Dumas d.Ä. Alexandre
Список книг автора Dumas d.Ä. AlexandreTwenty Years After - The Original Classic Edition
It is twenty years after the first Musketeers saga and Athos, Aramis, Porthos and dArtagnan have all gone their separate ways. Midlife has mellowed the musketeers and definitely complicated their perceptions. Porthos has been indulging himself with his widows money and working himself up the caste ladder but is still not entirely accepted but the upper crust he wants to become. Aramis has gone into the church and, although he dreams wistfully of the days that he was a musketeer, his scheming has become more of a way of life than a troublesome quirk. Athos is the only one who still closely resembles the man he was in his youth. Even the hot tempered, rambunctious DArtagnan has settled in to his career as a professional soldier. He is now a musketeer for the paycheck instead of the glory. Yet all deep down reminisce of `the good old days – the only question is what will they do to recapture them. <p> Mazarin has replaced Richelieu as Cardinal and the queen, once persecuted by the previous Cardinal, is now in league (or at least in bed) with the despised Italian Mazarin. Though Mazarin is popularly hated by the people, DArtagnan jumps at the opportunity for advancement when Mazarin commissions him to reassemble the foursome ostensibly for the protection of the prince regent and queen. But the others have their own ideas about working for Mazarin and Dumas maintains a delicate balance as the four eventually do come to work together though not entirely on the same side. <p> Twenty Years After is more grounded in history than the first and I highly recommend this particular book for the notes in the back. For all the criticism that Dumas plays fast and loose with history, it depends on where you place your yardstick. He moves events around a bit with people coming back from exile a year or two early and a battle being fought several years later but, over all, this is really grounded in history. The bulk of the plot is the siege of Paris by the Queen (and Mazarin) in the late 1640s. The death of Charles I and the peasant revolt are more substantial historical events than the retrieval of the Queens diamonds in the first novel so expect a lot more complicated plot as far as people and events. Dumas knew his history (judging by the degree of deviation suggested by the notes) and though he might move or bend it, he still tried for plausibility. We also have a new arch enemy in this one – Lady DeWinters son, Mordaunt, who has come to seek revenge on the men who executed his mother in the first book. <p> While still a superb adventure story, this is a more adult tale with more emphasis on psychological motivations and the effect of time on a mans ideals and motivations. I enjoyed the first one more because of the less complicated plot and swift action but that is not to suggest that Twenty Years After is lacking in any way. When taken in conjunction with the first, the idea is brilliant and brings out many more elements that a simple `more of the same sequel just couldnt do.
The Man in the Iron Mask - The Original Classic Edition
The Man in the Iron Mask tells a story based on historic facts. In 1661, King Louis XIV of France had his minister of finances – Nicolas Fouquet – arrested for embezzlement. Also in that year, Louis successfully wooed a young handmaiden named Louise, which caused some stir. In this novel, Dumas gives us the secret history behind these facts, and it is no surprise that the story involves his famous Four Musketeers. <p> More specifically, Aramis becomes privy to the fact that Louis has a twin brother languishing in the Bastille, and he attempts to switch the two. The novel details his fascinating and rather intricate plot to pull this off, as well as how the other Musketeers fit into the plan. <p> The first couple of pages concern mainly the aforementioned historic events, and its a bit of reading before you get to the meat of the action. <p> This book is highly recommended – it will become part of your life, the way some good books can. <p> If you love literature, if you love stories of complex intrigue, and especially if you love the Four Musketeers, you HAVE to read this book at least once in your life!
Three Musketeers - The Original Classic Edition
Swashbuckling novel, filled with high adventure, royal intrigue and romance, relates the escapades of D?Artagnan and his three friends ? Athos, Porthos and Aramis ? and their involvement in the secret plots of Cardinal Richelieu and his beautiful but treacherous spy, Lady de Winter. <p> This is a high quality book of the original classic edition. <p> This is a freshly published edition of this culturally important work, which is now, at last, again available to you. <p> Enjoy this classic work. These few paragraphs distill the contents and give you a quick look inside: <p>
It will suffice, then, to tell them that at the moment at which, discouraged by so many fruitless investigations, we were about to abandon our search, we at length found, guided by the counsels of our illustrious friend Paulin Paris, a manuscript in folio, endorsed 4772 or 4773, we do not recollect which, having for title, Memoirs of the Comte de la Fere, Touching Some Events Which Passed in France Toward the End of the Reign of King Louis XIII and the Commencement of the Reign of King Louis XIV.
<p>…But there, as he was alighting from his horse at the gate of the Jolly Miller, without anyone?host, waiter, or hostler?coming to hold his stirrup or take his horse, dArtagnan spied, though an open window on the ground floor, a gentleman, well-made and of good carriage, although of rather a stern countenance, talking with two persons who appeared to listen to him with respect. dArtagnan fancied quite naturally, according to his custom, that he must be the object of their conversation, and listened.
<p>…But when the time came to pay for his rosemary, this oil, and the wine, the only expense the master had incurred, as he had preserved a strict abstinence?while on the contrary, the yellow horse, by the account of the hostler at least, had eaten three times as much as a horse of his size could reasonably supposed to have done?dArtagnan found nothing in his pocket but his little old velvet purse with the eleven crowns it contained; for as to the letter addressed to M. de Treville, it had disappeared.
The young man commenced his search for the letter with the greatest patience, turning out his pockets of all kinds over and over again, rummaging and rerummaging in his valise, and opening and reopening his purse; but when he found that he had come to the conviction that the letter was not to be found, he flew, for the third time, into such a rage as was near costing him a fresh consumption of wine, oil, and rosemary?for upon seeing this hot-headed youth become exasperated and threaten to destroy everything in the establishment if his letter were not found, the host seized a spit, his wife a broom handle, and the servants the same sticks they had used the day before.
<p>…Thanks to this double gift and the spotless name that accompanied it, M. de Treville was admitted into the household of the young prince where he made such good use of his sword, and was so faithful to his motto, that Louis XIII, one of the good blades of his kingdom, was accustomed to say that if he had a friend who was about to fight, he would advise him to choose as a second, himself first, and Treville next?or even, perhaps, before himself.