Customer Reviews

The Three Musketeers, Vol. I

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a very entertaining and exiting novel. At the begining of the book you get thrown right into the action. The main charecter, D'Artagnan, is a young swordsman who is given only an old horse, fifteen crowns and some advice from his father before being sent off to Paris to join the royal musketeers. Dumas does an excellent job demostrating the changes in the charecters throughout the book, specifically D'Artagnan. He presents each of them is a different light which makes it easier for the reader to see what type of person each charecter is supposed to be. From the point were D'Artagnan meets his friends to the point where they go thier seperate ways, there is action around every turn. The plot of the book makes it just that much more enjoyable. It becomes known at the begining of the book that there is a struggle for power between the King of France and the Cardinal. The plot revolves around this conflict and the constant battles between the Kings royal guard, the musketeers and the Cardinal's guards. The story follows the four freinds (D'Artagnan and his three friends, Athos, Porthos and Aramis who are already members of the musketeers)through France and England on countless adventures in an effort to thwart the plans of the Cardinal. I sincerely recomend this book to any person who likes mystery, action, adventure and even a little romance thrown in.

D'Artagnan is an everyday guy's hero. He's charismatic and cocky, but still young and vulnerable. You'll love the way he's written and fall in love with him like he's family. The worst part of the novel is that it eventually ends, but the impression young D'Artagnan will leave on you will be permanent. If there were ever a character with as much moxie I haven't read him. D'Artagnan has jeela and you won't be able to resist him!

I've always loved reading about swordfights and castles, but Alexandre Dumas brought me into the action and was able to take me back in time with the adventure-romance novel The Three Musketeers. The exciting lives and stories of four men named Aramis, Porthos, Athos, and D'Artagnan are filled with a rollercoaster of thrilling adventure.

In a time where no one loves you but your family and sometimes not even them and all anybody wants is more power and authority is the time frame the famous author chose to write about. The Three musketeers is set in France in 1626 when the cardinal Richelieu is trying to get the head position by killing the king ,but while still acting as his wise and trusted adviser.

Young D'Artagan is a fiery tempered, intelligent and shrewd Gascon whose dream is to become a musketeer. He travels to Paris to do just that. On his very first day he manages to pick three duels with the three best musketeers Monsieur Treville has. As they begin the first duel the men of the evil Cardinal Richelieu start attacking them. It is in this first fight when D'Artagan decides to side himself with the king and fight with the musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis. He also distinguishes himself by seriously wounding one of the best swordsmen in France. In doing so he gains the respect of his newfound friends, Monsieur Treville and the king. D'Artagan and his friends then slowly find themselves in the middle of an information war between the Cardinal, who holds all the cards, and their Majesties. On top of that a mysterious woman from Athos' past comes back. It is she who kidnaps D'Artagan's mistress, takes two diamond tags from the Duke of Buckingham-who is in love with the queen who gave him her twelve diamond tags- and tries to kill D'Artagan.
This is simply an awesome book! It is full of mystery, intrigue, action and love. Mr. Alexandre Dumas does a magniffiecent job of adding a lot of the many different genres of books into one novel. He did such a superb job that you don't want to put it down and want to read it time and time again. I love this book. It puts you right into the middle of a very trying time for the entire kingdom and you feel all the emotions that the characters are feeling: lust, anger and hatred are only a few of them.

Engaging characters. Sword fights, courage, and adventure! Intrigue, trechery, and romance! 17th century religious figures shown as villians!

Dumas was one of the first and best creators of Romantic literature, as opposed to Chronicals and Naturalistic literature. The characters are competent, with purposes and values worth fighting for, and the ability to win through in the end against great odds.

I've loved this book since I was young, and growing older has not diminished my appreciation of this romantic 'history'. The tale is gripping, the protagonist engaging, and the wordiness comic enough to keep most readers entertained.

My only gripe is the lack of attention to detail. It is obvious that the work was completed over time, and Dumas forgot some of the things he'd already written, inserting them again at a later point but completely out of their original context (for example, the promotion in Ch.28). Things of this nature pop up throughout the novel, and unfortunately draw the reader OUT of the world in which they are, until then, successfully immersed.

Gripes aside, however, the novel is a definite classic and will forever remain, I am sure, one of my favourite pieces of work.

D'Artagnan is the son of a poor man in the book The Three Musketeers that is sent from rural France into the fast paced city of Paris. D' Artagnan is rather full of himself as a swordsmen and deems himself worthy enough to serve under the King of France in the Musketeers.
Once in the city of Paris he meets three gentlemen that are part of the musketeers that are the same, yet strikingly different. These Three Musketeers and D'Artagnan form the most elite, feared, and ruthless fighting force in France. Almost single handily they battle the Cardinal and his English soldiers in hope to claim power for the King of France. There are numerous occasions in which their ultimate demise may be met both as a group and individually, but to discover how the Musketeers face and deal with this problem you must read this superb book written by Alexandra Dumas.
D'Artagnan, Pothos, Aramis, and Athos collectively make this one of the best books I have ever had the pleasure of picking up and reading. This action packed novel is one of romance, war, and adventure all rolled into one wonderfully written piece of literature.
Maybe the most unique part of this book is that it can really be read by anyone and be enjoyed by anyone because of its depth of many subplots and it's way of combining action, adventure and romance.

I can hardly think of a worse book than this. It is extremely dated and the pace is turgid. More importantly to my mind, it was written by a man who fancied himself a historian, and in this and his "non-fiction" work he systematically and quite maliciously set about to trash the reputations of Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu. Unfortunately the fiction format helped him to reach a wide audience. If you want to read about heroes dealing with life-or-death crises with courage and passion - read Tapie or Moote or Bailly, read the real history of the reign!