pidgevorg's review against another edition
5.0
This is the story of brave, clever and resourceful people doing everything in their power to forward the interests and preserve the honor of France... and the 3 musketeer miscreants and their young miscreant-in-training, who thwart these noble efforts at every turn for silly personal reasons. Told from the point of view of the miscreants, of course.
Ok, I was being facetious. But seriously, it always puzzles me when I hear someone describe the book as a good old-fashioned uncomplicated adventure, where good triumphs over evil. Excuse me? The "villain" in the story, that is Cardinal Richelieu, would have been known to Dumas's readers as an excellent minister who worked for the good of France, so the burden was on Dumas to convincingly show what makes him so evil. And yet Dumas never even pretends to do that. The "evil" Milady is, of course, exactly what her domestic tyrant of a husband made her, so she's hardly a straightforward uncomplicated villain. And let's not even get into D'Artagnan's so called nemesis, Rochefort.
Yes, Dumas makes it pretty clear that he's rooting for the musketeers and their feudalistic sense of chivalry, but he also makes no effort to convince us of the absolute villainy of their opponents. There are no villains or heroes in this book at all, just a bunch of flawed but interesting characters. In fact, it might actually be the first novel ever to have such complex characters and to allow readers to make their own decisions regarding them. Which would make it a major development in fiction, or at least very avant-garde for it's time. And yet this seems to be completely unacknowledged, possibly because even to this day the literary powers that be seem to be convinced that all stories must have a moral, and that the moral must be shoved down the reader's throat. Complex and nuanced stories are rare even today, so it's no wonder that people see a book written from a certain character's point of view and assume that of course they must be the heroes and their actions condoned and approved by the author. Most of the negative reviews for the book here have a complaint along the lines of "But these musketeers weren't very nice people at ALL! Gasp!" And my reaction was like "Yes, that's the whole point! Why is that BAD?!"
Ok, I was being facetious. But seriously, it always puzzles me when I hear someone describe the book as a good old-fashioned uncomplicated adventure, where good triumphs over evil. Excuse me? The "villain" in the story, that is Cardinal Richelieu, would have been known to Dumas's readers as an excellent minister who worked for the good of France, so the burden was on Dumas to convincingly show what makes him so evil. And yet Dumas never even pretends to do that. The "evil" Milady is, of course, exactly what her domestic tyrant of a husband made her, so she's hardly a straightforward uncomplicated villain. And let's not even get into D'Artagnan's so called nemesis, Rochefort.
Spoiler
Let's just say they become the best of friends at the end of the book, and leave it at that.Yes, Dumas makes it pretty clear that he's rooting for the musketeers and their feudalistic sense of chivalry, but he also makes no effort to convince us of the absolute villainy of their opponents. There are no villains or heroes in this book at all, just a bunch of flawed but interesting characters. In fact, it might actually be the first novel ever to have such complex characters and to allow readers to make their own decisions regarding them. Which would make it a major development in fiction, or at least very avant-garde for it's time. And yet this seems to be completely unacknowledged, possibly because even to this day the literary powers that be seem to be convinced that all stories must have a moral, and that the moral must be shoved down the reader's throat. Complex and nuanced stories are rare even today, so it's no wonder that people see a book written from a certain character's point of view and assume that of course they must be the heroes and their actions condoned and approved by the author. Most of the negative reviews for the book here have a complaint along the lines of "But these musketeers weren't very nice people at ALL! Gasp!" And my reaction was like "Yes, that's the whole point! Why is that BAD?!"
helenaibr's review against another edition
4.0
"Entrar" no livro demorou algum tempo, mas tornou-se muito interessante quando finalmente o consegui. A intriga, a constante ameaça dos planos de Milady e das ordens do Cardeal, a história de amor que funciona como um fio condutor subtil, a ousadia e perspicácia das personagens principais que lhes permite escapar às mais intrincadas armadilhas, tudo isto prende o leitor, que chega a esquecer-se de que o livro que segura e é tão fluido e cativante se trata na realidade de um volume de 775 páginas. O laço de amizade que une D' Artagnan e os três mosqueteiros transmite a maior lição de moral deste livro: a união é essencial e juntos somos mais fortes. Esta lição pode ser traduzida através da célebre frase "Um por todos e todos por um", que é erradamente atribuída a esta obra, na qual não é proferida uma única vez. O estilo de escrita da época é o que faz com que seja um pouco difícil "mergulhar" na obra, mas acaba por se tornar familiar e apenas dar vontade de continuar a ler até se descobrir a peripécia seguinte e as suas consequências como reviravoltas na história.
Não é um clássico enfadonho e não deve ser julgado pelo seu tamanho.
Não é um clássico enfadonho e não deve ser julgado pelo seu tamanho.
chancethesecond's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
What a masterpiece. It wasn't nearly as long-winded as The Count of Monte Cristo, and delved deeper into life in France of the early 1600s, including politics, etiquette, art, architecture, and swordplay. I enjoyed the setting and intrigue, but of course the characters of the Musketeers were the best thing about this beast of a book.
impla77's review
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
they just hate to see a girlboss win
antidietleah's review against another edition
2.0
It was so full of trivialities that I had a hard time following the actual plot line.
persephone0000's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
emmascc's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
While this was slow going at the start, it definitely picked up after a third or so. I would've given this a higher rating if I didn't find D'Artagnan so damn annoying!
While this was slow going at the start, it definitely picked up after a third or so. I would've given this a higher rating if I didn't find D'Artagnan so damn annoying!
trankin's review against another edition
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. Great humor, action, love....