The Three Musketeers is a unique book. History and political events are woven into the plot of this clever book. I find the characters fasinating and feel like I already know these noble men. The loyalty of them is overwhemling. I am in the middle of Dumas's next book, "Twenty Years Later" and am enjoying it too.I have read many books, and this is one of my personal favorites.

The 3 Musketeers is one of the best books I have read. I'm an unemployed college student that picked up the book and couldn't put it down. I have read the Count of Monte-Cristo, which is also a great book, and at first thought the 3 Musketeers would be a childish tale, but it turned out to be a great writing style that Dumas uses to take create four characters that I now love. I recommend this book to anybody that likes adventure, action, romance or just great storytelling. I even read Twenty Years Later to see what happens to Aramis, Athos, Porthos, and d'Artagnan.

The Three Musketeers is one of those stories you not only read, but consume. It is not for everyone. The wording is unique, the story action-adventure-romance, with a delicacy of character that reflects the times the author lived. It is, however, so worth the read. If you have never entered the world of Dumas, The Three Musketeers is a wonderful introduction. There is a reason this tale is a classic, re-told again and again. Read it and get acquinted with Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan. I promise you that you will cheer for these four as they face the ever-present-ever-needed-bad guy. Do they win? I can't tell you, but I can say you will laugh, cry, and fall in love, and just maybe return like so many others.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is an exciting book. It's about a man named Edmond Dantes who's wrongly accused being a Bonapartist. He goes to jail and somehow becomes a count. The count he becomes is the ******************. It has a lot of twists and turns. So many, in fact that, an explosion could happen and you wouldn't even notice!
I really enjoyed this book because it was very exciting, even though there wasn't a lot of 'dodging missiles and bullets' action. There was a lot of excitement and suspense. For example Edmond gets in a duel and Edmond is dragged to the bottom of the ocean. One thing I didn't like about the book was that it didn't start out that exciting. It is though, a book you can't put down.
I believe this book has a very good message. The message is: 'help your friends and they will help you'. I think this because: Edmond helped an abbe` and the abbe` helped him, and Edmond saved Morrel's and Valentine's life and they were his eternal friends. I really enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo.

If you've ever thought life was unfair, you need to read this book. Revenge has never been so complete, and the avenger even has a spiritual awakening at the end. There's sword fights for guys and fancy clothes and romances for the girls. I first read the abridged version in the 8th grade, I read the full version a year later, and I'm reading it again right now. It's really that good. Any crime-ring or revenge themed book you will ever read draws references from this Dumas classic. And hey, there's a movie now too!(p.s. this is coming from a now 18-year-old actress with a very short attention span)

Alexandre Dumas, author of "The Three Musketeers" and the "Man In the Iron Mask", has given the literary world the adventure novel, forever bringing it to the level of the classic. The Count of Monte Cristo is mainly a story of revenge. The Romanticism in which the novel is characterized and the Napoleonic France for the setting, sets the mood for this nearly psychologically thrilling story that only a great French master like Dumas could create. Edmund Dantes, wrongly accussed of a crime he did not commit, taken to a prison of which there is no escape by his enemies, his only love taken by his best friend, spends years of suffering and harboring hatred in a rotting prison cell. But he also plans his revenge, how he methodically desires to bring upon the fateful end to his enemies and win back his love. He successfully manages to escape from prison and discovers a vast fortune. Assuming the identity of the Count of Monte Cristo, he extracts his revenge. What moral theme does Dumas really want to convey ? In the end, we discover how unfulfilled and how miserable our hero is, even when he has had the satisfaction of punishing his enemies. Dumas should be credited for such a marvelous work. He writes in the highest French Romantic fashion, and should be hailed with as much praise as Gustav Flaubert. The Three Musketeers, the immortal adventure story that made him famous, has been made into numerous films, and even The Count of Monte Cristo has had a terrific film version starring Will Chamberlain. A new release of the novel is set for January 25th of this year. Dumas may have died penniless, and he may not have been considered an excellent voice of the romantic age, but it is 2001 and we are still enthralled with the tales of intrigue, suspense, romance and adventure that this wonderful French writer conceived. Viva Dumas! Five stars for his terrific revenge story the Count of Monte Cristo

Alexandre Jardin plays and experiment with conventions about love and youth. His hero, also named Alexandre, has a very unconventional idea how to best love ONE woman for a life time. His pursuit of the love of his life, Fanfan, is enjoyable and funny. When other young heros cannot wait to have sex, Alexandre does the unexpected. It is rare that one comes across a book which deals with the "serious" subject of love in such a new way. Conventions are not mottos; they are hindrances! Jardin is original and writes entertainingly. In fact, this is sheer brilliance.

When you fall in love there is passion. If you do not want to let this passion slip into the every day boring life, you hold back so that passion forever remains. Is that possible you ask? Well, the character in this book seems to think so. He is madly in love and the girl loves him, but he keeps pulling back inventing stories and telling lies, just so that she keeps wanting him more and more. But how far can he go? Very deep book which everyone should read. Another view on commitment phobics.

If you've watched the movie you'll appreciate this novel's more depth and insights about Alexandre's own passion. The story is very original, while the feeling is still so REAL. I believe when Alexandre Jardin was writing this novel, he must have had Sophie Marceau in his mind already.

Those interested in the history of Christian mission in Vietnam and in the work of Alexandre de Rhodes will find in this volume a mine of information hitherto unavailable. In particular, the book examines de Rhodes's work, Cathechismus, which is the first published Vietnamese book in the Romanized script. Phan's book is a landmark study.

Alexandre Dumas pere was a master of story telling. If he was still living today he would definitely write some of the most popular television series. This is how this novel reads, as a TV series, and this is also how it was written, since it was first released in 2 page instalements in 19th century french daily newspapers. Every page ends in some sort of dillema or with an item a suspense. There is never a boring moment. Of course, even if this book is based on actual historical events, it cannot be considered a true rendition of what really happened. Nevertheless, Dumas succeeds in making his characters so alive, that you feel you are living through the intrigues with them. You feel what they feel. A true masterpiece of literature, in any language; and by the way, the book is a thousand times better than the movie.

When I started reading this book I thought it would be classic, boring, long story about some french queen - I was wrong. I could not stop reading it before I finishad. In my opinion every one who likes interesting books should read it. I am sure he will not regret it.

Queen Margot is missing nothing. I read it after falling in love with the musketeer series, and was overjoyed to find that it was as good as the others.

I really liked Twenty Years After. It's weird to end off at the Three Musketeers and suddenly find Lous XIII and Richeleau dead and D'Artagnan in his early forties, but Dumas does a great job with this book. I liked how D'Artagnan goes in search of his friends Athos, Porthos, and Aramis to reunite them to aid Cardinal Mazarin. It's really strange to see D'Artagnan as a Cardinalist early in the book, but with his three friends, they once again ally themselves with the king, of England that is. For all you readers of the Three Musketeers who were sad to see De Winter gone, beware, something far more deadly that Milady is waiting for the musketeers in this book. After you finish this fine classic, go ahead and read the Vicomte de Bragelonne and Louis de la Valliere, they may be tedious and have little to do with the musketeers, execpt D'Artagnan, but they set the atmosphere just perfect for the final book, The Man in the Iron Mask

All right, I haven't read many of Dumas' books but he is rapidly becoming one of my favorite writers (He's nowhere near as good as Tolkien.) I first read "The Three Musketeers" just because I loved the movie and it was a famous book, and I couldn't stop reading it.
This one picks up 20 years after the first one, with only D'artagnan still in the musketeers and Athos, Porthos, and Aramis having gone on to different lives. I won't describe the plot much except to say that, as before in the series, it is an intriguing adventure full of unmaskings, betrayals, trickery, and so on. It's much longer then "The Three Musketeers", and it's not quite as fast-paced, nor as consistently exciting. It makes up for that, however, by having moments of such unbelievable suspense that I absolutely couldn't put it down.You should definitely read "The Three Musketeers" first, though, otherwise this will be hard to follow.
Overall, this is a spectacular novel, with a few small dull moments here and there but some truly moving points, too. It's a must-read.

Twenty years after, although not as good as the Three Musketeers, is an excellent novel. In traditional Dumas style it starts of slowly to reach the climax late in the book. Twenty Years after is the second in a series of five novels about Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artangnan. Once again I dare anyone not to get drawn in by these four characters. I recommend that one reads these five book in order (The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, Vicomte of Bragleonne, Louise de la Valliere, and The Man in the Iron Mask). Please write back with any comments.

I just finished this book and I agree with all the positive comments previously posted. Just wanted to add a few thoughts.

This book was originally serialized in a French magazine back in the 1840s. As a consequence, there are repeated cliffhangers at the end of every chapter. Now I don't mind cliffhangers (hey, they move the plot along) but after 116 of these it got a little old. In addition, some of the character transformations seem implausible and Dumas gets some of his facts mixed up from the early part of the novel (I probably would as well).

I could pick bones about some part. What was the purpose of the whole Cucumetto bandit story? Maybe Dumas was saving him for later but he never does. They plot also needs a miraculous set of confluences to happen in say, well, every part of novel. Entertaining, yup, but at times I just said, "Oh come on now!" The character of Monte Cristo is a very interesting one. If he could ever hook up with Hannibel Lector, another guy who has the highest level of expertise in nearly every field and endeavor, the rest of us would be in big trouble.

Buy this book and enjoy it. It's really quite fun and you'll learn a lot about French history and culture.

This book is probably the fastest book I've ever read through. I checked out an old copy with near 1500 pages and read it in six days. I could not leave this book alone. I read straight through some less interesting classes in high school. This book deals with vengeance on so high a level, I had never before imagined anything like it. Dumas has great skill in description, and i enjoyed how he intertwined history into this classic fictional piece of literature. I recommend this book to all adventure seekers. I give this excellent novel five out of five stars! Try it, you'll love it.

A piece of something lost. An elegance and order that is no longer available to this generation. That is what the Count of Monte Cristo takes us back to. As you follow Edmond Dantés, a young and enterprising French fisherman, through a remarkable journey of long and torturous suffering and carefully wrought revenge you will soon gain a new definition of romance and adventure.

The book starts it's story in early 19th century France in a small fishing village called Marseilles, where we first meet youthful Edmond Dantés who is engaged to the most beautiful woman of his village and is soon to be the captain of his own vessel. Though ignorant and naïve, he is beloved by all who know him and has amassed a great deal of friends, however, one with such good fortune also amasses many enemies. Through a series of events plotted by Fernand, who desperately covets Edmond's betrothed, Mercedes, and Danglars, a fellow sailor jealous of Edmond's new promotion to captain, Dantés finds himself in prison for a crime he did not commit. Still ignorant of the scheme that put him in prison, or the plotters who ruined his life, Edmond waits in prison. This changes, however, when he meets his cellmate, Faria, an ancient abbé who is considered mad. This "mad" abbé will reveal an amazing secret to Edmond that will change the course of his fate forever, and hope is finally in his view. Dantés emerges out of prison changed and worn cynical by a long and terrible imprisonment of 16 years. Though he assumes many identities, he gradually adopts the identity as the Count of Monte Cristo, an immensely wealthy and indifferent nobleman as he returns to Marseilles to wreck his much-thought over revenge individually on his plotters. His last words as the former Edmond Dantés after he rewards one of his loyal friends are:

"And now," said the unknown (Edmond) "farewell kindness, humanity, and gratitude! Farewell to all the feelings that expand the heart! I have been Heaven's substitute to recompense the good -now the God of Vengeance yields to me his power to punish the wicked!" At these words he gave a signal, and, as if only awaiting this signal, the yacht instantly put out to sea.
-The Count of Monte Cristo

However, Edmond cannot remain under the cover of the illustrious Count of Monte Cristo forever, and he will soon find that a heart even so indifferent and cold as his own cannot remain lifeless for long. This is an amazing novel of suspense, romance and betrayal. Alexandre Dumas weaves many stories into one enthrallingly suspenseful and complex story of love, hate, betrayal and loyalty. This book has no equal and I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates classic and elegant, while exciting and adventurous, literature.

The Count of Mote Cristo is a really exciting and fabulous story; I really enjoyed the book while reading it. The main character Edmond Dantes is about 21 years old, and for him, life is just full of success. He is a successful merchant and is about to be promoted to captain of a ship. At the same time, he is also about to marry a beautiful young girl whom he has loved for a very long time. But amidst all of these happy things, misfortune strikes, and Edomnd Dantes finds himself to be a prisoner in the Chateau D'If for life. He is a prisoner because he is betrayed by his so-called "friends" and rumored to be a servant of Napoleon Bonaparte. However, something miraculously happens, so read it to find out.

Although this novel is usually thought of as a story of revenge, it has an even deeper meaning than that. This story not only warns people who betray others, but it also promotes love, friendship, and most of all hope. When the Count of Monte Cristo comes back and seeks revenge, he also meets some friends on the way that move his heart. Some of his friends become poor and have a sad life because of his imprisonment long ago, but they still hope that he will return and they wait for him day by day. The count rewards them in a secret way, and shows how important it is to have hope in one's life even when there looks like no hope. So when you read this book, keep in mind that there is more to it than just vengeance.

This book is very pleasant and I finished it in a couple of sittings. It will definitely put you on the edge of your chair and you will hardly be able to put the book down. This book is for all kinds of people, but it is especially for people that think life is hopeless, because as this book will point out, nothing in life is ever hopeless.

I've reviewed this book before. I'm writing another review of it now so that it will appear on my list of reviews next to my review of the butchered 2002 screen adaptation of this epic work.

Alexandre Dumas's _The Count of Monte Cristo_ is one of the greatest novels of all time and in fact stands at the fountainhead of the entire stream of popular adventure-fiction. Dumas himself was one of the founders of the genre; every other such writer -- H. Rider Haggard, C.S. Forrester, Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, Mickey Spillane, Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy, John Grisham -- is deeply in his debt.

The cold, brooding, vampiric Count (born Edmond Dantes; known also, among other aliases, as "Sinbad the Sailor," Lord Wilmore, and a representative of the firm of Thomson and French) is the literary forebear of every dark hero from Sherlock Holmes and the Scarlet Pimpernel to Zorro, Batman, the Green Hornet, and Darkman. And the intricate plot provides everything any reader could want: adventure, intrigue, romance, and (of course) the elegant machinations of the Count himself as he exacts his terrible revenge on those who have wronged him -- thereby serving, or so he believes, as an agent of divine justice and retribution. Brrrrrrrr.

The book is also a good deal _longer_ than many readers may be aware. Ever since the middle of the nineteenth century, the English translations have omitted everything in the novel that might offend the sensibilities of Victorian readers -- including, for example, all the sex and drugs.

That's why I strongly recommend that anyone interested in this novel read Robin Buss's full-text translation. Unlike, say, Ayn Rand (whose cardboard hero "John Galt" also owes his few interesting aspects to Monsieur le Comte), Dumas was entirely capable of holding a reader's undivided attention for over a thousand pages; Buss's translation finally does his work justice, restoring all the bits omitted from the Bowdlerized versions.

The heart of the plot, as most readers will already know, is that young sailor Edmond Dantes, just as his life starts to come together, is wrongfully imprisoned for fourteen years in the dungeons of the Chateau d'If as the victim of a monstrously evil plot to frame him as a Bonapartist. While in prison he makes the acquaintance of one Abbe Faria, who serves as his mentor and teaches him the ways of the world (science, philosophy, languages and literature, and so forth), and also makes him a gift of a fabulous treasure straight out of the _Thousand and One Nights_. How Dantes gets out of prison, and what he does after that -- well, that's the story, of course. So that's all I'm going to tell you.

However, I'll also tell you that the 2002 screen adaptation doesn't even begin to do it justice. The plot is so far "adapted" as to be unrecognizable, except in its broad outlines and the names of (some of) the characters. Pretty much everything that makes Dumas's novel so darkly fascinating has been sucked out of it. It's not a bad movie on its own terms, but if you're expecting an adaptation of this novel, you'll be disappointed. And if you've already seen it, don't base your judgment of the novel on it.

The Count of Monte Cristo is a hurting, vengeful, magnificently wealthy man who is bent on paying back the people from his past who took away all of life's gifts in one action - love, family, peace, and hope when he was a nineteen year old child still full of vision, love to give, tenderness, and dreams. Throughout this story I am constantly amazed at the insight into human emotion, pain, intricacy and joy that Alexander Dumas had. The story fills your head with another time and place- it takes you there. You hurt for the Count, begin to understand his thinking and are with him as he incredibly takes revenge on the men of his past and their families by becoming one of them, and later begins to see that vengence is, in fact, not his alone. As he begins to desire peace once again, he begins to feel again...and to weep for the love lost. This book is more than amazing - it is an experience that has put into me considerations and dreams that move me still - long after I have finished looking at its pages. The invitation? ...Come and ache and love and hate and hurt and grow and LIVE! Go to another time, another place that will effect and move you, and perhaps change you, here and now. It's worth your time.

Last year my grandfather recommended this book to me. I snorted, thinking, yeah right, I highly doubt I'm gonna read a book like The Count of Monte Cristo any time soon. But after I picked up the novel and actually started to read it, I slowly became more and more fascinated with the plot. As a 12 year old reader I struggled with parts of the book, finding them dull and tedious, but the struggle is worth it in the end!
Alexandre Dumas creates a fabolous tale of revenge and hate in which Edmond Dantes, a young sailor in love, is betrayed by three men of power. Edmond wastes 13 years of his life in the Chateau d'If, a terrible prison in which Edmond loses faith and all chances of ever being with his love again. While there, Edmond learns of a treasure buried on the island of Monte Cristo, and creates a master plan to seek revenge on his enemies, if and when he escapes.
I highly recommend this book, and if you're too lazy to actually pick it up and read it, at least go and see the movie!

My AP English teacher recommended this book for me to read over the monthly required reading list, and I thought, "Oh great, what a great idea....". But it was for two months because of its length, so I took it.

Each chapter includes a specific idea to the plot that keeps you wanting to read more. I would bring this book to work and read a chapter a day during my 15 minute break and would go overboard reading two chapters because it just keeps getting better and better! Each new idea came as a surprise for me, and so much is in it that I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good book.

Alexandre Dumas sure knew what he was doing when he read this, so I definitely recommend this.

This book is so wonderfully written. I read it every year, and every year I feel like I am reading it for the first time because it is so thick and so full of life. The characters are so real--I can breathe their breaths and hear their words and smell their clothes. It is the most amazing book!

This is an exciting book that unfortunately feels formulamatic at times. Maybe that is because it was produced as a serialized novel originally. It can have that "find out what our heros are up to next issue" feel.

Overall it is fast paced, but long. I liked the action sequences and the author's creation of distinct personalities for his heros. While I had to read this over a long period of time, I found I enjoyed it most when I could put in a couple of hours at a time and fully submerge myself in the author's world. I would recommend picking this up for a vacation book or if you know you'll be able to keep at it night after night.

The author uses a convincing historical and period backdrop for his tale. It feels real which aids the story. The romantic nature of his heros leads to a wonderful story of comradship and loyalty, good versus evil, etc. Many things to like, but I did not find it deserves quite as lofty a pedestal as most of these other reviewers do.

For those trying to read The Musketeers Saga:
In the original French, there are only three (3) books - 1. The Three Musketeers 2. Twenty Years After and 3. Ten Years Later. But when translated, most English editions split the behemoth Ten Years Later into a Trilogy (and some four - which make it all the more confusing!).

The reading list should be 1. The Three Musketeers 2. Twenty Years After and 3a. The Vicomte de Bragelonne 3b. Louise de la Valliere and 3c. The Man in the Iron Mask. Five books - that's the total series!

I highly recommend this series from Oxford University Press containing the complete unabridged and annotated versions of all of these books. The notes are located in the back of each book so as not to slow down the flow of the text. Most of the notes give additional info on historic characters and places. And a few point out that Dumas was a better storyteller than historian, as keeping dates seems to be such a nuisance!

The story starts out with a young naive Gascon by the name D'artagnan who goes to seek his fortune with the King's Musketeers. On his journey to Paris he has a tangle with a man named Rochefort whom D'artagnan chases throughout the book, along with his female companion Milady, a woman of pure evil.

He meets the Three Musketeers and they don't get off to such a great beginning as he finds himself preparing to fight a duel with all three of them. Eventually D'artagnan wins over Athos, Porthos, and Aramis and together the four set off on adventures to protect their majesty the queen (Anne of Austria) against the bad intentions of the cardinal.

It's all intigue and romance and swashbuckling! I loved it all, every sentence. And i love how M. Dumas twists history to his own literary devices.

I played hooky to finish reading this book!