1. I believe that Dumas is a thorough writer. As he is writing a serial, he add a lot of details and people and events to extend his story and therefore his pay. However, though I am familiar with The Three Musketeers I was more knowledgeable about the plot and characters in The Count. I think that reading a novel of this nature becomes very slow and bogged down with details if you are less familiar with the general flow of the book. I have stopped looking at all the notes in the back of the book and have decided that it would be impossible to get everything from the book on the first read.
2. D'Artagnan is beyond annoying. As he is the ever present character and I cannot stand him, I find myself frustrated listening to his story. He is quite immature, rash, and has very little foresight. He has just accepted a trip to London to retrieve earrings. This is just one of many actions that moves the plot along but demonstrates his inability to be calm and control himself. He lacks composure and has a vengeance that is quickly activated. Certainly this is just a story and many intrigues are meant for entertainment but I am quickly bothered by his demeanor.
3. Though I like the inclusion of issues pertaining to King Louis XIII and Richelieu, I wish there was more in relation to this topic. In The Count there were many scenes with the King and political questions of revolution. I am sure there will be more about the King and Queen to come in The Three Musketeers however, I like issues of politics and I want to see more in both the royal relationship and the tension between the King and Richelieu. I just imagine that I have not yet hit the climax of events yet. However this only goes to show that the novel is too long in making one wait so long before getting to plot development and away from character development.
4. The book is entitled, The Three Musketeers, however much of the character development does not include these musketeers at all. I am more interested in the characters of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Yet I know so little about them at this point and to be honest I cannot tell the difference between any of them. Their individual characters have been described yet there is not enough about them to distinguish them in my mind yet. This however could be the point? They are one unit as the title implies and I do not need to establish individual relationships with any of them.
These are such some brief opinions yet I am anxious to continue reading so I can develop completed opinions.
1) keep in mind that the three musketeers are part of a series of books, it is quite generous in its description but probably not as much as in Zola or Balzac (who take ages to make the plot going on because of insanely long description).
ReplyDelete2) i can imagine D'Artagnan being annoying but that his character, in the next books he should quietier and calmer because of him growing older (i cant really vouch for that because it has been ages since I read these books). His character is supposed to embody some features of the French behaviour and identity I assume ;=)
3)You will get more of the court and king/queen story in at least 20 years later, the vicomte de Bragelonnes and probably toward the end of the 3 musketeers (Richelieu's involvement should be quite present). I cant remember in what you read about the Fronde too where Louis XIV had to leave Paris as a kid and as a result decided to snob the Parisians with his castle in Versailles.
4) the 3 musketeers are actually Aramis, Athos and Porthos. D'Artagnan is a kind of apprentice. You ll read more about their individuality and history in the following books too.
Overall, I feel that you need to read more (sigh!)and perhaps the righteous way of D'Artagnan is a bit irritating too, although I cant remember if he is that kind of character or not at all anymore but i wouldn't be surprised if he was.
Dont worry, when you ll be done with these books (did I sent you all of them??), I think you would have read one of the longest story i ll make you read hehe