Trois

I finished Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers yesterday. My first reaction was that it isn't half the book that The Count of Monte Cristo is, and I'm not talking about page count (although that's true too). After sleeping on it, I've decided that my reaction is justified, for I have two significant problems with Musketeers that prevent me from enjoying it as much as I expected to at the onset. First, the three musketeers and D'Artagnan are too easy going; they drink too much and gamble too much. While one might argue this is the source of their charm, it is unacceptable in light of how many good-guys are murdered through the course of the story. If their losses were none, then I could forgive them their indulgences, but as it is, I feel like they fail to do enough. Second, the four heroes sometime seem a powerless as a result of the book being set in an historical context and including major players of French history. Cardinal Richelieu in particular seems untouchable, not in the way that Sauron of The Lord of the Rings is untouchable, but simply because the fictional swordsmen can't be allowed to interact significantly with the real-life churchman. I don't think I'll be reading either of the sequels anytime soon; I've had my fill of Monsieur D'Artagnan.