Saturday 4 August 2012

The Three Musketeers: The Inseparables


I still can't believe I finished it in one night. It has been long since the last time I read anything without stopping. Thanks to the brilliant writer Dumas, I spent last night, without closing my eyes even for one second, reading The Three Musketeers ebook on my computer, blushing and smiling, even laughing as the story possessed me.

It is clear from my description, that I find the book very much interesting, and that this book, combined with the love I have for Monte Cristo, has placed Dumas among my favourite authors. I cannot deny that I didn't read it earlier because I was afraid that it might be less interesting than Monte Cristo, but an impulse made me read it anyway.

So, to the story. I will not bore my readers by relating things widely unknown. The story is so popular that even mentioning the names of the characters would be unnecessary. Therefore I will just write here the things that impresses me in the story.

I like how Dumas describes the friendship between the four. They would be a role model to any friendship. All four have different ideology, thoughts, and feelings, yet they are united as “four heads united in one heart”. It's touching to see how they trust each other, how they are ready to share all they have, to lay down their lives for the sake of their companions. Had Monte Cristo one of those honourable men as his friend, he would not give up upon humanity.

My favourite scenes from the book? Firstly, it is when the Duke of Buckingham confesses his love to the queen. I have to admit that I blushed like a pink rose as I read the chapter page by page. I almost pity him for such a foolish love, and even would love him if he didn't start a war only for the sake of showing off to the queen. (At least that's what the book implies, though I don't really believe that such a selfish motive would move the smart Duke to kill many of his compatriots in war.)

Second, when d'Artagnan travels to find his friends that he has left behind for the sake of fetching the queens diamond studs. It's funny to see how different the three musketeers are, and to peek into their personal lives. I laughed hard (in the middle of the night, remember) when I read about Aramis and his thesis, and how he tramples upon it the second he knows that his love is not lost.

Lastly, the breakfast at Bastion. Ha! Now that's brave, and very awesome. To think that they actually hold a council amidst the danger of the enemy, surrounded by the dead, and at last win despite being outnumbered, that's really awe-inspiring.
“Shall we return to the camp?” said Porthos. “I don’t think the sides are equal.”
“Impossible, for three reasons,” replied Athos. “The first, that we have not finished breakfast; the second, that we still have some very important things to say; and the third, that it yet wants ten minutes before the lapse of the hour.”

That's my impression after reading the book, and I believe I will write more about it in the future. I have already planned to use some of the characters from the book for my Character Thursdays. So adieu, my friends, or rather, au revoir.

5 comments:

  1. Aarrggh..you made me want to read this book again! I have read it from my childhood (a simplified graphic novel), and read the bahasa Indonesia edition few years ago. After I read Twenty Years After, I missed the four friends and want to re-read The Three Musketeers, this time in English. Maybe I would feel differently about them this time!

    I'm excited about who you would pick as your Character Thursday, my favorite is always d'Artagnan

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    1. Ah, yes, I understand. I read Sherlock Holmes, all of them, in Bahasa before I re-read them in English. It was quite an experience. I feel a bit afraid to read Twenty Years after. Let's say I;m afraid it will break my heart. Leave alone Man in the Iron Mask. I will not touch it until I feel ready for the grief. (I know people will die, that's why.)

      Wait for the character Thursday. ;)

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  2. I was wondering myself if it was possible to read this book in a day.... Looks like it is! I'm more looking forward to it now I've read your review :)

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  3. Yes, please do so. I ended up sleeping from the morning to midday, but it was worth it.

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  4. I'm only 15, and am reading it for the first time. I have loved the story for as long as I can remember, and decided to buy the book a few days ago. I'm a slow reader because I take in as much as I can, so I'm only 100 pages in after a week! Actually, I'm a writer, and from a random idea, started writing a short story about what happened between The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After. Then that short story grew, and it is now a novel that I've been working on for around 6 months. The plot is quite outrageous and very unrealistic, but it's fun. Basically, a peasant girl runs away from her drunken father, as her mother is dead and her brother is fighting in a war, and lives on the streets of Paris. D'Artagnan saves her from a ruffian and takes her in. Proving to them that she is more then any other women, they disguise her as a man, and she becomes a musketeer! It's completely outrageous, but that's the fun part. I must agree with you...I have laughed, blushed, and smiled widely, even though I've hardly cracked into it! Thank you for writing this post (I stumbled upon it on Google doing some research). :D

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