It was a long book for such a short book.

Don't get me wrong, this is a classic book well deserved for that title.

It is a very complicated and intricate story with mystery, love and evil.

You have a woman, Hester Pryne, who is beyond her time. Strong, beautiful, stubborn, honest and a mother without a father.

There is the father, the priest Dimmsdale, a man tormented by his secret. He is weak and is broken down by the secret he feels he cannot tell and tormented each day by it.

The long gone husband, Roger Chillingworth, sinister and revengeful. All he can think about is tormenting the two lovers, to break them down slowly.

There parallels and many themes that are very subtle and unnoticeable. Beautifully written with delicate underlying dialogue that tells it's own story.

This isn't a book for everybody. In order to really understand this book, you need to understand theme, archetypes, motifs, and the relevance of light and shadow. As my American Literature teacher says, bring you own experiences into the story; you will understand it a lot better.

I loved this book. I resent being told I have to read anything. But I still found pleasure out of it. In this book Hester commits adultery and is forced to wear an "A" declaring her sin. You will see early on the hypocrisy of the town. Why not make someone where an "L" for liar or an "T" for theif? Hester is a complicated character. She is not trashy like I first expected. Not at all. This book has a lot of symbolism that I found beautiful. There are plenty of twists in this book. Don't watch the Demi Moore movie of The SL. It is completley different from the book. I recommend this book to everyone.

Though it's rather slow to get going in the initial chapters, Oscar Wilde's "Picture of Dorian Gray" builds up into a splendidly effective piece, written in highly polished prose. Dorian Gray, who is suggestively described as "charming" and "beautiful" ... is painted by his friend and admirer, Basil Hallward. Dorian, a self-centered social luminary whose character is reminiscent of Narcissus, makes a bizarre sub-Faustian wish which tragically comes true: that his beautiful portrait may age, while he retains his youthful looks. The conclusion is disastrous, the culmination of a narrative containing elements of murder, suicide, blackmail, a confrontation in a grimy alley and an episode in an opium den. The characters are very well sketched out, particularly the triad of Dorian, Basil and the intellectual cynic, Lord Henry, Dorian's mentor and the mouthpiece of some of Wilde's most cutting amoral opinions. The style is, typically, marvellous, characterised by brilliant exchanges and aphoristic gaiety. Wilde lacerates English bourgeois culture, the conceptions of sin and virtue and the attitudes towards art of his time with tremendous aplomb. Some of his quips are patently snide, sometimes mysogynistic, as in: "Woman represents the triumph of matter over mind, while man represents the triumph of mind over morals." Oh, isn't that just despicable?! I love it!

This sophisticated but crude novel is the story of man's eternal desire for perennial youth, of our vanity and frivolity, of the dangers of messing with the laws of life. Just like "Faust" and "The immortal" by Borges.

Dorian Gray is beautiful and irresistible. He is a socialité with a high ego and superficial thinking. When his friend Basil Hallward paints his portrait, Gray expresses his wish that he could stay forever as young and charming as the portrait. The wish comes true.

Allured by his depraved friend Henry Wotton, perhaps the best character of the book, Gray jumps into a life of utter pervertion and sin. But, every time he sins, the portrait gets older, while Gray stays young and healthy. His life turns into a maelstrom of sex, lies, murder and crime. Some day he will want to cancel the deal and be normal again. But Fate has other plans.

Wilde, a man of the world who vaguely resembles Gray, wrote this masterpiece with a great but dark sense of humor, saying every thing he has to say. It is an ironic view of vanity, of superflous desires. Gray is a man destroyed by his very beauty, to whom an unknown magical power gave the chance to contemplate in his own portrait all the vices that his looks and the world put in his hands. Love becomes carnal lust; passion becomes crime. The characters and the scenes are perfect. Wilde's wit and sarcasm come in full splendor to tell us that the world is dangerous for the soul, when its rules are not followed. But, and it's a big but, it is not a moralizing story. Wilde was not the man to do that. It is a fierce and unrepressed exposition of all the ugly side of us humans, when unchecked by nature. To be rich, beautiful and eternally young is a sure way to hell. And the writing makes it a classical novel. Come go with Wotton and Wilde to the theater, and then to an orgy. You'll wish you age peacefully.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, a story of morals, psychology and poetic justice, has furnished Oscar Wilde with the status of a classical writer. It takes place in 19th-century England, and tells of a man in the bloom of his youth who will remain forever young.

Basil Hallward is a merely average painter until he meets Dorian Gray and becomes his friend. But Dorian, who is blessed with an angelic beauty, inspires Hallward to create his ultimate masterpiece. Awed by the perfection of this rendering, he utters the wish to be able to retain the good looks of his youth while the picture were the one to deteriorate with age. But when Dorian discovers the painting cruelly altered and realizes that his wish has been fulfilled, he ponders changing his hedonistic approach.

Dorian Gray's sharp social criticism has provoked audible controversy and protest upon the book's 1890 publication, and only years later was it to rise to classical status. Written in the style of a Greek tragedy, it is popularly interpreted as an analogy to Wilde's own tragic life. Despite this, the book is laced with the right amounts of the author's perpetual jaunty wit.

This is a story about something that happened while Dumas was travelling in Corsica. I gave this book three stars because the plot didn't move fast enough, not at all like Dumas's other tales.

i had always wondered why it was near impossible to find this book, unlike the other dumas novels which had been turned into movies. the reason is apparent; the book has nothing to do with the movie, beyond the notion of sympathetic twins.

yet this is a nice read, more of a novella than a short story -- you should be able to finish it in two hours. and it gives a nice idea of that travel writer that dumas was, tho we barely know him as such. this is a good travelog of 19th century corsica (and certainly more readable than trash like thoreau's bloated "cape cod".)

don't expect d'artagnan or edmond dantes, but settle in for a pleasant afternoon's read.

As The Corsican Brothers is one of Dumas' less popular works (I'm not sure if I should call it a novella or a short story), I expected it to be fairly dry: either very historical or very travel-oriented. It IS travel-oriented, and one CAN see the travel writer incarnation of Dumas, but it is far from boring and does not lack for interesting characters. The brothers may not have the relentless adventures of D'Artagnan, but they leap off the page and make themselves unforgettable nonetheless. There are some beautifully humorous moments as well (Dumas walks into one brother's library and checks to see if the man has any Dumas books!). If I had to compare this work to a more famous Dumas work, though, I would compare it to "A Masked Ball." Short, quick to read, using Dumas himself as narrator, and brilliant. I very much reccomend this one.

If you have been mesmerised by Dumas' other work of fiction such as the Count of Monte Cristo you will not be disappointed with this extraordinary piece of story telling. Focussing on the historical events of the marriage of Margaret de Valois to the Protestant King of Navarre, Dumas brings to life the extraordinary events which saw the bloody massacre of the Hugenots and the treacherous murder and betrayal which ran through the veins of evil Catherine de Medici, mother of Margaret and enemy to the hapless King of Navarre. Beautiful plot, outstanding characters - the master story teller weaves his magic again. Highly recommended for those who love intrigue, historical novels and a book you wont be able to put down.

This audio book is available only in an abridged version. While I normally do not care to bother with abridged audio books, I am a big fan of Mary Stuart, the hapless Queen of Scots, as well as a Julie Christie fan, so I was game to try it.

This audio book was better than I thought it would be, given that it is abridged. This is in large part due to Julie Christie's rousing reading. Ms. Christie reads with great spirit and verve, her diction crystal clear. She seamlessly transitions between Scottish and English accents, infusing the characters with distinct personalities and creating a sense of atmosphere. Ms. Christie simply does a beautiful job reading this book.

This book by Alexandre Dumas is very good, though literary license is evidently taken. It encompasses Mary's early childhood, her sojourn in France, her return to Scotland as Queen, the intrusion of fire and brimstone religious reformer, John Knox, into the political arena, the perfidy of James, her illegitimate half-brother, the unhappy marriage to Lord Darnley and his murder, her alliance with Lord Bothwell, abdication, exile in England, and execution.

The time spent focusing on Mary's last will and testament, however, is inordinately long and somewhat puzzling. It would probably have been better spent focusing more on her alliance with Lord Bothwell or on the political perfidy of her power hungry, illegitimate half-brother, James. Both would play a large part in Mary's downfall and ultimate loss of the throne of Scotland.

Still, for those who are fans of Mary Stuart and for those who would like a brief and breezy overview of her life, this abridged audio book might just be the ticket. The book is contained on four cassettes, which provide six hours of reading pleasure.

Alexandre Dumas is a real master teller. He is so knowledgeable of the history that you can never tell between that fact and the fiction. You almost feel like living in the 16th century. You can sense it.

The abridged version is to the damage of the story. It has not been very carefully selected which parts to leave out or which parts to shorten. Sometimes it takes a while to realize that the story jumped forward in time and some parts are being given an unnecessary extend (the decription of Mary's will, for exemple). Also the part describing her execution is a bit too morbide.

But in any case, this is a great piece of work. It has both its entertaining and historical value.

The performance of the reader - Julie Christie - is excellent. She switches from English to Scottish to French accent to support the atmosphere and her voice is clear and easy to follow. I can highly recommend to buy it.

Yes, I am absolutely crazy about 16th century French history. And Dumas has a whole series for this era. Though "La Dame de Montsoreau" is my favorite of the series, the Forty-Five does not lack young, handsome and rich gentlemen and beautiful and graceful ladies, not to mention the private lifestyle (humorous I found) of the King Henri III and his brother the duc d'Alençon. It was overall just captivating, I felt like I was reliving this time period. Again, I suggest you read the whole series, especially since this is the last book in the series. But I prefer this 'Valois' series to the 'D'Artagnan' or 'Marie-Antoinette' etc. series... It's more fascinating for me. The only thing is, that the end leaves a little something to be desired. I don't know if Dumas meant to write a fourth book in the series, cuz he seems to leave a few things hanging. But if you can ignore that, the rest of the plot is great!

Joel Rosenberg returns to my favorite ongoing fantasy world with "Not Exactly the Three Musketeers" It is both a departure and a return for the author. The departure is that the characters that we have read about for seven previous novels are background material in this novel. Previous backround characters are now the focus.

The return is in that the authors incredible flair for heroic fantasy is back. His descriptions of battle and the warriors that fight in it are exemplary. He shows the motivations behind all these "heroes", and that is what truly makes this, and all the Guardians books, wonderfull.

I was a bit disappointed not seeing Ahira, Ricetti or Andrea at all. Walters role, while prevalent was smaller than we have come to expect. None of the lingering questions from previous books were addressed in this novel.

I for one look forward to the next addition to this series. Anyone that wants to chat, comment or speculate with me on the series, please mail to jerric@mediaone.net

I skipped work to gobble this one upyesterday and then reread it today.

Rosenberg keeps surprising me with the Guardians of the Flame series. The first books were well-done swashbuckling [sp?] fantasy series, with well-above-average characters, the best damn fight scenes in modern fantasy, and a quirky bloodymindedness that kept me wondering if Karl Cullinane could still be alive.

Then the second series, the two Walter Slovotsky books, turned things inside out and made it all close and personal.

Now, with the (eighth?) latest book in the series, Rosenberg seems to be reinventing heroic fantasy with almost casual ease.

No, they're not exactly the three musketeers. If you want a Dumas pastiche, read Steve Brust's Parfi (sp?) books.

This one is something else, as though Rosenberg is trying to reinvent what Dumas and ERBurroughs and Sabatini were getting at in their time.

My only question for "Jayar" (I caught the cameo appearance by Rosenberg in his own book -- very sneaky, Mr. R!) is:

When's the next one?

I really enjoyed this book.This is more of a companion story with less about our first group of heroes than to the previous 6 books in the series .Joel really lets us see the world through the soldiers eyes instead of the gallant heroes in the earlier Guardians of the Flame novels..There is plenty of action and a truly unique comraderie with these 3 guys..They get into trouble,get out of it,and right back in..By the time you get halfway through this book you'll love these misfits.I found myself laughing while reading this book & at some points wanting to cry..Never a dull moment & a must read for any Rosenberg fan,Guardians of the Flame fan,or fantasy lover...

This is not Les Trois Mousquetaires of Alexandre Dumas; it is "adapted in simple French by R. de Roussy de Sales." It includes marginal notes, usually not on the most challenging vocabulary in the paragraph, and a set of writing exercises in English in the back.

However, this is a good adaptation, if you are looking for something to challenge rusty French skills.

Dumas' characters and action are exciting and compellingly drawn, and the boundary between history and fiction is blurred enough to make Dumas' version the more persuasive.

This is still a terrific story.

If you consult a book by a fellow named Munro on the complete works of Alexandre Dumas, you will find that this book and several others like it were written after Dumas' death in hopes of cashing in on his good name. Most of these phony titles are very, very poorly written and are not worth your time and money even as curiosities.

The book was not written by Dumas but for Jules Lermina. The main personage is the count. I think that this work is a good continuation of the book de DUMAS but inferior to another continuation written for the Portuguese writer ALFREDO HOGAN "A MÃO DO FINADO" (Hand of the Deceased one) (1864)

I cannot believe that a site such as Amazon.com would have made such a big mistake. Mr. Alexander Dumas never wrote a book by the name of "The sons of MonteCristo". This book was actually written by "Jules Hippolyte Lermina" who also wrote another sequel before this one called "Montecristo and the Countess" Both books are great stories, but nothing compared to the original.

It's a pity that Amazon's description of this item isn't more complete--I never would have ordered it. This item is NOT a novel! It is not the original French version of Alexandre Dumas' classic adventure. The closest I can come to describing this book is that it must be the French equivalent of Cliffnotes!

The book itself is only about a 130 pages long. The story contained in it is a pathetic paraphrasing of the actual novel, condensed and simplified to make an interesting study guide for the student. I'm not sure how the author hoped to accomplish this, though--the entire story is changed.

This book might be of value to someone who only wanted to read something in French. It has notes in the margins to explain words that might be unfamiliar, and is rather easy reading. But if you're looking for anything more than that, you'd be better off taking a trip to Paris yourself and picking up your own copy.