The Three Musketeers: In Easy-To-Read-Type

By Alexandre Dumas

Set in seventeenth-century France, this swashbuckling novel relates the daring escapades of D'Artagnan, a Gascon adventurer, and his three friends — Athos, Porthos and Aramis, three Musketeers in the service of King Louis XIII.
First published in 1844, Alexandre Dumas' exciting story teems with high adventure, royal intrigue, and romance as D'Artagnan and his friends confront the scheming Cardinal Richelieu and his beautiful but treacherous spy, Lady de Winter. Heroic patriotism also comes into play as the four friends hastily journey to the besieged French stronghold of La Rochelle.
Specially adapted for young readers, the novel's stirring themes of reckless courage, love, and derring-do are distilled into a highly readable narrative. Enhanced with original illustrations by artist John Green and set in large, easy-to-read type, this new edition of an old favorite will delight adventure fans of all ages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Release date: Apr 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9780486144399

Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), one of the most universally read French authors, is best known for his extravagantly adventurous historical novels. As a young man, Dumas emerged as a successful playwright and had considerable involvement in the Parisian theater scene. It was his swashbuckling historical novels that brought worldwide fame to Dumas. Among his most loved works are The Three Musketeers (1844), and The Count of Monte Cristo (1846). He wrote more than 250 books, both Fiction and Non-Fiction, during his lifetime.

Book preview

Milady

1

D’Artagnan Meets the Musketeers

LONG AGO in France, on a bright spring morning-in April of 1626, to be exact—a young man from the country, of noble but somewhat awkward bearing, walked firmly down a lonely road outside Paris with the near-certain belief that within the hour he would be dead.

This eighteen-year-old gentleman, whose name was D’Artagnan, was newly arrived from Gascony, from which distant province he had come, as proud as he was poor, to pledge his service to the King, the Queen and the Cardinal. Yet he had not been in Paris for more than a few hours before he had somehow committed himself to fighting no fewer than three duels!

Now, this Cardinal, who was also a duke—the Duc de Richelieu—was almost as powerful as the King—some said even more powerful. He was always creating trouble, it seemed, even within the royal household. He had recently managed to raise suspicions in the King’s mind against the Queen herself, accusing her of an unlawful relationship with the English Duke of Buckingham. Alas, there was some truth to this charge. Both the Queen and the Cardinal had powerful networks of spies who helped them in their bitter rivalry.

The entire nation of France was the scene of great troubles then, there being violent hatred between the Catholics, led by Cardinal Richelieu, and a sect of French Protestants called the Huguenots, whose main stronghold was the coastal city of La Rochelle.

As D’Artagnan had plunged into this atmosphere of conflict, he was forced to take sides. Though as yet unable to join the elite band of the King’s Musketeers, he had been allowed to join the lesser force of the King’s Guards (who, with the Musketeers, were rivals of the Cardinal’s Guards). He also had dared hope that perhaps he would become the valiant knight of some beautiful damsel in distress.

D’Artagnan had other problems. On his way to Paris, in the town of Meung, he had been mocked by a mysterious, evil-looking blackguard, evidently of high rank, with an ugly scar on his temple, who had set his servants to thrash him. Then, before D’Artagnan could deal with him properly, in gentlemanly sword-to-sword combat, the man, after exchanging mysterious words with an even more mysterious lady in a coach, had sped off on his horse like a coward.

Now came the greatest trouble of all. The three men with whom D’Artagnan was about to fight duels were all Musketeers! It had all come about because of some silly words of anger exchanged between D’Artagnan and the Musketeers in the mansion of Monsieur de Tréville, their leader.

By now, walking along under the hot sun, his sword flapping against his leg at his left hand, D’Artagnan had approached a grim windowless building surrounded by bare fields, part of a convent on the outskirts of Paris. Just then a clock in a nearby tower struck twelve and D’Artagnan, aware that he was about to meet his fate and very likely leave this earth, saw before him the noble figure of Athos, one of the Musketeers.

Athos, though in pain, the result of a wound he had received in another duel, stepped forward to meet his adversary. D’Artagnan, on his part, took off his hat and bowed deeply.

Monsieur, said Athos, I have engaged two of my friends as seconds; I do not know why they are late, as it is not their habit.

I have no seconds, Monsieur, replied D’Artagnan, as I have just arrived in Paris. But I see you are suffering terribly. I have a balsam for wounds, which I freely offer you. Within three days you will be cured, and then—well, sir, it would then still do me great honor to be your man.

I am afraid that in three days word of our plans would be certain to leak out and our combat would be prevented. But, said Athos, your words are those of a true gentleman. There is one of my seconds, I believe.

Walking down the road the gigantic Porthos appeared.

What! cried D’Artagnan. Is your first witness M. Porthos?

Does that disturb you?

Not at all—and is the second M. Aramis? Aramis was just then coming up behind Porthos.

Of course. Are you not aware that we are never seen one without the others, and that we are called, among the Musketeers and the guards, at court and in the city, Athos, Porthos and Aramis—or the Three Inseparables? But then, you would not know that since you are from—

Tarbes, said D’Artagnan.

Porthos, this is the gentleman I am going to fight, said Athos, gesturing toward D’Artagnan and greeting his friend at the same time.

Ah! What does this mean? It is with him that I also am going to fight! said Porthos.

But not before one o’clock, said D’Artagnan.

And I also am going to fight this gentleman, said Aramis as he walked up.

But not before two o’clock, said D’Artagnan.

But what are you going to fight about, Athos? asked Aramis.

Faith! I don’t well know. He hurt my shoulder. And you, Porthos?

We are going to fight because—we are going to fight!

We had a little discussion about dress, explained D’Artagnan tactfully.

And you, Aramis?

Oh, ours is a theological quarrel.

Yes, there is a passage in St. Augustine upon which we could not agree, said D’Artagnan.

At this sign of courteous evasion Athos smiled slightly, thinking, Decidedly this is a clever fellow.

And now, gentlemen, announced D’Artagnan, should M. Athos succeed in dispatching me, I offer my apologies that I will be unable to fight as agreed. But for now—on guard! With the most gallant air imaginable, D’Artagnan drew his sword.

As you please, Monsieur, replied Athos,

Reviews for The Three Musketeers

[garrison0550 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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

[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.

[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...

[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!

[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.

[bibliostuff · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is an admirable adventure story with which most everyone is familiar; however, if you’ve never read the book, you’re not really familiar with the story. The plot is intricate with numerous twists and turns. Although Dumas spends time developing characters, it feels like the story never slows down.

Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D’Artagnan possessed more honor and morality than I had expected after seeing their depictions on the silver screen. There are several characters that never made it to the film versions, including the Musketeers’ servants. The four servants play critical roles in the success of the Musketeers. I recommend this recent edition with its highly readable translation.

[greymowser · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A great and sad adventure.

[tendulkar01_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Justly loved as one of the most enjoyable adventure novels ever written

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My number one thought upon completing The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas is that I had more fun reading this book than I’ve had in a long time. Chock full of drama, humor, political schemes, romance, and, oh yes, swordplay. This is a delightful swashbuckler and wonderful historical adventure.As Dumas uses historical references and events as a framework to build his story on, I was curious as to how close his interpretation were and upon a little research, the actual facts meld very well with his version. His well developed, strong characters and the fast pace at which the story unfolds has the reader engrossed and turning pages avidly. Dumas is skilful at evoking emotions as events play across the pages, and I felt many, ranging from sympathy to scorn, hatred to respect, humor to pathos.When I mention strong characters, one in particular springs to mind. Lady de Winter is one of the best villains I have ever read about. She can be very nasty, both cruel and vindictive, yet she masks her psychotic ways with her beauty, an angelic looking yet deadly blonde temptress that created most of the best edge of your seat moments in the book. And although d’Artagnan tried my patience any number of times, I could understand his young impatient ways. My admiration went mostly in the direction of Athos, the strong, silent type, hiding his true identity and a dark past.The Three Musketeers is a well known story and many movie adaptations have been made, but this was my first actual read and I was surprised at how different the book is from the Hollywood versions which usually play strongly upon the humor and less upon the story. Dumas delivers a kick-ass action adventure with strong undertones of his favorite themes of vengeance and intrigue. Highly recommended.

[derekgries · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was surprized at how complex and detailed the writting is. Absolutly every thought and movement is stated by the author. And the vocabulary was huge. I was thinking about how many more words people knew one hundred years ago.

[kawgirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this in jr. high school. A story that is great fun!

[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.

[parp-4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good read for young people.

[widsith_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good fun. I feel after nearly 900 pages I should have something more to say about this, but it's really one of those books where Story and Event is everything and literary quality is secondary. It held my interest the whole way, though, with plenty of dashing cavaliers, heaving bosoms, secret lovers, dastardly plots, coded messages, mistaken identities, and the rest of the ingredients for an early-Romantic pot-boiler. Make no mistake, derring will be done and swashes will be buckled!Our scene is the mid-seventeenth century, as France is trying to repair the wounds of the Wars of Religion, and building up to the famous Siege of La Rochelle, the last stronghold of French Protestantism. King Louis XIII is somewhat estranged from his young, beautiful wife, who is suspected of having an affair with an English nobleman; and behind the king is the original eminence grise, his first minister Cardinal Richelieu, whose network of spies covers all of Europe.Don't expect too much historical accuracy here – Dumas changes dates and invents characters pretty much whenever he feels like it, and the text is so full of historical anachronisms (references to Botany Bay for instance) that I gave up keeping track of them all. Anyway, who cares about historical accuracy when you're having this much fun? Our titular musketeers, as well as wannabe musketeer and hotheaded provincial d'Artagnan, blunder through this world, tangling themselves up in political intrigues, romantic liaisons, and generally causing or resolving international incidents.Their values are not our own. ‘Bad guys’ are killed left and right without a second thought, and d'Artagnan's great love interest is a married woman. His behaviour during the seduction of poor chambermaid Ketty would probably have been described as ‘masterful’ once; nowadays, ‘rapey’ seems like a better word. But these sorts of WTF moments are all part of the fun of this kind of novel.As everyone I think acknowledges, the greatest character in the book, stealing every scene she appears in, is Milady, one of the cardinal's chief agents and a thoroughly bad-ass femme fatale. She has been poorly served by film adaptations – as has the book in general, for that matter. It would make a great TV series. The action is naturally episodic anyway, with two distinct story arcs – the second building to the siege of La Rochelle, and the first centring on the theft of the Queen's ferrets de diamants (which I imagine must have given translators a bit of trouble – I would say ‘diamond aiguillettes’ but I'm curious as to how published English versions render this).If you grew up in the time and place I did, it's impossible to read this without a certain theme tune going through your head—One of all and all for one!Muskahounds are always ready,One for all and all for one!Helping everybody…and honestly, the book was just as much fun for me as a grown-up as Dogtanian was when I was a kid.

[clarencex_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I first read this book as a youngster and enjoyed it although i didn't really follow all of the plot. I just read it again about 60 years later. I loved it. At first it seemed a little juvenile but I quickly fell under its spell.The reviews above have mentioned many of the things I liked, but I would like to add one thing not mentioned heretofore. I just finished reading an excellent long account of the English Civil War, which made me want to read fiction of the period. I was very impressed with the accuracy of Dumas's depiction of events. My newly acquired knowledge of the period greatly increased my enjoyment of Dumas's imagination. There is nothing in the novel that disagrees with the history of that period. Plus he adds all these lovely imaginary details, e.g. the motives of the fanatic who assassinated Buckingham. Great stuff. Milady has to be one of the most fascinating characters in fiction.

[victrola_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great adventure story! Though I didn't like it as much as The Count of Monte Cristo.

[tuffsme · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a classic tale of honor, duty and loyalty. The heroes aren't otherworldly characters, but instead are written to be normal individuals with common problems with only their integrity to set them apart. Even if you know the story, this book is very captivating to the end.

[terpsichoreus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Built on the ridiculous, the humorous, the exciting, and deeply in the characters, this work creates a world of romance (in that oh-so-classic sense) and adventure which conscripts the reader and delivers him to the front lines. I am alway amazed by this book's ability to invoke lust, pity, wonder, respect, scorn, and hatred, all while driving along a plot filled with new events and characters.Should there be any future for Fantasy, it lies not in the hands of Tolkien-copying machines, nor even in Moorecock's 'un-fantasy', but in whatever writer can capture Beowulf, The Aeneid, The Three Musketeers, or The White Company and make a world which is exciting not because everything is magical and strange, but because everything is entirely recognizable, but much stranger. Of course, one may want to avoid going Mervyn Peake's route with this, and take a lesson from the driving plot and carefree frivolity that Dumas Pere and his innumerable ghostwriters adhered to.It is amusing here to note that Dumas has accredited to his name far more books than he is likely to have ever written. As he was paid for each book with his name on it, he made a sort of 'writing shop' where he would dictate plots, characters, or sometimes just titles to a series of hired writers and let them fill in the details.So, praises be to Dumas or whichever of his unrecognized hirees wrote such a work.

[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.

[jshillingford_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Like many people, I had seen movies based on the novel. A few were excellent, most mediocre, and none able to capture the magic of the novel. A book with political intrigue, duels, action, adventure and a love story is hard to match! D'Artagnan is the quintessential hero. He's young, handsome, brash, idealistic and passionately loyal. France is in disarray, thanks to a manipulation of a ruthless cardinal. Can four companions save king and country?This is the kind of book that will get young people to see the value in reading. Though the language is a little old fashioned (it is historical fiction after all) it does not make reading difficult as in some works. Highly recommended!

[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.

[alera_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I went into this novel expecting exactly what I got. A young man falling into a game of political schemes, running into fights with all the wrong people, and meeting three gentlemen who would became his greatest companions. It was a nice read, and I can completely understand how these books have lasted as the inspiration for the 'adventure' genre. At it's base it's about a man, going out with his friends, protecting the honor of a lady, and in the end being rewarded by his own enemy for his wit, intellect, and ability to handle a sword.

[misfit_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What fun! This books just jumps right out and keeps moving along (except for a couple of slow spots -- but needed to develop the character's past, etc.) The cameraderie between the Musketeers is awesome and they are incredibly wonderful scamps. D'artagnon was adorable, as were Athos, Aramis and Porthos. The evil Milady was truly EVIL and WICKED. The dialogue was awesome, it just crackled right along. I think we all know the basic story and how it ended, but reading the book was much more enjoyable than the movie, as they always are. It did bring back many memories of that wonderful version from the 70's, with Michael York and Raquel Welch. I will have to revisit that, and am looking forward to reading the sequels. Dumas is truly a brilliant author

[merrymeerkat · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ok but hard to follow.

[ariebonn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the longest books I have read lately. At first it was a little intimidating but when I finally got the courage to start reading it I discovered that it's fast paced and couldn't stop reading. This book is full of action, the events are cleverly interwoven to make a complex plot of friendship, loyalty, romance, adventure and suspense. I found the characters to be all so fascinating, it starts with the great D'Artagnan whose hot hotheadedness accounts for most of the adventures and which leads him to meet with the famous three musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Once they are sworn as friends the four men become inseparable and live by their motto "all for one, one for all", they demonstrate loyalty for each other until the end. I recently learned that Alexandre Dumas wrote two more books to follow this one, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte De Bragelonne, the three books are also known as the D'Artagnan Romances. This made me curious to get hold of the next books and find out what happened after The Three Musketeers. With every classic that I read I realize that these books truly deserve to be called classics and why I should really read more of them.

[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."

[kuiperdolin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Un excellent roman, bien meilleur que toutes ses adaptations, et dominé par le remarquable personnage de Milady de Winter. Une histoire particulièrement sombre et triste à bien y regarder, loin du cape et d'épée clichetoneux.

[lysander07 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For sure you will think 'hey, why is he reading that old children's book again?', but no, you're wrong. I've read this masterpiece of Alexandre Dumas for the very first time. Of course, everybody knows the story. We all have seen so many movies and remakes of movies, and the musketeers have become a cliché even long ago. But, I had the chance to get a rather old copy. It's an almost 100 years old german translation (of course in old german typesetting). And one thing about the book is, it's language is remarkable and so different compared to today's german. But before I'll go into details, let me rather briefely recapitulate the story (in german....):Wir schreiben das Jahr 1625. D'Artagnan, der arme Sohn eines Landadeligen aus der Gascogne will sein Glück als Musketier in der Garde des Herrn von Treville - also der Leibgarde des Königs Ludwig XIII. - versuchen. Ausgestattet mit einem Empfehlungsschreiben seines Vaters, einem altgedienten Musketier gerät er, der sich wie alle Gasconier (so Dumas) leicht in seiner Ehre gekränkt sieht, in eine Auseinandersetzung mit einem mysteriösen Gardisten des Kardinals Richelieu. Bevor es aber zu einem Duell kommt, wird er vom Küchenpersonal der Landschenke, in der er Rast macht, niedergeschlagen und seines Empfehlungsschreibens beraubt.In Paris angekommen versucht er sich dennoch um eine Audienz bei Herrn von Treville und verstrickt sich im Laufe des Tages - natürlich bedingt durch sein aufbrausendes Temperament ebenso wie durch seine eigene Tollpatschigkeit - in sage und schreibe drei Duelle mit drei Musketieren des Königs, namentlich mit den drei Freunden Athos, Aramis und Portos. Verabredet im Park von Saint Germaine werden alle vier überrascht von einer Patrouille des Kardinals. D'Artagnan bietet den drei Freunden seine Hilfe beim bevorstehenden Degengefecht an, aus dem die Musketiere siegreich hervorgehen.....und das ist der Beginn einer Reihe äußerst spannend zu lesender Abenteuer.....Die eigentliche Handlung ist ja aus diversen Filmen bekannt, allerding ist die Charakterzeichnung Dumas sprachlich natürlich noch wesentlich reizvoller als deren filmische Umsetzung. Für mich wird wohl immer die Verfilmung aus den 70er Jahren mit Michael York als D'Artagnan, Oliver Reed als Athos und Richard Chamberlain als Aramis (wer den Portos gespielt hat fällt mir nicht ein....war aber jemand, den ich sonst nicht weiter kannte) DIE VERFILMUNG überhaupt bleiben. Besonders schön - neben einem beeindruckenden Oliver Reed und unberechenbaren Charlton Heston als Kardinal Richelieu - war wohl die Tatsache, dass sich anscheinend keine der Romanfiguren (außer den Bösewichtern) in dieser Verfilmung wirklich ernst nimmt. Ach und natürlich Racquel Welch als wohlgefomte und unwiderstehliche Constanze, Geraldine Chaplin als porzellanfarbene, zerbrechliche Königin und Faye Dunaway als durchtrieben böse verführerische Mylady deWinter. Der Film (d.h. die Verfilmung des kompletten Romans) kam damals ja in zwei Teilen in die Kinos und es braucht seine Zeit, die über 700 Seiten des Romans in Szene zu setzen. Ach, fast hätte ich den Erzbösewicht Rouchford vergessen, den Mann mit der Narbe, hinter dem D'Artagnan den ganzen Roman über her ist. Der wird in besagter Verfilmung von Christopher Lee (unser aller 60er/70er Jahre Dracula) gespielt.Daneben gabe es zahlreiche weitere Verfilmungen an die ich mich erinnern kann. Angefangen von einer UFA Verfilmung aus den 30er Jahren über einen ersten Farbfilm mit Gene Kelly in der Hauptrolle [to be continued.....] und dann natürlich auch noch diverse Verfilmungen aus den 80er Jahren. Die letzte bemerkenswerte Verfilmung des Musketierstoffes betrifft einen späteren Roman Dumas, nämlich 'Den Mann mit der eisernen Maske' (auch unter dem Titel '10 Jahre danach' oder 'Der Vicomte von Bragelonne' erschienen), der vorallem mit seiner Besetzungsliste der bereits etwas gealterten Haudegen brillierte (Gerard Depardieu, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich....).Mein Fazit: Der Roman hat es in sich! Kein Wunder, das er sich über 150 Jahre internationaler Beliebtheit erfreuen kann. Natürlich darf man keine allzu tiefgründigen Charakterstudien und innere Monologe erwarten, aber Dumas gelingt es, seine Figuren nicht nur in haarsträubend flott erzählte Abenteuer zu verwickeln, sondern ihnen auch noch ziemlich viel Persönlichkeit mit auf den Weg zu geben. Besonders deutlich wird das an der unberechenbaren Gestalt der Lady deWinter und D'artagnans ambiguen Gefühlsaufwallungen ihr gegenüber. So liebt er sie auf der einen Seite (oder ist zumindest immens verliebt..) wie er sie auf der anderen Seite als Geschöpf des Kardinals zutiefst hasst.Also, LESEN! und am besten nicht die aktuellen Übersetzungen, sondern eine ältere (vor 1930), um sich an der mitunter barocken Sprachgewalt zu erfreuen.......

[clicksclan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Took me quite a while to get through, mainly because I spent a lot of time trying to read it with white text on a black background (which sent me to sleep when I turned the light off in bed at night).Not a time period I'm very familiar with so I wasn't so sure about what the political tensions were about.There were some quite funny bits, especially in the dialogue between the Musketeers.Didn't much like d'Artagnan at the start but he grew on me through the book and by the end I felt quite sorry for him.

[meyben_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A young man goes to Paris to join the Musketeers. He finds love, and hate, plus adventure. Very long book. Take time reading, can be confusing.