The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Read by Louis Jourdan.
Taking place in seventeenth century France, The Three Musketeers tells the adventures of young d'Artagnan (darrr tan yon) who seeks to become a member of the King's (Louis 14th) guard, the Musketeers. Eager to fight and somewhat hot headed, he challenges or accepts 4 duels to the death. Then it gets better. So unsheathe your sabers' and prepare for battle to defend your honor and that of your mistress! Engarde!
Enjoy!
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was a famous French novelist whose most popular books, The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask, and The Count of Monte Cristo, continue to be enjoyed today.
Mr. Dumas had a prominent father, General Thomas-Alexander Dumas..., who was the highest ranked black officer in not only Napoleon's army but in all of Europe. His mother was a Caucasian French woman named Mary-Louise Labouret who had three children with the General and was the primary caretaker of young Alexandre.
Quotes:
I am upset by the fact that there are limits for genius, but not for stupidity.
...money...is a good servant but a bad master.
Louis Jourdan (1921-2015) was a French actor who also appeared, often as the debonair lover, in many English language films. This included; Gigi which won 9 academy awards including Best Picture, Madame Bovary (1949), Three Coins in the Fountain, Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case (on YouTube - I think I'll watch it tonight), and as the villain in the James Bond classic Octopussy.
GBOT Review: Story - Very Good. Reading Performance - Good. It's nice to hear the names of characters and places spoken with the correct French pronunciation.
P.S. My favorite film version of The Three Musketeers is the 1973 classic starring Michael York as d'Artagnan (who performance-reads the audiobook Candide here on Great Books on Tape), Charlton Heston as Cardinal Richelieu, and eye-popping Raquel Welch as Constance de Bonacieux. Christopher Lee of The Lord of The Rings trilogy fame also makes an appearance as Rochefort. Unlike this audiobook, most actors in this film do not have a French accent. This film was the first of two parts. The second is titled: The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge, and is worth watching.
But I Digress (spoiler)
There was a movie version that had each musketeer forgive Milady for her transgressions against them. E.g., d'Artagnan; "Milady, I forgive you for killing my mistress Constance de Bonacieux." When they finished, the executioner was seen bringing her to the place of execution where he would chop off her head. I thought to myself, "that seems like crummy forgiveness if they forgive you but then still chop off your head". Only later did I understand that there's a difference between forgiveness and pardon. Forgiveness is accepting an apology and letting go of anger, hatred, resentment, a grudge, revenge, wanting to harm, etc. (it doesn't mean you have to trust the person). Pardon is the punishment aspect. You may eventually forgive a repentant driver who was texting when she crashed into you destroying your car and breaking your leg. But you don't need to pardon her. She still needs to face the judge, pay for your car and hospital bill. (Hey, at least she still gets to keep her head). In some instances you will forgive and pardon and in some cases you may do neither, usually if the perpetrator is unrepentant or the offense is great. What may help is deciding; "I'm not going to let what that person did hurt me anymore." and work to making that happen. Qualified counseling can help as well. But I digress.
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