18-19th century nobles, romance, affairs and sword fights
Alexandre Dumas's works have me by the throat
I must have been around 12-13 years old, maybe even a bit younger, when a popular newspaper in my country began including books weekly (or was it monthly?) with it. “100 Books to Read in a Lifetime” was the name of the campaign. It was so successful that they went on with another 100 books. While my parents weren’t so keen on filling our apartment with 100 books, much less 200, they ended up buying only 5 in total. Two of the volumes are The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. Unfortunately, they did not know that Twenty Years After was the continuation. I remember especially The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Count of Monte Cristo being the most shown on TV commercials.
Back then, I was just discovering my love for reading meaning there weren’t a lot of books in my “library” and those that were held no great interest to me since they had been chosen by my mom for me to read later on in life. As such, somehow I did end up clutching on to The Three Musketeers very tightly - the first time I read it, I remember even now, I was so bored by the beginning that I think I set the book aside a few times before gritting my teeth and pushing through. Once I did, the prose was so enjoyable (admittedly, in translation), the characters compelling, the love story between Constance and D’Artagnan scandalous, but also wonderful. I’m convinced a lot of the more subtle aspects and terrible stuff went over my head, but I still hold such deep love for that book.
I haven’t touched the novel in a very long time and I haven’t seen any adaptations either in about 7-8 years, I think. That was until tonight. It’s a long story, but here’s how I got to this point and (re)discovered my appreciation for Dumas’s works.
For years I’ve been meaning to read The Count of Monte Cristo. Since I prefer reading in English, I kicked to the curb every possible edition translated in my language. Then, one day, while browsing in the largest bookstore of my country, I saw this cute, compact English edition of The Count of Monte Cristo published by Macmillan (Macmillan Collector’s Edition). A while ago I learnt to not just grab a book, but a sit a bit with it, read the front and the back. It’s a good thing I did this time and that I didn’t simply snatch the edition off the shelf - it was abridged. I put it back gasping. Abridged books, while I understand why they exist, are not for me.
Thus, when I got home, I went on a hunt not only to find Monte Cristo unabridged version, but also the best English translation. I did find it in the form of Penguin Classics’ edition. And damn, it is a huge book. Delightful! I started reading about a week ago, maybe not even a week, I’m not entirely sure anymore. Anyhow, I’m halfway through and I am hooked. The prose, the characters, the shade thrown at the nobility, the fact that it’s a classic with a very intriguing and engaging plot. This novel has such chemistry between all elements, everything flows smoothly. It is demanding of my time - I read roughly 100 pages per day, sometimes a bit more, and not once have I felt disappointed. It must be the first classic novel I read (and I did read quite a few) that hasn’t let me down, and I very much doubt that it will.
Seeing how I’m so immersed into this early modern era, a wave of nostalgia hit me for movies set within that time period. Since I am so set on Dumas at the moment (new hyperfixation, hello!), nothing could satisfy me unless it was an adaptation of one of his novels. Naturally, I am aware of The Count of Monte Cristo French movie that came out this year, but I do not want to watch it prior to finishing the book. And, of course, I do not another adaptation of it either. Therefore, I went back to the “introduction” I had in Dumas’s world and began browsing for an adaptation of The Three Musketeers. I saw a few when I was a kid (the 1993 comedy, the 2011 weird one, and the 2014 TV series). Then I was suggested The Man in the Iron Mask. I think I saw it once, many moons ago. It does feature the four musketeers (d’Artagnan included), and hell, I reaaaally didn’t expect to hear Scar’s (from The Lion King Disney cartoon) voice coming from one of the musketeers’ mouths. In less happy terms, I looked up the actors after watching the movie - I ended up sickened and with my childhood ruined by what I read about one of the main French actors, Gérard Depardieu (just put him in jail already!!!).
After watching The Man in the Iron Mask, I looked up which novel it is based on - obviously, The Man in the Iron Mask also by Dumas. That’s how I found myself searching and researching the best translation of all the novels, novellas and whatever else that Dumas wrote that includes the four musketeers. Here I am now, with another few books added to my TBR in a short period of time after splurging on the 10-book series of Malazan Books of the Fallen. Trying to break myself from going mad while searching if the Lawrence Ellsworth translated editions are available anywhere near me, I stumbled upon another adaptation of The Three Musketeers novel - French production, French actors, and the story told in two parts - D’Artagnan and Milady.
Mademoiselles, madames et monsieurs, I leave you now to watch these two movies.
Tous pour un, un pour tous!