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A review by kalervonpoika
The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas
5.0
I must say bravo! monsieur Dumas, bravo! Most people only know "The Count of Monte Cristo", "The Three Musketeers", and "The Man in the Iron Mask" which is the last SECTION of the epic second sequel to the latter of the former two books. What I have just read is the first section of this epic sequel.
Firstly, I must say that I have never before been so excited to read a book in my life! I might have anticipated the story for others or I might have had a good feeling, but for this I knew I'd love it!
Secondly, I simply must address the reviews of some people who did not like it for bad reasons. These bad reasons regard certain aspects (to be listed below) of the work titled "The Vicompte de Bragleonne: Ten Years Later" which takes place ten years after the first sequel to "The Three Musketeers" titled "Twenty Years After". As one can tell (hopefully) from the titles, the book I just read starts roughly 30 YEARS after the famous book.
The grievances which I noticed mainly regarded the length of this masterpiece and the slow start. For shame on disliking a book because it's too long! When reading books from this era, one must first know they are not getting themselves into a small boat in a small pond, but they are rather getting on a raft and embarking upon the widest and deepest of oceans, and as such, they had better have a life jacket.
"The Vicomte de Bragelonne" is only the first section of the much larger work, the others being titled "Louise de la Valliere" and "The Man in the Iron Mask". When one endeavors to write such a thing as Dumas has, one pays as much attention to detail as Michelangelo must have done when painting the Sistine Chapel. Therefore, he didn't spare any words! Again, if anything above 500 pages frightens you, take care! for you cannot fathom what you are losing.
Regarding the change in narrative style, I pose a question: when you were fifty and two years of age, do you think you could drink, fight, and run as well and as much as you could when you were twenty and one? Almost invariably not. It is then a miracle that D'Artagnan, Porthos, Aramis, and Athos could (to a certain extent) do so thirty (THIRTY) years afterwards. Seeing that this is written to have taken place THIRTY YEARS after the first book, one can understand if they are a bit slower to act and much faster to think. One cannot, therefore, blame Dumas for taking his time to immerse the reader in his world, his France, in order to the better allow the reader to enjoy the peace (while it lasts), to see the building up of tension, and to feel the thunderous wave of the final conflict and to feel the pain at the death of Monsieur (spoilers). Therefore, if you do not have the patience to get to the climax of a book of an era that is known to produce titans, why begin? I myself learned this lesson with "Moby Dick" which has at leas ONE-HUNDRED and FIFTY pages about whaling (bloody whaling!).
In any case, my main point is this: "The Three Musketeers" is a book about young men doing young man kinds of things (like getting into fights every 10 pages). Twenty years after, in the book titled "Twenty Years After", the musketeers are a bit older - pushing 40 now- and are a bit more hesitant to go out to save their king and country, but they are brought round soon enough. Ten years later, in the book titled "Ten Years Later", they are in their fifties, they tend to think for three days before fighting for three minutes and rightly so. Age has not entirely evaded them, though they are from an era, in the book, which makes the men of their elder years look like Lilliputians in comparison. They take their time to go fight for king and country (over 200 chapters if my reckoning is correct), but when they fight, they do indeed! They performs feats that one could only imagine from Greek mythology! They excite and command the respect of their most beloved friends and their most bitter enemies, as they had 35 years before as well.
The narrative style changes as a person changes as they get older. If you don't like it today at twenty years, try reading it again in thirty years. I am even more excited to read the second part of this masterpiece! Vive "Les Trois Mousquetaires"!
Firstly, I must say that I have never before been so excited to read a book in my life! I might have anticipated the story for others or I might have had a good feeling, but for this I knew I'd love it!
Secondly, I simply must address the reviews of some people who did not like it for bad reasons. These bad reasons regard certain aspects (to be listed below) of the work titled "The Vicompte de Bragleonne: Ten Years Later" which takes place ten years after the first sequel to "The Three Musketeers" titled "Twenty Years After". As one can tell (hopefully) from the titles, the book I just read starts roughly 30 YEARS after the famous book.
The grievances which I noticed mainly regarded the length of this masterpiece and the slow start. For shame on disliking a book because it's too long! When reading books from this era, one must first know they are not getting themselves into a small boat in a small pond, but they are rather getting on a raft and embarking upon the widest and deepest of oceans, and as such, they had better have a life jacket.
"The Vicomte de Bragelonne" is only the first section of the much larger work, the others being titled "Louise de la Valliere" and "The Man in the Iron Mask". When one endeavors to write such a thing as Dumas has, one pays as much attention to detail as Michelangelo must have done when painting the Sistine Chapel. Therefore, he didn't spare any words! Again, if anything above 500 pages frightens you, take care! for you cannot fathom what you are losing.
Regarding the change in narrative style, I pose a question: when you were fifty and two years of age, do you think you could drink, fight, and run as well and as much as you could when you were twenty and one? Almost invariably not. It is then a miracle that D'Artagnan, Porthos, Aramis, and Athos could (to a certain extent) do so thirty (THIRTY) years afterwards. Seeing that this is written to have taken place THIRTY YEARS after the first book, one can understand if they are a bit slower to act and much faster to think. One cannot, therefore, blame Dumas for taking his time to immerse the reader in his world, his France, in order to the better allow the reader to enjoy the peace (while it lasts), to see the building up of tension, and to feel the thunderous wave of the final conflict and to feel the pain at the death of Monsieur (spoilers). Therefore, if you do not have the patience to get to the climax of a book of an era that is known to produce titans, why begin? I myself learned this lesson with "Moby Dick" which has at leas ONE-HUNDRED and FIFTY pages about whaling (bloody whaling!).
In any case, my main point is this: "The Three Musketeers" is a book about young men doing young man kinds of things (like getting into fights every 10 pages). Twenty years after, in the book titled "Twenty Years After", the musketeers are a bit older - pushing 40 now- and are a bit more hesitant to go out to save their king and country, but they are brought round soon enough. Ten years later, in the book titled "Ten Years Later", they are in their fifties, they tend to think for three days before fighting for three minutes and rightly so. Age has not entirely evaded them, though they are from an era, in the book, which makes the men of their elder years look like Lilliputians in comparison. They take their time to go fight for king and country (over 200 chapters if my reckoning is correct), but when they fight, they do indeed! They performs feats that one could only imagine from Greek mythology! They excite and command the respect of their most beloved friends and their most bitter enemies, as they had 35 years before as well.
The narrative style changes as a person changes as they get older. If you don't like it today at twenty years, try reading it again in thirty years. I am even more excited to read the second part of this masterpiece! Vive "Les Trois Mousquetaires"!