Original and Fabulous

First Dumas I've read, and it was a romp. Loosely on history of the King's Musketeers and the siege of La Rochelle which was a Protestant rebellion or the Huegenots, this is a tale of intrigue and the battle of good vs evil.

Fictionalized historic characters include King Louis XIII, Cardinal Richelieu, Monsieur de Tréville, Anne of Austria, Duke of Buckingham, and his assassin, John Felton. The characters, both historical and not, are fabulous, and the setting and descriptions wonderfully detailed.

While different from the many movies based on it, this makes me want to go back and see some of those treasures again, and to read more by Dumas.

John Lee's narration was superb and kept the pace of this book wonderfully.

14 people found this helpful

An Irresistible Romp!

How can anyone NOT like The Three Musketeers?!? I read this when I was creeping up on adolescence, and it's as irresistible now as it was then. And though John Lee doesn't earn a four-star rating, it was wonderful to listen to. I chose him as a narrator because, even though I adore Simon Vance, the sample just told me that I'd be nodding off somewhere along the way. John Lee's performance seemed more rollicking, more exciting. And it is. He captures the personalities of each character, spot-on, and not only that: some of his vocal characterizations add to the already rich characters! What keeps him from getting a four-star rating is his oh-so annoying way of pronouncing each name with a hyper-correct and painful enunciation with extreme inflections. Plus there's a pause, as in, "said....pause...wait for it... D'ArtagNAN." It was jarring. And as it's a quite lengthy novel, it became skin-crawling as well. I don't regret choosing his version over Vance's, though, simply because his pacing, his sense of drama, and of humor, are flawless and engaging. Just be warned. You might want to consider what will be tolerable to you over an extended listening time.
Other than that, don't deny yourself this listening pleasure. Alexandre Dumas was brilliant with action, brilliant with humor, and light spirits. And his dialogue flows as naturally as anything ever written. I will be listening to the sequels. I wonder how Vance will do with their narration? I'm delighted to find out...!

For more audiobook reviews, of all genres, check out Audiobook Accomplice online!

39 people found this helpful

What Fun!

Reading The Three Musketeers was great fun! I especially loved the way it ended. I count it among my favorites now, and will no doubt read it again. The impressive combination of Alexandre Dumas and John Lee brought it to life for me in a way I didn't think possible. I love it!

***NOTE 1: Thanks to Audible and John Lee for making this experience possible. It was important to me that the experience be authentic, realistic, and free flowing. Through Audible's and John Lee's efforts, everything that I feared would make reading a noted classic like this cumbersome or difficult???has disappeared. Instead, it was just... amazing!

***NOTE 2: Mr. Lee, PLEASE narrate James Clavell's Shogun and King Rat! I think only you could really do them justice.

42 people found this helpful

This is one book for all. All for one?

Much richer and fuller than any movie or adaptation I've seen before. It is an epic and long but well worth it. Who knew...

23 people found this helpful

Only a Narration Review

I didn't make it through the whole book, some other book came up and I switch over, and haven't made it back to this one. I bought this book because I recognized the narrator from another book and I have to say that I think John Lee could be one of the best Audiobook Narrators in the World. He took a book(This one) that I really wasn't all that interested in and made every second worth listening to. Thank You John Lee Thank You

40 people found this helpful

Better than the movies

There is a reason some of these books are called Classics and why the authors reputations have stood the test of time. Unfortunately, our exposure to stories such as The Three Musketeers is often through cinema and they come off lightheaded. This unabridged audio is so much better and its almost a shame that it shares the same title with the inane film version. You won't feel like you're listening to an audio version of the movie. Moreover, it is one of the best productions I've listened to on audible.com. John Lee is a marvelous reader in any event and at the top of his form in this book.

39 people found this helpful

Fun Story

Would you consider the audio edition of The Three Musketeers to be better than the print version?

I never read the print version.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the ending, but I will not share that with you.

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I have listen to about 30 books read by John Lee. I love his voice. He does not change his voice much when switching between characters and for some reason I find this lack of strong change more soothing then readers who constantly change their voice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

There were many parts of the story that were very funny.

Any additional comments?

If you are looking another Count of Monte Cristo, like I was, this is not it, so I was disappointed by that, but once I got into the story I really enjoy it.

12 people found this helpful

Don't go to Dumas for Prose or Literary Refinement

You go to him for action and plotting, for dialogue and badassery. His novels don't just pull you through them, they hurl you through. 3x speed was not fast enough to keep up with my interest. Les Trois Mousquetaires is pulp before their was pulp and noir before their was noir. I personally like the Count of Monte Cristo better, but I could also argue that 3M is a better-made novel. Anyway, if you like adventure books read it. If you like littttttraaaature. Get off your pretentious leather chair and read it too.

36 people found this helpful

epic.

John Lee is an excellent narrator.

hard to be critical of Dumas, but I knocked off 1 star because I could have done without about three or four of the 69 chapters - three of those dealt with Milady near the end. having said that, she was the scariest villain I've encountered in literature in ages.

I must have read a highly abridged version of the three musketeers in my youth because 2/3 of this was new to me.

great story telling and dialog. the narrator's grasp of French was impressive. I tried samples of three audio book versions before deciding on this one. I am glad I did.

I'm really looking forward to John Lee's telling of Twenty Years After, the next installment of the Dartanion "Romances"

highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

Compelling

Though I speak only English, the words spoken in French and other languages were no hinderance to my enjoying the book. The narrator is superb. Listening to the descriptions and minute details one can easily imagine what characters look like. Great detail is developed for each character and the actions therein.

I listen to these audio stories in the evening while trying to unwind from the days activities and to take my mind into another world. This book most definitely helped here. The Three Musketeers is one I’ll probably listen to again in a few years. I don’t say that about too many books on tape!

2 people found this helpful