1/14/09

Alexandre Dumas's Works of Fiction



Time out from Mere Christianity for a different kind of book review.  


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I have been spending hours, literally hours, reading as many novels by Alexandre Dumas as possible, all unabridged of course!  I can't get enough of this clean (by today's standards), swashbuckling, honor driven Cavalier.  The novels are so romantic, not just in a love between a man and a woman, but romantic in the sense that his characters are motivated by high visions of grandeur, righteousness, and an unbelievable chivalry.  The culture at the time had a clear sense of right and wrong, class distinctions, and majestic honor, that ours doesn't even understand.  It has been fun to sneak a peak at the way in which life was honored, but at the same time how these swashbuckling heroes were willing to die for the right cause, and there is always a sense of the eternal worth laying down one's life for.  
As our young people immerse themselves in novels such as the Twilight Series or The Series of the Traveling Pants in which there is nothing sacred except what one wants at the moment, nothing is sacred besides what it feels like at the time, nothing is worth more than getting what I want now, and there is nothing worth dying for, our young readers would do well to read these novels that place self under the sacred.  If you or someone you know is looking for a good read  point them to Dumas.  I just finished Queen Margot last night, and cried for ten minutes at the end!  
A word of warning, he has long descriptions, all the kings and queens can get ever so confusing, and he tends to jump around a great deal.  I bought all of these novels on CD (unabridged) and listened to them.  The recordings are marvelous, and everyone that I listened to uses different voices for all the characters.  The Musketeer Novels are as clean as the driven snow.  Queen Margot tells of the realities of the monarchy all married to figure heads instead of the love of your life, but there is never anything that would even come close to making you blush.  There is political intrigue, romance, danger, espionage, and lots of great humor too.  
Dumas was a marvel.  He wrote and published 650 novels, and I don't know how many plays.  His imagination was unlimited.  Most of the Musketeer series were just that, series or serials.  I hope you over look the length and attempt one, or get it on CD and listen to it as a family on a long vacation.  That is how we listened to The Count of Monte Cristo (the first time).  Margaret, Karen, and Bekah and I traveled all the way to Oklahoma to visit a friend, and we listened to the Count then.  

Happy Reading, more on Mere Christianity tomorrow...........................Lynn

3 comments:

Laurie M. said...

Boy, it's been years since I read the Three Musketeers. I can't tell you the details. I just remember that I did not expect to like it at all and ended up loving it. Now I've got a hankering to read the Man in the Iron Mask. But I've got a couple other things on my to-read pile first.

b said...

Never read any of these, but (of course) I have at least the 3M's on my shelf...somewhere. I'll have to give it a go. Good review. See you chickie. B.

hopeinbrazil said...

Hi Lynn, Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog at Worthwhile Books. I just finished Count of Monte Cristo and look forward to reading others by Dumas. I like your profile!

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