The Three Musketeers by Alexandre DumasMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Recently, I watched the 2011 "Three Musketeers" movie. Since I loved Dumas's "The Count of Monte Cristo", I decided to give the Musketeers a try. It did not disappoint! There were times that I was literally on the edge of my seat, wondering what was going to happen next.
First, let me say, the movie does differ from the book (no surprise there), but the directors/script writers did a nice job of keeping the story line fairly pure. As usual, there was more depth, more action to the book itself.
Other than the fact that I was on the edge of my seat more than a few times, I loved the language in the original book. In fact, I took to highlighting the language that we no longer use in our society today. I have to say it makes me sad. For instance, isn't "ambuscade" much richer than ambush? Doesn't "perambulate" give a much better picture of a walk through the town? The word itself per - am - bu - late is like a stroll through language. Then you have "calumny" (the making of false statements), "exordium" (the beginning or introductory part) and "cabal" (a secret political clique). I also love "perfidious", which we do find here and there yet today. Somehow it sounds so much worse than just plain deceitful. I think I will promulgate (make widely known) a return to using language in more purposeful ways. I am no "physiognomist" (a person able to judge character from facial characteristics), but I know a love of language can only lead to better things all around.
As you can probably tell, I could go on and on. I'm fascinated by how the words we no longer use are so much, well, better, than the language we use today. Here's another example. Everyone knows a boaster, someone who embellishes events--well the word for boastful talk is "rodomontade". To me this is a word picture of what it means to boast. Okay, one more word, "catarrh". This means an excessive discharge or buildup of mucus in the nose or throat. Don't you think the word captures the sound of mucus in the throat? (Gross, I know).
Anyway, I did love the story and highly recommend it.
As a side note, when reading a print book, I don't take the time stop, put my book down, pick up the dictionary to look up an unfamiliar word, it feels like it interrupts my reading. As with most readers of books, you can have a pretty good idea of the meaning just by what's going on in the story. However, on the kindle, you just touch the word and the dictionary meaning is there. It's a feature I'm loving!
Now to decide, what next? "Prisoner of Zenda" or "Riders of the Purple Sage" . . .
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