dumas has quite a knack for spinning a good yard and developing interesting characters. It was nice to read the original version of this classic, as I had seen movies, etc. based on ...more

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05/06/08

Mistr3ssquickly rated it:

bookshelves: good-plain-fun

Read in June, 2002

This book is 500-odd pages long. I read it in four days.

I did very little else in those four days.

It reads like a cliche, but really, who cares? It's a good story with good characters and good action. The pacing is great, the dialogue is wonderful, and when you get to the end, you feel like you've just had a wonderful treat.

Good for teaching young people (mid-teens and older) that the "classics" aren't boring, or good for kicking back and losing your...more

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02/17/09

Lizzy rated it:

bookshelves: reviewed

D'Artagnan was nothing more than a country boy from Gascony, arriving at the gates of Paris like many others...to seek fame and fortune. D'Artagnan's dream is to join the ranks of the king's musketeers, a coveted position worthy of only the most outstanding fighters. D'Artagnan's plans are thrown off track when a mysterious man steals his letter of recommendation, the letter D'Artagnan was counting on to get him into the musketeers. D'Artagnan's bold, hot-headed nature and cunning schemes soon g...more

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11/30/08

Stephen rated it:

Read in November, 2008

I picked up this book at a second hand store as a book that would be nice to adorn the book shelf. Subsequently, I met a girl called Emilie Dumas and have since become good friends with her. Because of this occasion I deceided to pick up Alexandre Dumas' book and give it a bash. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised!
I thought it may be a tedious story and somewhat dated. However, to use the cliche, it turns out to be a "fast-paced, swashbuckling adevnture" (okay you can puke...more

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04/23/09

Mike rated it:

This is a great read, and should probably be required reading for late high school or early university students. It has it all: adventure, action, comedy, drama, intrigue, deception, revenge, justice, love, politics, loyalty, and treachery.

It also has lots of educational value. the language is superb, which is interesting considering it is translated from French. I wonder what 'lugubrious' is in French? (lugubre, apparently) Plus, there is lots of political semi-historical fiction. ...more

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03/04/09

Fallwitch rated it:

(review of isbn 0143105000)

recommends it for: anyone who will listen to me.

This is my very favorite book of all time. I lost track of how many times I've read it but I pull it out at least once a year. It's a thrilling tale of intrigue, betrayal, and love, with some of the most amazing characters ever written. I must admit to mad love for Athos, cemented when he was brought to life by the too-manly-for-words Oliver Reed in the definitive movie version by Richard Lester. It's a long book, meant to be savored, not devoured in one sitting. It goes into great detail o...more

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02/13/09

Snotchocheez rated it:

Read in February, 2009

Alexandre Dumas' (pere) time-honored classic is exactly that, a classic. Although written in the 1840's, the story is timeless and has some relevance today. Boiling the story down, it's a tale of romance, heroics, nationalism, and evil. D'Artagnan, at the end of his teenage years, decides to leave his pastoral upbringing and head to Paris, where he is vouched for to the troop leader of the Musketeers, the main defenders of the King and his court. By happenstance, he has a quarrel at differen...more

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quotes from this book

"My son, be worthy of your noble name, worthily borne by your ancestors for over five hundred years. Remember it’s by courage, and courage alone, that a nobleman makes his way nowadays. Don’t be afraid of opportunities, and seek out adventures. My son, all I have to give you is fifteen ecus, my horse, and the advice you’ve just heard. Make the most of these gifts, and have a long, happy life." More quotes...