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The Three Musketeers, Part 4
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Apr 03, 2015 06:14PM
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I've made it into this section; woo hoo, downhill run!On the whole I haven't minded the book, but not really my cup of tea. I know it is par for the course with many classics but I've really struggled with the way women are written.
Still hoping Milady might finish off the musketeers (or at least Athos)...
I'm in the last section too. Not really fond of anyone in the book. Feels a bit like a school assignment. Just need to get through it.
Will you read further Dumas books do you think? I find him very easy reading, so I'll probably try others in his catalogue.I'm really enjoying this last part of the book with Milady in England - very exciting!
I read The Black Tulip a few years ago and liked it. I very much want to read Count of Monte Cristo. I've heard lots of good things about it.I have thought about where my interest failed with this book. I have never seen any of the Musketeers movies, which I think left me unbiased. I am annoyed with what has been left out of my translation. It has altered my perception of characters.
There are fun parts. But I'm not rooting for anyone.
Mochajunkie wrote: "I read The Black Tulip a few years ago and liked it. I very much want to read Count of Monte Cristo. I've heard lots of good things about it.I have thought about where my interest failed with thi..."
I've seen The Man in the Iron Mask, but don't think I've seen others. Not that I recall anyway.
Chapter 63 was unexpectedly moving.
Yay, I've made it to the home run! Starting c47. If I manage 1 chapter a day I'll finish ahead of schedule.
Myst wrote: "Yay, I've made it to the home run! Starting c47. If I manage 1 chapter a day I'll finish ahead of schedule."Woo! I thought this last section went really quickly, plus it was the most interesting.
I took a break for a week or so and then finished it. The first chapters did spend a lot of time building the characters and the plot. This last section was more interesting, but oddly, not about the title characters.I don't think I recovered from the fact that my translation left out two significant plot points. Still spent some time wondering what else I was missing. I'm not sure if I would recommend this book. It is considered classic, but is that enough reason to read it? There are so many books! I look forward to Monte Cristo and will reread The Black Tulip, which I remember liking.
I'm on pg 711/784 (c61). If all goes to plan I'll be finished in a week.
Myst wrote: "I'm on pg 711/784 (c61). If all goes to plan I'll be finished in a week."Nearly there! Impressions of the book as you head to the finish line?
RitaSkeeter wrote: "Myst wrote: "I'm on pg 711/784 (c61). If all goes to plan I'll be finished in a week."Nearly there! Impressions of the book as you head to the finish line?"
Boring. 4 drunk men who never seem to work and always mooching off others for food, money and alcohol.
I really don't understand why it's called "The Three Musketeers" when they're secondary characters. That would be like Don Quixote being called Sancho Panzo (or whatever the sidekick's name is). Especially since the musketeers seem to be drinking themselves to an early grave vs. protecting anything.
The Count of Monte Cristo I think was a much better story.
I just hope The Man in the Iron Mask is a more focused story. (Or I may skip it since it appears to be a continuation of 3 Musketeers.)
Myst wrote: "RitaSkeeter wrote: "Myst wrote: "I'm on pg 711/784 (c61). If all goes to plan I'll be finished in a week."Nearly there! Impressions of the book as you head to the finish line?"
Boring. 4 drunk m..."
Pretty much my thoughts also. I'm interested you liked The Count of Monte Cristo more - might give that a try at some stage.
Joy wrote: "Just about to start chapter 50. Aside from some humor here and there I'm not finding much to love here."So I wonder if there is anyone who has joined this read that has loved the book?
RitaSkeeter wrote: "Myst wrote: "RitaSkeeter wrote: "Myst wrote: "I'm on pg 711/784 (c61). If all goes to plan I'll be finished in a week."Nearly there! Impressions of the book as you head to the finish line?"
Bori..."
I gave the Count 4 stars. It may be a 1000+ page doorstop but the story was more compelling. We didn't get all these side plots that don't really figure in until the last 10% or so.
When we first heard of the 2 main ladies, I really couldn't see the relevance of their plot lines. Kitty disappeared and was never heard from again. Why did the 1 guy take D'A's letter?
Maybe my enjoyment wasn't as high since I know France had a tumultuous history and I couldn't figure out where in that history the story took place. Was it the King or Cardinal who was "bad" (or neither?).
And I finished it last night as the remaining chapters were more conversations vs paragraphs of text so it went a lot quicker.
I don't want to say it's a *bad* book, but it wasn't my cup of tea.
Myst wrote: Was it the King or Cardinal who was "bad" (or neither?)....I'm not sure I liked how it ended between the Cardinal and D'artagnan. But it was realistic, right?
Mochajunkie wrote: "Myst wrote: Was it the King or Cardinal who was "bad" (or neither?)....I'm not sure I liked how it ended between the Cardinal and D'artagnan. But it was realistic, right?"
D'A and the Cardinal (and the musketeers) I think had a rocky start, then all of a sudden despite the musketeers fighting the cardinal's guards all the time are in the 'in' crowd with the cardinal?
I thought the cardinal wasn't a fan of any of the musketeers, so I could never tell whose 'side' anyone was on. There just didn't seem to be any line. Maybe the copy I read from was badly translated that I couldn't figure out if there were even sides to anything.
Why was the cardinal so against the queen? Why did someone want to cut 2 diamonds off her doublet; what did that prove? (Something about how she was in love with the guy from England I think?) Was this to show the king as inept?
What did Milady have to do with anything other than the fact of who she was married to?
I think I missed out on a lot since I couldn't figure out why anyone seemed to be doing anything.
Joy wrote: "Myst wrote: I don't want to say it's a *bad* book, but it wasn't my cup of tea.
My sentiments as well. I did learn something as I had always thought of the Louvre as only an art gallery. I mean ..."
Gascony is the region D'A is from.
Mochajunkie wrote: "Myst wrote: Was it the King or Cardinal who was "bad" (or neither?)....I'm not sure I liked how it ended between the Cardinal and D'artagnan. But it was realistic, right?"
I'm pissy at the ending. All that build up and then (view spoiler). Meh.
Joy wrote: "Rita *wants a quick quotes quill* Skeeter wrote: "I've made it into this section; woo hoo, downhill run!On the whole I haven't minded the book, but not really my cup of tea. I know it is par for ..."
Yeah, see where you're coming from. But for me the men were written in a way that showed them to be adventurous or larrikins or whatever, whereas the women were either weak or evil.
Myst wrote:Why was the cardinal so against the queen? Why did someone want to cut 2 diamonds off her doublet; what did that prove? (Something about how she was in love with the guy from England I think?) Was this to show the king as inept?
My take on this was that King Louis of France gave some distinctive diamonds to his wife, Queen Anne of Austria. Unknown to him (but known to the cardinal and his evil spy Milady) Anne was in love with the Duke of Buckingham (English), and had given him the diamonds.
So the cardinal plotted to get those diamonds back off the Duke to show to the king to prove Anne was having an affair. The cardinal managed to have a couple of those diamonds cut off the Duke's doublet, and then informed the king of the affair and produced the diamonds as evidence. Of course the plot was foiled by D'A who managed to organise some exact replicas to be made for Anne to wear.
The affair was a big deal, because aside from the fact the king of France was being cuckolded, there was also the possible issue of the Queen passing information to England - a security risk to France given the on again off again tensions between England and France.
Joy wrote: "Myst wrote: "What did Milady have to do with anything other than the fact of who she was married to?I think it was her alliance with the cardinal that made her a "person of interest"."
Yeah, I agree with Joy. She was just an evil spy aligned with the cardinal.
It gets murky about who is a goodie and who is a baddie, because we're meant to be on the musketeer's sides, but they were working to conceal the affair the Queen of France was having with Buckingham, whereas Milady and the Cardinal were trying to expose it.
The tri-monthly read for July/August/September is Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.The first thread can be found here: /topic/show/.... It would be great to see there!
Myst wrote: "Boring. 4 drunk men who never seem to work and always mooching off others for food, money and alcohol."Ha ha. I don't think anyone can justify the "morality" of the main characters. D'Artagnan's treatment of Kitty is especially shocking.
The book was originally serialized. At the beginning, D'Artagnan's goal is to join the three musketeers. The title doesn't fit the end of the book so well because the end wasn't written yet when the serial began.
The Cardinal represents the Catholic church, and France was a Catholic nation. I wasn't surprised when the Cardinal turned out to be not all bad. I was, however, confused about why Buckingham is portrayed so sympathetically. Isn't he the enemy?
