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This section is for discussing chapters 1-15. Please indicate any spoilers.

I'm going to try and aim for 1 chapter a day to catch up. Currently at pg 12/784 according to my kindle. So far it's pretty dull to me.

A lot of that could be due to the numerous references to Don Quixote which I never finished. (I got bogged down in some forest scene where DQ was a guest at some cottage and there was some sort of 'problem' with a girl in the house and her lover? and a conclusion to the problem never seemed to come. I eventually gave up when it felt like I was reading in circles.)

Anyways...

It appears we've got the main character going to join the king's army? The leader of the army was a friend of the king's who respected him for not treating him with kid gloves when they fought. Didn't quite grasp how the main guy's father knew the leader of the army though.

I'm way way behind. I just need to finish off One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and I'll start reading.

Buffoonery. I guess I missed what a fool D'Artagnan was the first time I tried to read this. Or maybe that's why I wasn't getting into the book. Anyone else having this struggle? I think I'm getting to the real story now that the characters have been established.

It's a much more enjoyable read than other classics I've read.

I'm only 4 chapters in (unexpected late nights out of the house recently).

But D'A sure isn't a meek and humble character.

I started last night and though I'm only about 6 pages in I think it looks reasonable promising. I agree about DQ quotes as I haven't read that so I'm not sure what on earth he's on about.

I also started last night. I'm six chapters in. Can't say I'm a fan so far, but I guess it has another 600 or so pages to win me over ;)

I just got this from the library and I'm excited to start! Hopefully I can get to it this week.

D'A is a nutter! Why would he run out leaving the letter which will get him a free ride?

Nicolle wrote: "D'A is a nutter! Why would he run out leaving the letter which will get him a free ride?"

He's an impulsive young man!

I'm up to the end of chapter 12. I hadn't been thrilled with the book early on, but I'm enjoying it more now. Probably not my cup of tea, but not bad.

I like D'Artagnan as a character, but I can't say I care so much for the Musketeers.

I went back and was reading the translators introduction trying to understand the historical context of the novel a bit more, and was surprised that the book had originally been drafted by someone else and that Dumas then re-wrote it and put his stamp on it.

Joy wrote: "I'm curious whether it was a common thing to hang out at the Louvre in the 1600's, as our heroes seem to do."

I'm a little hazy on exactly what the musketeers role was, but I have the impression they were part of the king's guard??? So would make sense for them to be stationed around the palace?

I jumped in quickly on this book, but then it seemed others here weren't moving as fast, so I stopped and read something else. But when I picked the book back up, I wasn't feeling it. I decided to find a chapter synopsis to review the first few chapters, to refresh my memory. Has anyone done this? It felt like cheating, but I wanted to make sure I retained the major points before continuing.

One useful note was that this was not written to be read as one book, but as a series. "So the prevalence of sub-plots and side-stories is great, as these smaller things can satisfy the dramatic needs of a single installment." Has this been a topic of discussion before with other 'Classic' books?

Anyway, I am beyond Chapter 15 and finally interested in the plot.

Mochajunkie wrote: "I jumped in quickly on this book, but then it seemed others here weren't moving as fast, so I stopped and read something else. But when I picked the book back up, I wasn't feeling it. I decided to ..."

I'm at chapter 18 so we might be at around the same place?

I go back and review chapter summaries for chapters I've already read every now and then. Particularly if something isn't making sense and I suspect I may have missed something.

Joy wrote: "I'll confess to reading a little bit on wikipedia. Glad to hear it gets better. And forgive me: my knowledge of European history is limited and i did not realize until last week that the Louvre was..."

I'm light on with French history, and I wondered whether the lack of understanding I have around the historical period and context may be one of the reasons I'm not enjoying this as much as I thought I would.

RitaSketter, I don't think it's you, I just find the side stories a complete waste of time, just like in his other book The Count of ... I love french history, especially that time period.

3 Musketeers is harder to read than CoMC for me. It's all king/cardinal stuff where as CoMC was how 1 guy got shafted and his desire for revenge. I'm not all knowledgeable about french history, especially regarding the royalty/government end of things.

That being said I'm trying to give it a bit more attention. 11% in currently. King just got back from a disappointing hunt.

15%. Just started c8.

This story seems to be wandering with no particular goal in mind. Although now that someone's wife has been kidnapped there is a target to focus on.

I'm a little late, I've just started. I have to say it's not as engaging as The Count.

I totally agree with you Kirsten. I loved The Count, this one, not so much. I am having a really hard time staying engaged with the story.

Rainey and Kirsten, what I did was 1 chapter a day. The longest chapters seemed to be about 20 pages, the short ones 5-7 pages.

I found all the characters to be un-likable which made it really hard to read. Later in the book it gets a bit better to read since the pointless duels are over and a plot thread appears.

I am so happy I am not the only one who had issues with this book. I will take your advice Myst - thanks for the tip.

Myst wrote: "Rainey and Kirsten, what I did was 1 chapter a day. The longest chapters seemed to be about 20 pages, the short ones 5-7 pages.

I found all the characters to be un-likable which made it really har..."

I'm not having trouble reading it. I was just disappointed after really loving The Count.

Rainey wrote: "I am so happy I am not the only one who had issues with this book. I will take your advice Myst - thanks for the tip."

I wish my advice worked as well on Don Quixote...I got stuck in a chapter which I swear was improperly scanned in for the amazon freebie version and kept repeating the same 10 pages. It kept going and going with nothing getting resolved. Going to give it another try pretty soon, but man I was really hoping for that segment to end.