The Three Musketeers: Illustrated Young Readers' Edition

by Brett Helquist (Illustrator), Alexandre Dumas

All For One, One For All!

When daring young swordsman d’Artagnan travels to Paris seeking honor and fortune in the king’s Guard, he quickly befriends the famed three Musketeers—Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.

Loyal servants to the crown, the four friends cross swords with street criminals, face the cardinal’s Guards—who seek to destroy them—in duels to the death, and save the honor of the queen by unraveling treasonous schemes in a race against time. It will take epic courage, chivalry, and skill to thwart the plots against them and achieve victory at last.

Carefully adapted and abridged, this young reader’s edition of Alexandre Dumas’s classic swashbuckling tale of adventure, swordplay, and unbreakable friendship is enriched with brand-new, action-packed illustrations by renowned artist Brett Helquist.

Genres: Classics, Adventure

389 pages, Kindle Edition

About the author

Brett Helquist has illustrated many books for children, including the Series of Unfortunate Events books. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

[Halida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man, what had gotten into me that made me give it two stars earlier? I feel really bad about it. I'm not crazy about this book, and I don't think I will read it again any time soon. However, compared to other books that I've rated two stars, The Three Musketeers is much superior. Duh!
Maybe I am just not into the whole idea about men fighting (to death!) for nothing. A little provocation here and they killed each other. Also, I'd understand if a group of trained men (and women) are to do anything they're capable of doing to protect and save their country, but if you add some king or queen into this scenario, well, let's just say that I am not amused. It's a personal thing. I just can't comprehend how someone can just be born in a certain family and boom! He/she becomes an heir to the throne. Why would anyone obey a person on that basis?
Ah, never mind. Like I said, it's a personal thing, so this book should be amazing for other people. Maybe I just picked it up because it was on sale and I felt a sort of obligation to read as many classic reads as I could. I don't know.

[Tim O'neill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure who this translation/very-slight-abridgment is appropriäte for. My seven-year-old wanted to hear the book, but the language was at a very high level, which was fine—that just means the publisher and I were picturing different “Young Readers.” But compared to other translations, a lot of description has been taken out. This was my main problem with this translation/very slight abridgment: I always felt like I was a little removed from the action, or watching it in soft focus. Another way to describe it was that it was like reading a play and stage directions instead of a novel. I looked at some other translations (namely The Three Musketeers), and this dœsn’t appear to be Dumas’s fault. There are other seriöus abridgments out there, but I do not see the point in publishing a book that is 85-90% the length of the original, especially one that contains all the advanced language but none of the description that makes it interesting. There is obvöusly a meä culpa here: there are dozens versions of this at the library, some of which I even looked at while reading, and I just should have switched to a different one as soon as I realized the issue. (I was also a French major, so I don’t have a great excuse for having read this in English anyway!)

Due to the distancing effect described above, it was hard to get into the story, but I could tell it was an interesting and well-thought-out one. I imagine (with descriptions in place) it would even be exciting! In particular, the scene with the imprisonment of Milady and her escape kept my attention. It’s also, though, a good example of strange abridgment. The translator/abridger chose to keep the original five chapters where Milady slowly manipulates the guard—and this should be slow, lest Lord de Winter seem to be a fool—but if you’re going to have twenty pages just to show a master manipulator at work, make it 21-22 pages and give us some description of what’s happening!

Oh, and the ending with Milady was terrible. And that is Dumas’s fault!

I chose this one because I saw it had Helquist’s illustrations. I feel like this isn’t the first time I’ve been burned by assuming a prestigious illustrator meant a good translation/abridgment. I did like the illustrations!

I almost want to read another translation/non-abridgment, and I have started looking at one to compare, but as I’ve said, this edition is so close that it’s mostly, frustratingly redundant. Perhaps I’ll read a different edition of Twenty Years After (which, to be fair, dœs not exist by this translator/illustrator team)—Ellsworth has one, so that seems like the natural next step.

[melmarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second time I read The Three Musketeers, and although the edition I read this time is retold by Clarissa Hutton, I enjoyed it anyway. In fact, my second experience in reading The Three Musketeers is more enjoyable than the first one. It felt funnier in many parts and the story is more engaging. I guess the style of translation affects the sense of the story and the enjoyment in reading, for I first read it in a translated version into Indonesian language and this time I read it in English. I love The Three Musketeers as a work of historical fiction of 17th century France as well as an adventure and romance, and as a story of bravery, loyalty, and friendship. The version I read is a Young Readers’ Edition (of which I thought the vocabulary used is rather unfamiliar for a young reader) with illustrations by Brett Helquist (the illustrator of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events). The illustrations made this book even more collectible. And if you wonder if I would want to reread The Three Musketeers in the words of Alexandre Dumas himself, then my answer is yes.

@melmarian
Read my complete review here: http://surgabukuku.wordpress.com/2013...

[Kat Goldin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful read, but nearly too mature for the incoming 6th graders. I will stress to whoever reads this ageless classic that there is mature content being served here and that you need to be ready for detailed violence, murder, defiance and retribution in the old English and French style then... do not checkout this famous and fanatical masterpiece.

The basic of this story is relatively well known: attractive and athletic, young D’Artagnan invites each of the Three Musketeers, who are noble, chivalries, and dreamy…Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. These men impressed by his bravery and quick-thinking become his mentor. Meanwhile, the Queen of France, engaged in an affair (on the page with many details) with the Duke of Buckingham. Of course the affair is detected and the four handsome heroes decide to support the Queen’s interests.


I would enjoy all the classics if they were this easy to understnd and the stories where this much FUN!

[Brian Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book ever

I like it it was a good idea to bring into a book this is the best book ever :)

[Danni · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was very confusing at times and even now that I'm finished I'm not sure I understand what went on, but I did love the characters and had an enjoyable time reading this book.

[Vanessa Dargain · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Thank you . Be easy ." The Duke of Buckingham p.264

[ISRA · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 for the drama and tension consistent the whole way through. As well the ‘love triangles’ and the adventure of such contrasting characters.