David Coward ( editor ) - The Three Musketeers

I first read "The Three Musketeers" when I was 14 years old, during summer vacation from school. I immediately fell in love with the romance of the book and must have read it four or five more times before the summer ended. This has to be my all-time favorite book, one that I will never forget. One whose characters are like my best friends. One that I will re-read over and over again. Recently I actually purchased a copy in the original French and am enjoying the read immensely.

Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and d'Artagnan. What person doesn't recognize those names? Timeless heroes. Movies are still being made about them; every so often a new one will come out to regale us with their exploits. But it all started with "The Three Musketeers", Alexandre Dumas's masterpiece of fiction.

The story is a simple enough one; a young Frenchman (d'Artagnan)sets out for Paris to join the King's Musketeers and make a name for himself. Along the way he meets up with trouble, finally arriving in Paris. Once in Paris, he proceeds to offend the three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, who challenge him to a duel. Afterwards, the four become friends, united to serve the King and rebel against the Cardinal. The rest of the book centers around their adventures.

Dumas has a wonderful writing style that piques the imagination of the reader and draws the reader into the story. His writing style is a literary one, and there were parts of the book that I re-read sometimes for clarification and sometimes just for effect because it was so well-written. This is a long book, and depending on the version you buy it can go from 250 pages to over 600 pages. Not a one day read. This book will keep you busy for several days or weeks, depending on how quickly you read and how much time you have to devote to it.

I have often thought that this book would make a great family reading activity, so am planning to do that this summer with the kids. This will not only introduce them to Alexandre Dumas, one of the all-time great writers of history, but treat them to a wonderful story at the same time.

I highly recommend this book, no matter how old you are. This is one of those books that everyone should read at least once. But beware, it is easy to get attached to these characters!