The Three Musketeers

By Alexandre Dumas

First published in 1844, Alexandre Dumas's swashbuckling epic chronicles the adventures of D'Artagnan, a gallant young nobleman who journeys to Paris in 1625 hoping to join the ranks of musketeers guarding Louis XIII. He soon finds himself fighting alongside three heroic comrades—Athos, Porthos, and Aramis—who seek to uphold the honor of the king by foiling the wicked plots of Cardinal Richelieu and the beautiful spy "Milady." As Clifton Fadiman reflected, "We read The Three Musketeers to experience a sense of romance and for the sheer excitement of the story. In these violent pages all is action, intrigue, suspense, surprise—an almost endless chain of duels, murders, love affairs, unmaskings, ambushes, hairbreadth escapes, wild rides. It is all impossible and it is all magnificent."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 1, 2000
• ISBN: 9780679641407

Alexandre Dumas

Frequently imitated but rarely surpassed, Dumas is one of the best known French writers and a master of ripping yarns full of fearless heroes, poisonous ladies and swashbuckling adventurers. his other novels include The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask, which have sold millions of copies and been made into countless TV and film adaptions.

Reviews for The Three Musketeers

[haloedrain · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I almost put it down in the beginning, despite the better translation, when the only thing that happens is d'Artagnan getting into duels with every single person he meets. The story did become interesting after a while, but the characters really weren't (with the exception of Milady).

And can you use the term "fridging" for a book that takes place prior to the invention of the refrigerator?

[atdcross · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The plot was more intrigue, perhaps like a political spy novel of a sort, than swashbuckling, but very entertaining, nevertheless.Dumas starts a bit less than the first quarter of the book introducing his characters in humorous fashion. Then, it becomes steadily more serious with each passing page, and from the humorous to the grave and dark, while the characters seem to grow, especially D'Artagnan, from irresponsible seeming like children to men handling the affairs and maintaining their character as men, proud, yet honest men. A character study each person would be quite interesting.The ending was a bit gruesome.Dumas' writing is genius and conveys much of the sense of that is most of all challenged in the story is a man's honor. It inspires one to accept honor as something of value to die for; and, it's anonymous translation, whenever the book is put down, inspires one to speak in proper English.

[jon1lambert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

D'Artagnan, Gascon on his unlikely yellow nag gets into a spot of bother with a stranger in Meung. The latter flees with a beautiful lady. D'Artagnan goes to Paris and obtains an audience with M. De Treville, the captain of the King's musketeers who need to be differentiated from the Cardinal's (Richelieu) musketeers.He bumps into three musketeers - literally - Athos, Porthos and Aramis and after petty incidents is challenged to duel with each of them, The duels do not take place as the four team up against some of the Cardinal's men and wreak havoc. I'm out of breath already!

[krizia_lazaro_3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

After re-reading it (read it back when I was in grade 4 for a book report), I decided to give it 2 stars. I did not like any of the characters maybe except for Lady De Winter (who is smart, beautiful and evil villaneiss). The musketeers are arrogant, rowdy and unprofessional for my taste.

[5eva5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The adventures of d'Artagnan after he leaves home to join the Musketeers of the Guard where he befriends the three most formidable musketeers of the age and gets involved in the many intrigues of the state. This is a favorite of mine since childhood, but this was my first read of the full version (having only read abridged versions for children previously) and it is quite long (and has numerous footnotes), but just as fun and exciting as I was hoping it would be. I absolutely love the exaggerated characters who are so ludicrously gung-ho about their causes, whether they are heroes or villains; Milady deserves a special mention since she is so uncommonly wicked that you can't help but laugh at all her schemes. My copy is a Pevear translation, which is faithful, but perhaps not as elegant as other translations.

[john257hopper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a re-read of this most famous of Dumas novels, featuring the derring do of the title characters and their young friend and would be fellow musketeer D'Artagnan, one of the most famous characters in French literature. I remembered almost no detail from my first read nearly twenty years ago. While this is light-hearted and quite comical in places, there are also dramatic passages, episodes of cruelty and horror, and a splendid female villain. The illustrations are well done too. This is a splendidly enjoyable novel that can appeal to readers of all ages.

[datrappert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Some classic novels are hard to slog through. This is an adventure tale that more than lives up to its billing. Although it is a long book, the author doesn't waste a lot of time with long passages where nothing is happening. This is a real page turner, with incredible heroes, and really despicable villains.

[parp-4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good read for young people.

[judithproctor · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'd been looking for a good modern translation and this is it. The text flows well and I really appreciated the historical references at the back (though I'd have loved them even more if they were footnotes and I didn't have to keep flicking to the back pages).The story races along. The musketeers are far from being the most ethical of men by modern standards, but we love them anyway. (The TV version tones down Porthos's love of expensive clothes, Athos's drinking, everyone's gambling, etc.)

[eyejaybee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Immensely enjoyable, and surprisingly readable. I had expected that this might be rather turgid - not in the least. I was surprised, however, at some of the musketeers' activities. Not for them the rigid confines of the preux chevalier code. They are perfectly happy to bilk innkeepers and landlords, and are not above plain theft. However, one never doubts their adherence to the path of general righteousness. There are great moments of high comedy, too, and I am eagerly looking forward to the sequels. One point that amazed me was that this novel was published in the same year as his "Count of Monte Cristo". Both of them are huge novels and u am intrigued to know more if the basic mechanics of how two such large works were written and published in the nineteenth century. I would heartily recommend this entertaining novel.

[priscillam_80 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is truely a great read. The three Musketeers plus d'Artangan, hotheaded, fickle, jovial and ruthless at the same time, but very lovable characters pit themselves against the menacing interfering Cardinal Richelieu and the unparralleled villain of M'lady de Winter as they fight for love & honour amidst some dangerous intrigues of the French Royal court.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorites! Milady is a fascinating character study. She deserves her own story. Yes, the evil, man-destroying succubus was stereotypical even by the time this was written, but Milady is so brilliantly written, I can happily look past that.

[boabflower_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to like this book, but didn't, in that I am disappointed. The men in this story are revolting - they use people, bribe people, ridicule people and love to kill people - there was not a lot to like here!

[mldavis2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm glad to have read this classic, but I ended a bit disappointed following Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo" which is one of my all time favorites. Typical of the time period, perhaps, this novel tended to be a bit slow in development and overly dramatic, with characters taking personal affront at the slightest indecency and taking matters into their own hands for revenge. A swashbuckling adventure, to be sure and a classic in the world of literature, it nevertheless seemed a bit over the top to me and lacked the subtlety and restraint and latent hostility of Dumas' other work. The ending is clever with an economy of characters but I didn't feel the novel worthy of the 700 pages devoted to the story.

[theidlewoman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The classic swashbuckler; I would have to give this edition a mere four stars, however, because there were elements of the translation that I found rather clumsy and which jarred. Only elements, though; most of the book is an unmitigated delight.

[altheaann · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's always interesting to read the original of such an extremely well-known story to see what the differences between the actual book and the popular consciousness are....

A few things that surprised me...

"All for one and one for all" - is only said in the book once, and is not made a terribly big deal of!

Our 'heroes' are really not that heroic. They're constantly starting fights over no cause at all, gambling irresponsibly, being generally lying, deceitful and adulterous - and D'Artagnan can't even be bothered to pay his rent to the guy whose wife he's seducing! (All four musketeers are perennially down-and-out, and can't hang on to a gift or cash past the next tavern....) Of course, all of this makes the book *much* funnier and more entertaining than it would be if they were more upright men...

I'm pretty sure that in at least one movie version of the story, it's stated outright that Lady de Winter was branded for the crime of murder. Not so! In the book, (at least from a modern perspective) her initial crimes don't really seem to warrant her husband trying to kill her by hanging her naked from a tree. Sure, she gets really evil *later* - but you have to have some sympathy for her situation! (At least I did!)

It takes a really long time to get into the main part of the story - I got the sense that, since this was published as a serial, Dumas was initially just sending his characters on random exploits, and only once the story had gained some popularity, embarked on the more complex, involved, continuing story, going back and weaving in bits that had been mentioned earlier... I don't know if that's historically accurate, but it's the feeling I got...

Definitely worth reading....

[greymowser · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A great and sad adventure.

[dbsovereign · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Trust and honor and the fellowship of battle against wrong. It's as though the characters always keep saying, "Stick with me and you'll be safe."

[garrison0550 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it, of course! Really, how could you not!

[lukerik-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

WARNING: This book is highly addictive. It contains extremely high levels of swashbuckling. There are also some very funny scenes. Dogtagnan's first meeting with his landlord is particularly well done. The construction is impressive: it's manages to be episodic without losing sight of the plot.

[snukes-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this because I wanted to read Man in the Iron Mask, but wanted to know how the stories were tied together first. It was much drier than I expected. Still, interesting for the historical perspective.

[ashryan_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not as good as The Count of Monte Cristo, but Milady de Winter is one of literature's all-time greatest villainesses. Worth reading, but I would recommend Victor Hugo's novels over Dumas's as the pinnacle of French romanticism.

[ajaygx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant read...Alexandre Dumas literally plays for the screen... you can imagine the entire story coming alive... with all the twists and turns in the story

[gunnargrey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As swashbuckling as I remember, even though it's been several decades since I'd read this classic. Did find myself skimming through the chapters with Milady's verbal seduction of her jailer; brilliantly done, but it went on for too long, IMO. The ending's perfect. One star down for the skimming.

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I tried reading this when I was younger. I suspect my failure was partly due to lack of interest, and partly due to a bad translator. I've found the Penguin "Read Red" series, so far as I've read them, to be pretty well translated and easy to read. Including this one.

The Three Musketeers is an unrepentant adventure story, with some politics and romance thrown in. It's exciting to read -- it only took me so long because I got distracted: shame on me -- and fun. It isn't that heavy on characterisation, I suppose. For the most part we don't learn much about the musketeers, only what they are doing at the immediate time. Possibly Milady gets the most character building, since she's so evil and we see so much of her during the last part of the book.

Not all of it is happy fun adventure, I suppose: there are some bits that drag. Possibly if you found a good abridgement, that'd be worthwhile. But I liked the way it all came together. I'm a little sad that I don't actually own it, and it's going back to the library, but that's easily remedied. Once I'm allowed to buy books again, anyway...

[groovykinda · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's not every day I stop while reading a book to say to myself: "Wow. I'm really having a lot of fun." This book and the sequels are a great time.

[anguirus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked it until the end.

[soyoyo-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I think I do not like classics

[andreablythe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a fun adventure story! The four friends -- d'Artagnon, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis -- who have been a mainstaty of popular culture are a delight to read on the page. They don't necessarily have much depth of character, being more like delightful fools than grown adult men, but they are quite funny and they present their own definition of honor. D'Artagnon is interesting, because he's the youngest of the group, fresh from his home village in the city of Paris and desiring to be a Musketeer. Despite being a total hot-head about some things, in some ways is hte most mature character of the group, kind of steering the others like wayward children. The one exception is Athos, who becomes a kind of father figure to d'Artagnon and helps guide him to the right course, when the situation gets over d'Artagnon's head. I really like their friendship.The intrigues and adventures are great and keep you reading to find how how our heroes make it through. Though I was surprised to find that the Cardinal was not the supreme villain in the story. He is a dangerous foil for our characters, but it also sometimes their friend. No, the major villain in the story is Milady de Winter, who has to be one of the original femme fatales. Seductive and dangerous, she lures men into traps, often having them enact her revenge for her. She's a really great villain and fun to read, even if she is a characture of evil womanhood (as most femme fatales are). Anyway, superfun, if long read. And I'm totally interested in reading more of the d'Artagnon romances, especially The Man in the Iron Mask.

[stuart10er_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

2006 translation done in a more modern style. Still a wonderful book. Some of the scenes seemed to flow easier since the translator didn't have to dance around the sex parts. It is a great work of plot and dialogue. One of my all time favorite novels.