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I thought that Queen Margot couldn't be topped. I should have known better.
Honestly, I do not have enough space to fully explain all the ways I adore this book. But I'll try to condense it.
-First, the four main characters. Love, love, love, and more love. Aramis and Porthos - the Merry and Pippin of the group, if you'll excuse the extremely dorkish LOTR cross-reference - made me laugh; D'Artagnan was charming even though (or maybe because) he had multiple moments where, were I in the story, I wouldn't know whether to kiss him or smack him upside the head; and the pure unfiltered AWESOME that is Athos cannot be put into words.
-My copy of the book is 754 pages, but I was able to finish it in less than two weeks and not even notice the length because the story was so engrossing. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to flip back to page 1 and start all over again.
-Duels. Lots and lots of duels.
-The only complaint I had regarding the other Dumas book I'd read before this (Queen Margot, as previously mentioned) was that there was a total lack of what I will bluntly call the dirty details. In Margot, all the sex scenes were kept out of the way and, judging by the description Dumas gave us of the characters' nighttime activities, no one managed to get laid for the entire book. The Three Musketeers, on the other hand, is by no means a bodice-ripper but is still very romantic. And then there's the scene where D'Artagnan decides that nailing Milady will be a good way to get revenge on her for kidnapping his girlfriend. Which brings me to my next point...
-Milady. Holy crap. I try to come up with words to describe her, but I can't do it because my brain sort of slows down until all I can hear are the words "Most. Badass. Character. Ever." repeating in my head over and over while the song "Cold Hard Bitch" by JET starts playing in the background. (if that makes any sense at all. Just go with it, okay?)
But seriously, let's talk about Milady for a minute. She keeps poison in her ring, seduces a guard who has been specifically warned that she'll try to seduce him, stabs herself in the chest to make people think she killed herself, regularly tries to assassinate D'Artagnan and his friends, and was generally such a psychotic bitch that even Cardinal Richelieu was afraid of her.

UPDATE

Dear Hollywood,

What the FUCK is wrong with you?

Seriously, fuck you guys.

Love,
Madeline

This is not the most profound of novels, but it may be the most compelling. Many of its sequences--the Diamond Studs, Milady's seduction of Felton, the attempt of D'Artagnan and The Three to rescue Constance--move with remarkable rapidity. More notable than these, however, is the entire exposition, something many novelists have found to be a thankless chore, if not a stumbling block. It occupies a full sixty pages, 10% of the book, and, although it covers much ground--the introduction of our hero, the two principal villains, and all three Musketeers with their eccentricities and distinct characters, plus the fight with the Cardinal's Guards, the emergence of D'Artagnan as the "fourth musketeer," and an examination of the curious relationship between King and Cardinal--it is constructed with such seamless grace, accomplishes its purposes with such a light touch, and moves so swiftly that the result is astonishing.

Sir Walter Scott showed us that the personal is political, that our most particular, most intimate decisions are governed by the political milieu in which we are raised and the allegiances that our background requires. Dumas adopts the contrary principle, namely, that the political is personal: a siege may be lifted, a war started, because an English Duke loves a French Queen. It seems at times that all the characters of "The Three Musketeers"--even the King and the Cardinal, even that most gifted and ruthless of femme fatales, Milady--are satellites circling the binary star of Buckingham and l'Autriche, whose doomed love is the center of this impossible--and delightful--romantic universe.

This is going to take some explaining, but my guiltiest pleasure when it comes to books is Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers.

I hear you saying, "How on Earth can that be a guilty pleasure?" I know. It's a recognized classic. It has far reaching pop culture impact.It's considered one of the greatest adventures ever written. It has two of the most memorable "villains" in literature; it has four kick ass action heroes. It has sword fights, romance, intrigue, and most people think it has big laughs (it doesn't, which is the thing that pisses me off most about its pop culture adaptations). Even if people haven't read the book they know the Three Musketeers. Hell, most people even know that D'Artagnan, the main "hero" of the book, is not one of the eponymous "Three". So how could this book be a guilty pleasure? The answer is simple at first, then its complex.

Simple answer: Milady de Winter.

Complex answer: Milady de Winter.

From the accepted perspective, Milady is an unrepentant, nasty, evil, femme fatale. She is an agent for the "villainous" Cardinal Richelieu, spying on, plotting against and battling our Musketeers at every turn. She foments marital unrest between the King and Queen. She plots the assassination of the Englishman, the Duke of Buckingham, to stop him from aiding the Huguenots at La Rochelle. She tries to kill D'Artagnan and later poisons his mistress, Constance Bonacieux. She corrupts a fine, upstanding Puritan man. And once upon a time, she made a fool of the Comte de La Fère.

She is the accepted villain, even worse than her master the Cardinal, for whom and under whose auspices she commits her evil acts. She is the villain, and D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis are the heroes.

Here's the problem, though, from another perspective she isn't and they aren't.

You see, Milady de Winter was a poor young woman who did what she must to survive. Forced into a convent for want of food, a priest fell in love with her and the pair stole some church property to start a life together. They were caught, and both were "branded" with the fleur-de-lys -- the mark of criminals. Alone again, she fell in love with the Comte de La Fère. They were married, and she hid her crimes from him. Then one afternoon the Comte discovered her brand. He felt betrayed and strung her up by her neck, leaving her to die.

She lived and entered the service of the Cardinal. Under his direction, she became a powerful agent, doing exactly what it is that agents do. The Cardinal -- the right hand of the King, connected to the Pope, a man waging a war in the King's name, the most powerful man in France -- has Milady undermine the King's Queen, Anne of Austria, a woman having an affair with the man (Duke of Buckingham) who is helping the rebels within her husband's kingdom. She is also asked to keep tabs on a troublesome young guard, D'Artagnan, who seems to be thwarting the Cardinal's plans through sheer luck and Gascon audacity. She complies.

Then the man she is spying on kills her lover, the Comte de Wardes. And if that isn't bad enough, the man she's spying on turns up in her bedchamber posing as the Comte and proceeds to "make love" to Milady. The "lovemaking" is so "wonderful" that D'Artagnan decides to come clean and reveal his true identity. Milady loses her temper -- with some cause, I think -- and tries to stab D'Artagnan (which he doesn't seem to understand). From then on, Milady wants vengeance against the murderer of her lover, who also happens to be her rapist (for that is what he is, surely?).

Next, she is charged with assassinating the Duke of Buckingham, for which she is issued a carte blanche by the Cardinal, but her enemy, D'Artagnan -- committing treason against his own King and country -- warns the Duke, and she is banished to a tower while the Duke sails off to aid the Huguenots. Well, she isn't about to languish in prison, so she seduces a Puritan and makes her escape, winding up in a convent in France where she can hide out. Lucky for her, D'Artagnan's mistress, a married woman whom he was bedding while he was raping Milady, is also hiding out in the convent, so Milady de Winter takes the portion of vengeance at her disposal and kills D'Artagnan's lover as he killed hers.

And for all of this, the Four Musketeers, now in possession of her carte blanche, hold their own little court, pass judgement on Milady and have her head separated from her shoulders. And they get away with it because they have the Cardinal's signature -- on Milady's carte blanche which allows the bearer to do whatever they do for the good of the kingdom.

It seems to me that Alexandre Dumas knew that perspective would dictate how we saw his heroes and villains, and that he was okay with his muddied good and evil waters. He was writing from the Musketeers' perspective, and he knew that his readers would side with them against the Cardinal and Milady. But he also wrote in a way that complicated his Musketeers. So much so that we accept when D'Artagnan receives and accepts a commission to the Musketeers from the Cardinal himself. He wanted his characters to be grey, and they were.

So why is this a guilty pleasure (especially if the guilt doesn't come from Dumas' writing)? I am finally getting there.

The weight of popular culture has changed the way we see this story so thoroughly, has morphed the Musketeers so completely into righteous heroes, turned D'Artagnan into such a loveable heartthrob and his companions into the most likeable of heroes, that it is nearly impossible for people to see the things that make them grey.

But I see them for who they are. I see the grey.

So here comes the guilt: I see the Four Musketeers crimes -- treason, rape, murder, theft -- and all their flaws -- cruelty, greed, hypocrisy, entitlement, adulterousness (to name but a few) -- and I still love them. I love them, and I enjoy reading their adventures, and I cheer for them from beginning to end.

I shouldn't, but I do, and that's why The Three Musketeers is my guiltiest of pleasures. So there.

p.s. I love Milady de Winter too. For all the things she is.

Most people know the story. At the very least, they know about the story or they can quote that famous line. I was one of those peeps. I had never bothered to read the book because I saw an adaptation or two. lol

I'm so silly.

So I finally read the book and it was better! Surprise, surprise, right? There's even MORE pathos, chivalry, swordplay, hails of bullets, swooning maidens, and truly an evil Cardinal and a nasty Milady to butt heads against. At first, I honestly thought the over-the-top preoccupation with honor and revenge was the brilliant prelude to a great satire, but it never lets up and there's never a punchline.

So, no. It's just exciting and silly and crazy fluff. :) Yes. Fluff. Hell, the writing style is fast and could be as modern as they come, all the characters larger than life, the action and intrigue and plot points as funny as they are old-school.

It makes for a very entertaining ride. :) There's absolutely nothing stuffy about this. And now I know why it's a classic. :) Classic popcorn fiction. :)

Semplicemente magnifico!
Un unicum di dramma, azione, colpi di scena, batticuore, intrighi e lacrime.

Con Dumas padre si è sempre sicuri di leggere un bel libro che resterà nel cuore

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بلاخره بعد از سه ماه کتاب سه تفنگدار به پایان رسید

Dumas benim hayran olarak okumaya devam ettiğim bir yazar. Her kitabıyla ona olan sevgim pekişmeye devam ediyor. Üçyüzden fazla roman yazmış bir insan Dumas. Muazzam bir rakam gerçekten. Umarım daha fazla eserine ulaşma imkanını buluruz.

Önceden okuduğum kitaplarına ek bu kitabıyla birlikte de Dumas’nın tarihi olaylar etrafına örülü bir hikaye kurduğunu ve bunun onun tarzı olduğunu söyleyebilirim sanırım.

Üç Silahşor de Monte Cristo Kontu gibi ne ara başlayıp ne ara bittiğini anlayamadığım bir roman oldu. Sayfa sayıları ile okuma hızı resmen ters orantılı oluyor Dumas’nın kitaplarında. İçerisindeki entrikalar, maceralar, aşklar, savaşlar kitabın bir an olsun durulmasına müsaade etmedi. Evet zaman zaman sıkıldığım, uzatıldığını düşündüğüm anlar da oldu ama genele baktığımda çok sevdim.

Çocukluğumuzdan beri isimlerine aşina olduğumuz muhteşem dörtlü; Athos, Porthos, Aramis ve d’Artagnan’ın maceralarını okumak için bu kadar geç kaldığıma hayıflanmadan edemiyorum. Ama olsun. Neticede okudum ve iyi ki okudum diyorum.

Yine de bir seçim yapacak olsam ilk göz ağrım Monte Cristo Kontu’nu seçerim. Yalan yok.

Storia intramontabile, che forse nel tempo ha assunto anche un carattere leggendario e solenne che, in realtà, nel libro si riscontra solo in parte. Infatti non è affatto ‘solenne’ o, volgarmente, ‘pesante’, anzi, è stato piacevolmente scorrevole e divertente!
Dumas ha rappresentato la storia di tre amici molto diversi, ognuno coi propri pregi e soprattutto coi propri difetti, ma che insieme sono davvero invincibili. Soprattutto insieme ai loro servi, che a mio avviso sono davvero fondamentali in ogni passo della storia! Che dire, felicissima di averlo letto e straconsigliato, anche per chi vuole una storia leggera, ma intrisa di intrighi, tresche e dettagli.

Bir solukta okunan roman. Üç silahşör adı geçse de en önemli iki karakterin Athos ve D Artagnan olduğunu anlıyorsunuz. Entrika ve intikam temalı romanlarda Alexandre Dumas'ın hayal gücüne bir kez daha hayran kalıyorsunuz.

Although not as epic and awesome as The Count of Monte Cristo, I fully realize that nothing could be as epic and awesome as The Count. This, though, was super fun to read! Five big gold stars.

4,5/5
Une très bonne lecture ! L'intrigue met bien 200 pages à décoller, mais ensuite, sa complexité et sa construction la rendent assez addictive malgré quelques longueurs. Les personnages sont attachants et drôles parce que très stéréotypés - sauf Milady, qui est si détestable qu'on se délecte de chacune de ses apparitions et de ses manipulations. La plume de Dumas, cachée derrière un narrateur assez interventionniste, était savoureuse, et j'ai souri presque à chaque page durant la majorité du roman, tant les commentaires et descriptions sont piquants ! Je suis contente d'avoir pris le temps de profiter de cette oeuvre que j'avais envie de lire depuis un bon moment, et je crois même que je me laisserai tenter par la suite !