This week I'll be galloping through Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I must point out that I read an abridged children's classics version of this book... repeatedly... from about the ages of 6-8. My brothers and I would cut out paper swords, fashion makeshift cloaks from scarves and march down the hall shouting, "One for all and all for one!" That said, the glaring fact that my childhood abridged version was about 60 pages, while the novel itself is 630 (this translation, anyway), proves that I have not, in fact, read this book! Also, in an unfortunate example of phonics-gone-wrong, my 6-yr-old self understood the main character's name to be Dee-ART-again....but I have long since redeemed myself, having a undertaken a couple semesters of self-directed French study as penance. Nevertheless, I shall only ever read this book in translation, as my pronunciation of French is still quite brutal, and the only result of my acquaintance with Dumas' original text would certainly be the regrettable murder of a classic novel. This week, I look forward to comparing the plot differences between my old childhood favorite (read: bowdlerized) version and THE REAL DEAL. I also look forward to a long tale of historical intrigue and romance spun by a master storyteller.
P.S. Don't worry, Kurt. I won't make you be Porthos this time.
2 comments:
I forwarded this post to my sister. She's read all of Dumas's novels. I have to warn you, though. She may post something silly.
oooh! all for one and one for all!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE! the three musketeers!! Though I did get a bit bummed with his sequels to the novel. mew!
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