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44 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely isn't the movie..., September 28, 2004
This review is from: The Man in the Iron Mask (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
Having just finished The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, I ventured to find more books from the wonderful author Alexandre Dumas, and stumbled upon this book, which is one in the Three Musketeers series. It takes place while the three (well, really FOUR) musketeers are no longer in their prime, and are becoming a bit aged, though not lacking whatsoever in wit or a thirst for adventure. OH, and a warning before I continue: if you are reading this book simply because you saw the movie, enjoyed it, and would like to see if the book is similar, do NOT expect them to be similar in very many ways at all. In fact, the movie would only be a portion of the book, and quite altered in many parts. However, if you are simply reading this book for the sake of enjoying it, read it! The title of the book may be a bit misleading, for it only refers to the first half of the actual book, but that doesn't matter--the book itself is wonderful. Summaries are easy to obtain, and so I shall not bore anyone with a summary, but I shall say this: the ending(s?!?) made me cry more than I had cried in a long time. Perhaps I was only feeling sensitive that day; but the book, it was truly sad at the end...this book is the end of the Three Musketeers, and a memorable one it is indeed.
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1.0 out of 5 stars
Penguin's Iron Mask: Not a Good Edition, June 27, 2011
This review is from: The Man in the Iron Mask (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
A work of historical fiction, written in the eighteenth century, and set in the seventeenth, needs endnotes. All the more so if the edition is in English and the original in French. This proves a glaring lack in the case of Penguin's The Man in the Iron Mask; it lowers my opinion of the usually competent publisher. Without notes, translator Joachim Neugroschel finds himself at odd moments inserting the original French in brackets. The translation is less than successful in other ways as well. Neugroschel uses intrusive colloquialisms ("C'mon" and "Were they gonna shoot us?") and worse yet mixes them with graceless versions of Dumas's formal sentence structures (as in the terrible reply "It was I who was gonna shoot you.") Really, how did a publisher like Penguin let this get to press?
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Grand Finale of the Three Musketeers, November 5, 2008
This review is from: The Man in the Iron Mask (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
This is the third and final book of the Musketeers Trilogy. Unfortunately I did not read the second book in the series so that may have tempered my comprehension of all of the events as they unfolded in this epic tale. Here is the first warning - this is NOT the movie... nowhere close, so if you are looking for that story, it's not here. Second, the language in this can get a bit tedious, particularly the names, as everyone is called by different names though out the book (their musketeer name, their title, their real name, other names, etc) this makes it a bit hard to follow if you don't catch on right from the beginning who is who and what all they may be called. Third warning - this is not a happy book, this is the final act of the musketeer saga, and when I say final, I mean it.
The story itself is very involving, especially if you already know and love our Musketeers. Aramis has a plan that involves swapping out the current king on the throne for his twin brother... his plans do not go well for him and the rest of the book involves the aftermath of this failed plot. As Aramis and Porthos run from the now very angry king, d'Artagnan struggles in his relationship with his friends and the king he now serves as the head of the Musketeers. Meanwhile Athos is suffering from his son - Raoul's decision to run from the pain he feels over love lost, and join the army fighting in Africa.
Our four musketeers are getting on in the years, as are their servants. They are no longer the leap into battle, brash youths of the previous novels. They have grown and are now calculating, loyal, and honorable, their friendships are tested and their loyalty to the crown and country is put on the line. There is a tremendous amount of pain in this book, and death is around every corner. I won't say that this was a favorite of mine, even though people love the ending and say that they cried when they read it. I sort of felt let down, that the musketeers should go out on such a huge failure (the man in the iron mask- only sits on the throne for an evening, then we never hear from him again, he is in no way a major character, he is only a catalyst for future events.) Though they fought bravely, I would really have liked for them to have truly won their last endeavor together.
In all I am glad I read this book, but was often frustrated by the episodic nature of the writing which at times made if very hard to follow. I also was a bit disappointed in the amount of time spent on characters that seemed to have little purpose to the forward progression of the story. In the end, I would have to say... I liked the movie better, it was just more fun and really felt like the musketeers that I knew and loved rather than the individuals who were in this book. Only Porthos truly retained his nature from the first several books. Still, I would advise any lover of literature to give this book a chance. Perhaps a different translation would be better advised than this one.
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