The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

Please note** I changed the reading schedule a bit because this is the part where several versions diverge. And my original schedule would have had us stop without finding out what happens in the meeting at the Place Royale - that is impossible!

I've added a note to the Reading Schedule thread. I will be redoing it so that it will be clearer to those who have a 1-volume or 2-volume copy.

Many English translations are missing the Chapter called Councilor Broussel. Here's a summary in case you don't have it. It's not needed for the plot because it comes out in other chapters that the little man knocked over by d'Artagnan is a hero to the people of Paris and an opponent of Mazarin. He isn't very brave about it, though, trying to avoid attention but to no avail. When witnesses see he was knocked down by a musketeer, they assume it is a personal attack. They carry Broussel to his house with great fanfare. His wife and his elderly housekeeper become hysterical. The street boy Friquet, who we met before, is sent for a doctor. It turns out Broussel isn't seriously injured, which is a good thing because Friquet is more interested in spreading the news of the attack. When Broussel hears knocking on his door, he is afraid he will be arrested but it is the President of Parliament, that is, someone on his own side. Next comes the coadjutor, a leader of the Fronde, along with his doctor. And immediately after the Duc de Longueville, who we already know is a leader of the Fronde, and he also brings his doctor. Finally the Prince de Conti, the highest leader of the Fronde, enters with his doctor. The doctors consult and find only a couple of bruises but they meet for an hour before recommending soaking the bruises in salt water. The dignitaries take their turn to call out the window to the crowd to let them know that Broussel will recover and enjoy some cheers addressed to themselves. The final sentence says, "Friquet finally returned at midnight, never having found a doctor." The whole chapter has a comic feel. Unlike in The Three Musketeers, when our sympathies were all with the Queen, it's not that clear who to root for. Mazarin is a despised skinflint, but many of the Frondeurs seem to be silly or out for personal glory. Even for the Duc de Beaufort, we don't know what he really stands for, except that he detests Mazarin.

This section is also one of my all-time Dumas favorites. The fight in the dark with anonymous opponents turns into an unexpected encounter. You might wonder why they didn't recognize each others' voices sooner but there may have been a lot of noise from pistols, horses, and so on. But the Gascon epithet is distinctive and then the wonderfully theatrical moment of the flash from the gun lighting up the field.

In some commentary, the translator Ellsworth notes that in this mission, where d'Artagnan has only Porthos on his side, the unthinkable happens - he fails. It is only with the whole group that he can succeed. In the chapters about the preparations for the meeting and the meeting itself, each former musketeer reacts according to his character. We see the unbreakable influence of leadership that Athos has over the others.

Great summary! :) I actually enjoyed your summary more than that particular chapter.

My one criticism of 20 Years After is that Dumas moves the musketeers to the background for about half of the book and introduces so many new characters. It’s difficult to remember them all or to truly care for any of them. (I needed Wikipedia and a cheat sheet just to keep track of the multiple princes with similar names)

I’ll admit I’m not too interested in The Fronde vs Mazarin drama. I like history and politics more as a backdrop to the adventures of D’Artagnan & co. I read these chapters as quickly as possible to move to the good parts.
I just wanted to know what happened to our 4 friends.
(And if Athos would have another romantic encounter with Madame de Chevreouse ;) - he totally should)

Chapters 26-28 are great.
I remembered this part pretty vividly from the first time I read the book (over 20 years ago) but I had forgotten most of the other details.

I have to side with Aramis - I think D’Artagnan accused him unfairly (maybe because he’s not accustomed to losing).

“Really, monsieur, you say strange things,” said Aramis. “You came seeking me to make certain proposals, but did you make them? No, you sounded me, nothing more. Very well what did I say to you? That Mazarin was contemptible and that I
wouldn’t serve Mazarin. But that is all. Did I tell you that I wouldn’t serve any other? On the contrary, I gave you to understand, I think, that I adhered to the princes. We even joked very pleasantly, if I remember rightly, on the very probable contingency of your being charged by the cardinal with my arrest... You had your secret and we had ours; we didn’t exchange them. So much the better; it proves that we know how to keep our secrets.”

Aramis and d'Artagnan are the two hotheads of the group. It is in character that they are the ones who spar. Porthos isn't that quick on the uptake and doesn't even really understand the political situation and Athos is above it all. Aramis and d'Artagnan are alike in their shrewdness and calculation. They are also the ones who encourage their partners to go to the meeting armed. I agree that d'Artagnan was overly aggressive in accusing Athos and Aramis of deceiving him. Maybe he always had a bit of an inferiority complex about being the youngest and last to join the group. He feels he was treating like a child by his 2 friends.

After spending a long time entering chapter numbers for 3 divergent editions in the updated reading schedule, I decided to remove them all for the 2nd half of the book and just list the titles to read for the week. Sometimes each of the 3 editions include 5 or 7 chapters instead of 6 and the farther along I got, the more they diverged. You should be able to follow along with the chapter titles. I did include the chapter numbers for the Ellsworth edition of the 2nd half, which is called Blood Royal. But don't feel you need to get that edition. I agree with a comment made last week that sometimes Ellsworth seems a bit too informal or colloquial. Sorry for all the confusion. I had no idea there were such discrepancies.

Robin, there is no reason for apologizing. After all, it is not your fault that the editions have been messed up so much. 😉 I wonder what the reason might have been. I would always keep as close to the original as possible, even though sometimes the original author might have issued some revisions of his own work.

I have also updated the chapters for the Oxford edition in the reading schedule thread accordingly.

In my Oxford World Classics edition the chapter about Broussel was missing. Otherwise the writing seems quite good and close to the original, but I have not even figured out who translated it and when. It feels at least to me much better than my Borders Classics edition of The Three Musketeers.

You, Robin, have already summed up all that I was thinking about these chapters.

I was also wondering about the lack of recognition of the voices during the night, especially as there could not have been many other noises around due to it being in the middle of the night and somewhere in the countryside instead of populated Paris.

And as you said, d’Artagnan and Aramis are the more emotional/ impulsive characters compared to Athos and Porthos, and it is interesting that Dumas “divided” the team so evenly. Athos is definitely the sensible and noble one, and now that he is not drunk all the time compared to the previous novel, he is becoming my favorite of them all, I think.

Thanks for the extra work, Hedi! About not recognizing the voices, it could have been easily avoided by Dumas by not having them talk so much. I would bet that in real combat there isn't as much boasting as here. Talking gives away your position to the enemy. I like how d'Artagnan uses the same defensive maneuver as Athos taught Raoul a few chapters back.

Although the poor horses! getting ridden to death, used as barricades and shields. At least Dumas is realistic in the limitations of this method of travel. In more modern books, authors who don't ride sometimes give unrealistic powers of endurance to horses. The one thing d'Artagnan asks of Mazarin when he sets out isn't money, but horses and the authority to commandeer more of them.

Good point about the horses. I thought of it as animal abuse how they are ridden until they start bleeding and them being involved in the shootings. But maybe Dumas used them as cars are used in action movies nowadays. 😉 Visualizing these scenes makes it quite exciting.
However, I was surprised that they could not exchange the horses in common places like inns, which was often done for carriages as well.

It sounds like they didn't want to take the time to stop. They were just lucky that when the horses gave out in the middle of nowhere, another group was ahead. The Duke's party wouldn't have stopped at any inns, since they were escaping, but that's why they had relay horses set up by a supporter.

I really did enjoy this section! The Place Royale is the best chapter, so far. For a moment I thought "They have not been friends for twenty years, they were friends twenty years ago" (as it is often the case) but I was happy to find that it is not so! I wonder how they will manage to be friends and not to be able to fight together but to have to fight one against the other.
Anyway I am with D'Artagnan. I feel that he wanted to be honest with Athos and Aramis but he changed his mind when he perceived that they were not being honest with him.
I do not have the Broussel chapter, too.