The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (Review)

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Bookshop.org | Harper Collins | T G Jones Online | Waterstones

Blurb

The young Gascon d’Artagnan and the legendary musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis are ready to sacrifice everything for love, glory and the common good. The wicked machinations of Cardinal Richelieu and his accomplice, the magnetic Milady de Winter, propel the devoted friends across seas and battlefields from masked balls to a remote convent, in order to defend the honour of the Queen and the life of Constance Bonacieux, d’Artagnan’s true love.

Review

I absolutely love this book and have read it many many times. My original copy completely fell apart and I lost some of the pages so this read through was a different book and a different translation which threw me to start with but I soon got back into one of my favourite stories.

The main thing I absolutely love with this book is the amazing characters. Aramis is so unbelievably vain but always wants to appear holy and devout. Porthos is all about image, he must have the best of everything and he always makes me laugh with his antics. d’Artagnan is adorably frustrating, sometimes I want to smack him and tell him to be quiet and other times I wanted to hug him. Athos was a troubled man but the perfect guiding hand that d’Artagnan needed and the calming influence that Porthos and Aramis needed. Athos is my favourite character because of his calmness but also because of his eccentric behaviour. The scene where he locks himself in the inn keeper’s cellar for weeks and drinks all the wine and eats all the food is hilarious.

The other character that was impressive was Milady. Milady is a complete psycho! She has a poison ring, she seduces men who are meant to be impossible to seduce, she happily stabs herself to appear suicidal and she is always trying to kill the musketeers. I even think Cardinal Richelieu was frightened of her at times.

The story of The Three Musketeers is well known as it has been the focus of many films but these films will never be a patch on such a wonderful book. The storylines that are based on historical events and characters work brilliantly. The book is packed full of action, romance and humour. I give this book a massive 5 out of 5 Dragons and will be reading the next book in the series very soon.

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About the author

Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the most widely read French authors.

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Top 5 Tuesday: Books I want to reread in 2025

Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm, and now being hosted by Meeghan reads.

Hello!

I love the topic for this week as 2025 is the year I wanted to make an effort to reread some of my favourite books. Last year I didn’t really do any rereads and I missed it because rereading a favourite book is like sitting down for a chat with an old friend.

So here are my planned rereads for 2025.

I really want to reread more of the Discworld novels this year and I thought I would start with the City Watch books. I spent one year reading all the Discworld books in order of publication so this time I think I will read them in the groups.

I am absolutely obsessed with Tolkien and have read The Lord of the Rings many many times and I feel like it is time for a reread of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

The Three Musketeers and Agnes Grey are two books that I have also read many many times and feel like a reread is needed.

What 5 books are you planning on rereading in 2025?

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Review #31)

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Blurb

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas’ epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialised in the 1840s.

Review

People who have followed my blog for any length of time know that Dumas is one of my all time favourite authors and I have read The Three Musketeers more times than I care to admit to. I had never got round to reading The Count of Monte Cristo though so this year I decided I would read it.

I had a few short breaks with this book otherwise it would have taken me less time to read but I did find when work was particularly stressful that I needed a less complicated read and so took a little break. This is a mammoth book and one that I can see the appeal of reading as a serial rather than one big book but I still absolutely loved it and always looked forward to reading it.

Edmond is a hard working 19 year old who has spent his short life so far trying to be the best man he can. His aim is to move up and become a ship’s captain and to marry his young sweetheart whilst making enough money to support her and his elderly father. However, by a cruel turn of events and through no fault of his own he gets thrown into the darkest blackest prison with no trial and not knowing why this is happening to him. After a long time of solitude and living in darkness he manages to make a friend and this friend tells him of the greatest treasure he could ever imagine.

This story is of Dantes’ revenge which he plans over many many years. The three men who destroyed Dantes’ hopes and future and don’t even realise that the traps have been laid many years in advance before they met the mysterious character of the Count of Monte Cristo.

Reading other people’s reviews I see there are quite a few people who find this book way too long but I did not find it too long. I found this book fascinating and enjoyable. It was jam packed with different storylines, different characters and as the plot spans many years you can expect the book to be rather weighty in length. Dumas’ excellent writing made this book a joy and a pleasure to read and I am so happy to have decided to read it. I really hope I get to read it again one day. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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About the author

Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the most widely read French authors.

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

A Little Reading Challenge

Hello!

I have always wanted to read The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and it is one of the books on my Classics Club challenge. However, it is rather a substantial book so I have decided to tackle the book in mini chunks rather than trying to plough through it.

There are 117 chapters in the book so I have decided to read a chapter a day. So in theory the book will take 117 days to read. I had started this challenge but as I am reading Aeneid by Virgil I have decided to finish this first then restart The Count of Monte Cristo. I have found that really long classics can sometimes make me go into a reading slump so I have decided that small chunks are best.

I am really excited to read The Count of Monte Cristo because Alexandre Dumas is one of my favourite authors and I really want to read more of his books this year which will also tick off more of my Classics Club list.

I will be honest though. If I start to really get into the book and have a good reading day I will most likely read more than just the one chapter. I just won’t have the self control to stop myself.

Do you have any methods for tackling really long books?

Happy Reading

Etsy

Goodreads Monday: 16/08/2021

Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone has had a good start to the week. I am taking a week off teaching this week, so today I have done three hours of dissertation writing, some fun reading, a nice walk and baked some cookies. A very relaxing day.

I am sticking with my classics theme and hopefully I will have built up a nice list of classic books to start reading once the dissertation is all finished and handed in.

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas’ epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s.

One of my all time favourite books is The Three Musketeers and I have read it more than once so I really want to read The Count of Monte Cristo to see if it is just as good. I know it will take me a long time to read but I do like reading longer books.

Please drop me a comment if you have read this book, I would love to hear your thoughts. Also please drop me a link to your Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading.