“The Three Musketeers,” by Alexandre Dumas

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 5
2. Prose 6
3. Plot 4
4. Characters 6
5. Overall 5

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

This was a pretty big surprise, and not in a good way. I have put off reading this for literally decades, mostly because I have a dislike for reading a book of which I already know a lot about the story. I still have not read “Tom Sawyer” for that reason. I cases like this, I often will read an author’s relatively lesser known books first; as I did with Dumas, reading “The Count of Monte Cristo” first, and with Hawthorne, reading “The Marble Faun” (MUCH better than “The Scarlet Letter” by the way!) first. Having enjoyed “The Count…” rather well, despite its lengthiness, I came to this book with high expectations, after my son had encouraged me to read it for years. All my positive expectations went unmet. I do understand why it’s a classic; it has the same action-packed pace and excitement as Sir Walter Scott’s “Ivanhoe” minus the coherence of plot or premise. It has the same random aimlessness as “Don Quixote” but without the justification that “Don Quixote” has of being precisely that kind of work as a fundamental premise. The characters are mostly stereotypical, but even the stereotypes are bland. And the title is misleading. This isn’t a book about three musketeers at all; those characters are supporting cast, at best, for d’Artagnan or even more so for Milady, Sir Buckingham, and the Cardinal. It’s like calling “The Lord of the Rings” “The Perils of Merry and Pippin.” The pace is fast and furious throughout most of the book, disallowing any deeper exploration of themes or development of characters. Then suddenly we hit a plot point where 5 entire chapters are devoted to Milady’s captivity, describing in great detail her attempts to escape. This book is a mess! I remember thinking that the movie made of this novel a few years back seemed like rather a silly attempt to re-cast an important work. Now I think I see why it was so vacuous. My son loves it but has no use for The Beatles. I love The Beatles but have no use for this book. We discussed this and it helped us to understand our relative perspectives. How can I think so little of a book that has been cherished by millions all over the world for many, many decades? Equivalently, how can he feel that same way about The Beatles? I hear “The Man in the Iron Mask” is quite good. But it might be a long while before a give it a go.

Here’s the March line-up:
"V is for Vengeance," by Sue Grafton [3-3-18]

"A Dirty Job," by Christopher Moore [3-10-18]

"Sackett," by Louis L'Amour [3-17-18]

"Caught Dead Handed," by Carol J. Perry [3-24-18]
"Finn," by Jon Clinch [3-31-18]