The Man in the Iron Mask (Penguin Classics)

If you read the entire d'Artagnan Romances(THE THREE MUSKETEERS, TWENTY YEARS AFTER, THE VICOMTE DE BRAGELONNE, LOUISE DE LA VALLIER, THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK), you'll probably feel you've had one of the great reading experiences of your life. If you only read THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, you'll probably think you've wasted your time. That's because THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK is the third part of THE VICOMTE DE BRAGELONNE, which itself is the third part of the d'Artagnan Romances. DON'T START AT THE END!!! The title "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK" is so popular that even scholarly publishers like Oxford cash in by selling it WITHOUT TELLING YOU IT'S THE END OF A STORY. To read it by itself is like reading THE RETURN OF THE KING without THE HOBBIT, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING and THE TWO TOWERS, or only book 7 of HARRY POTTER(I'm just trying to think of popular examples). Start with THE THREE MUSKETEERS, and if you like it, work through the series, whose richness always depends on what came before. The story of the man in the iron mask is one of many subplots in a much larger story, so coming into it from scratch, you might be upset if there are few pages devoted to him. So here's how it goes: THE THREE MUSKETEERS is part 1, TWENTY YEARS AFTER is part 2, and THE VICOMTE DE BRAGELONNE is part 3, but it's a massive part 3, divided into 3 books(in the original French, it's one mega-book, but it got divided in English translation): THE VICOMTE DE BRAGELONNE, LOUISE DE LA VALLIER, and THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK. I repeat my first sentance: If you read the entire d'Artagnan Romances, you'll probably feel you've had one of the great reading experiences of your life.

Oh wow, what a great end to an incredible ride, the story of the Musketeers. I haven't been so engrossed in a series of books since I picked up Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. Athos, Raoul, Porthos, Aramis and of course D'Artagnan are going to be in my thoughts and dreams for some time, I hate to let them go.If you are expecting the story as told by Hollywood, forget it. While I haven't seen the latest version with Leonardo DiCaprio (forgive me if I spell it wrong), I looked at the reader reviews and was quite surprised at how different the book is from Hollywood's version. I also recall a movie done in the late 70's/80's that is nothing like the book as well. I would pick it apart point by point, but that would include spoilers. The Man in the Iron Mask is actually the last third of a huge novel by Dumas originally titled The Vicomte de Bragelonne. Because of the size of the book, English publishers have divided into three books, The Vicomte de Bragelonne (Oxford World's Classics),Louise de la Vallière (Oxford World's Classics), and The Man in the Iron Mask.Suffice it to say that TMITIM is the final chapter of our heroic Musketeers, as well as Raoul, the son of Athos. While we all know the story of Louis XIV's twin and the plot to substitute him, that is a minor part of the whole story, as the action then becomes centered on the aftermath of that plot and Louis' revenge. It has been a grand, glorious ride reading this series, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Valliere and The Man In the Iron Mask. And do have your box of tissue handy for the last 20-30 pages. You'll need it.One side note, some people are purchasing this as a stand-alone book, which it is not. You could probably get away with that, but you'll spend so much time looking back at the footnotes trying to figure who is who I doubt you will enjoy the story as much. Also, this version didn't have the list of characters that the VDB and LDLV did. Go for broke and read the whole thing, it's well worth it.

I've read and enjoyed other works by Dumas, so it's not like the writing style threw me off. I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't get into it. It didn't grab me like the Count of Monte Cristo does. This is not a literary review, just an account of my experience with it. Your mileage may vary.

Throughout history families have been separated, destroyed, and betrayed among themselves in search of power. It is impressive to observe how this lust for supremacy leads the people, who are supposed to be there by one's side, to betray one. Inhumane, it is. How horrible to be betrayed and imprisoned, and not know why or whose fault. To helplessly scream "What have I done!?" while rotting in a particular version of hell. In Alexandre Dumas' last book, "The Man in the Iron Mask", a situation similar to this is portrayed. This story is about the conflicts King Louis XIII's death brought upon France, as he had two heirs. Twins. He had seen brothers destroy countries fighting for power so he lied to his whole family before he died and banished one of his sons. This novel is based on a legend. Part real, part fantasy; the real mystery is, however, we don't know which part is which. "The Man in the Iron Mask" is actually the third part of Dumas' huge novel, titled "The Vicomte de Bragelonne."This novel was divided into "The Vicomte de Bragelonne", "Louise de la Valliere", and "The Man in the Iron Mask." Without having read the other two thirds of this extensive novel, the beginning of this book might be a bit confusing, however the thrill begins somewhere in the middle and is impossible to miss. The impression of the book most people have of this book is of a "jailbreak" story, based on it's title. This book, however, spawns from several historic facts: in 1661, Monsieur Fouquet, who worked for King Louis XVI was arrested for robbery. Also, in the same year, King Louis won over the heart of a young lady called Louise de la Valliere, fact which caused some fuss. In his story "The Man in the Iron Mask", Dumas transmits the undisclosed story behind these facts, which involves, of course, his Four Musketeers: Porthos, Athos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan. The story takes place when the four retired Musketeers are feeling a bit aged and have the strongest desire for adventure; a desire they fulfill all throughout the whole of the novel. This book regards a mission. The mission the Musketeers Porthos, Athos, Aramis, and D' Artagnan had: to save an innocent man's life, and to consequently save France from a selfish, arrogant ruler. Two birds; only one shot. It begins with Aramis, now Bishop of Vanes visiting a mysterious prisoner in the Bastille, Philippe, as his confessor. Dumas communicates and details this scene impeccably: "Doubtless the scrutiny the prisoner had just made out of the cold, crafty, and imperious character stamped upon the features of the bishop of Vannes was little reassuring to one in his situation." Aramis sees that he has nothing to confess, for his only crime was being the King's twin brother. The prisoner did not even know his true identity, therefore, Aramis reveals it, along with the plan he has come up with, the plan that was to turn his life in-side out: to take him out and to give him what he is the rightful owner of by switching the lives of Louis and Philippe, to arrest the king and substitute him with his brother. The novel frames Aramis' fascinating and complex plot to make this work, as well as how the other Musketeers fit into it. The Man in the Iron Mask is the name given to a prisoner arrested in France in about 1670 who was held in a number of jails, including the Bastille. No one ever saw his face. He died on 19 November 1703, during the rule of Louis XVI. The possible identity of this man has been thoroughly discussed and has been the topic of many books, for this masked, unidentified character has the power to automatically engage the reader with mystery and thirst for more.

Not sure if this is the correct forum but here goes. I wrote a review earlier stating ;no probs' I meant the delivery. I had not read the book then. The book translation is appalling. I am allowed the Americanism of 'no probs' but not someone translating an historical masterpiece like this It is full of rubbish like 'C'mon' and 'That feels great' and these are the least ludicrous. I kept going because of the story, trying to ignore the more absurd words and phrases. Eventually I could take no more when Porthos, being told he could choose his own method of execution replied 'Thanks loads'. That did it. I have just ordered a Kindle version of a grown-up edition. Dumas must be turning in his grave.

The first half of the book, I thought it was going to be the greatest book ever. I just could not stop reading it and read half the book in one go. The man in the iron mask sub plot was the best bit about the book but the second half was underwhelming.*Minor spoiler*Why in the world did Aramis tell Fouquet what he did right after? The man is suppose to be smart and it was the most stupidest thing to tell him when everything was still in balance and the stakes were still so high. All sympathy was lost with both characters after the stupidity of their actions and made the story unbelievable for me. Pretty much when the sub plot ended, found it very uninspiring especially concerning Athos and his son. I confess I read it as a stand alone book and so did not have any attachment to his son who I just know as some love struck loser where it was pretty apparent how it was all going to end which made his story so tedious to read.Yes, the sad ending spoilt it for me too. Who like sad endings? Its like films without a happy ending never sells. The 'Titan' died 'cos his best friend even knowing his prediction of death, left him to it instead of staying with him. I just felt some of the characters acted out of character to force the plot to finish.Saying all that it is still worth to read just for the first half of the book. I probably wouldn't have bothered to finish the second half.

I started reading this novel with great enthusiasm and found the story flowed very well in the first few chapters. However it gradually became apparent that characters were appearing in the storyline that I had not encountered previously and I eventually found myself struggling to keep track of the story. I suspect that this is due to my not having read the previous two instalments of the Musketeers story. Consequently I gave up on the latter part of this book having somewhat lost the plot. I also found the presentation of the Kindle version frustrating with pages of continuous text with no paragraph breaks usually followed by a few pages of dialogue which involved continual page turns in very rapid succession.

So much of this book is simply wonderful, as with the earlier parts, and I think Dumas's imagination in using the Man in the Iron Mask theme so cleverly is simply amazing. I read the whole series from start to finish when I was about 13. Before that, at age 9 I had found the first book at home on a bookshelf and I read it then as I'd seen a movie version notlong before, and thenI read it several times more.The whole series is a simply marathon read but I have always loved marathon reads so that a writer, so long as,has the skills, can develop a theme to the full.I only remove one star now because in my current (only second) reread because after all these years my view of d'Artagnan has changed. I really cannot any longer see him as the dynamic hero. Even thouigh my favourite in the books was always Aramis, I did as a child think d'Artagnan pretty wonderful. Now I am totally devoted to Aramis and his fascinating scheming and how he keeps steps ahead of d'Artagnan most of the time. Aramis is an ambitious schemer, a clever, dynamic and devious free-thinker with ideas that are partly for the benefit of whoever but also for the benefit in certain ways of France. During all these books, France has opposing political forces (in the stories as well as in real life). D'Artagnan is the good and mostly noble soldier (Dumas's musketeers are never perfect human beings, they have the warts too...) but like any soldier he is required to be blindly loyal to the King. D'Artagnan isn't always "blindly" loyal, but at times his loyalty is trying when it's only too clear that Aramis's scheme is far more sensible than whatever d'Artagnan thinks the King needs to know. So I become irritated often with d'Artagnan in these later books because of his loyalty and continually enthralled by Aramis's enterprises.It's this rivalry that underpins the later 3 books, and in the end it leads to a finale that in some ways is simply supberb but in just a few ways is - in my view - unduly biased towards d'Artagnan. But of course, the Gascon who remains a musketeer all his life does seem to be the writer's favourite and I've heard that Aramis was very often not liked at all - I suppose because he defies and often outwits "the hero" who in real life was quite famous whilst the real life Athos, Porthos and Aramis (yes they all existed, with near enough those names) were not well known.I quickly took sides from Twenty Years After onwards and it was never d'Artagnan's side. Aramis was the leader of events in my view, d'Artagnan the Royal agent trying to keep up with Aramis, Athos was the retired incredibly decent and noble gentleman, almost a recluse but for attending to his adopted son Raoul. Athos is almost too good to be true. Porthos was a lot of fun and very lovable and helpful to his friends and Aramis says that Porthos is the man in all the world whom he most loves.The real life Athos was not a comte but a kind of nouveau riche - often identified by their string of titles such as the real Athos and Porthos both had. Athos was one of his titles. His first name was Armand (Dumas gave him the first name Olivier, not in the books but in a play he wrote later), and he died around age 25, probably in a duel amongst those quarrelsome young men. He may have served with Henri d'Amaritz (Aramis, called Rene d'Herblay in the books), who was of true noble birth although didn't have a title. The "old nobility" didn't always have titles. Their names/families/properties proclaimed if they were genuine old nobility - knights of old, and the like - of centuries back. Nouveau-riche type "nobles" like Athos and Porthos obtained a title (Porthos as Baron) through services in administration or whatever work for the community. Aramis retired from the musketeers in due course, returned to his lands and married. He also inherited a status of "lay preacher" - he was not in the priesthood. Isaac de Porthau was from an area called Porthau and a family of administrators and the like. Treville was a comte and related to all of the "four musketeers" one way or another. D'Artagnan, I think I remember rightly, was somewhat older than the others and may have met Athos before Athos died. D'Artagnan did quite late in life become Captain of the Musketeers. All four of these men were from the same area of France as Treville - Gascony. My information is from a fascinating book you can find on Amazon: "Four Musketeers: The True Story of D'Artagnan, Porthos, Aramis and Athos"

These Classics Illustrated comic-book versions of classic novels were things I used to COLLECT as a child, back in the Sixties. Even then I realised they were crudely illustrated & garishly coloured. These modern reprints are even more garish!Why have they been reissued? Nowadays comics are highly sophisticated. No child is going to respond to this!They're more likely to put them off Literature for life!I'm going to give this & few others to my 11 year-old nephew to see what he makes of them!

So I purchased this and was expecting a swashbuckling tale of adventures featuring the famous four muskateers but instead found the book to be rather tediously boring with lots of plot holes featuring the Main characters and as expected it was whimsical 18th century poncy dandy wandy lingo that literally makes you yawn. I started the book so I finished it but didn't like it. I don't think it should be called a classic either.

A good story, but not as good as The Three Musketeers in my opinion. Whilst the latter had my 11 year old engrossed, he had to be cajoled into finishing this. The deaths of Porthos, and various others, were in addition a bit of a downer for a young lad still at the happy ending age.But the switch of emphasis from the adventurous derring do of The Three Musketeers, to the more plodding intrigue and plotting of this book undermines the rascally and engaging charm of the musketeers, which is what had drawn you into the series in the first place.Pity

The narrative style is discursive and of its time but if you persevere there is a strong plot which justifies the revival of interest from time to time, to at least two modern film versions and the silent Fairbanks classic film.The author was writing retrospectively and portraying the splendour and squalor which led eventually to violent revolution in France and subsequent outbreaks of protest continuing to modern times.

In the long run, the book was very good, but it was hard reading. The old style language took a lot of getting used to. Bearing in mind when it was actually written! Though I expect it was actually very more descriptive than todays "English" Many words used would not be used today - hence the difficulty. (I Used the dictionary quite a lot, but that just made it more interesting) Also, since he was actually French, the Translation may be an influence too. Once you get used to that, the story was very good.

Yarns about fiendish deception and eventual revenge can be tedious but in Dumas' hands the theme is perfected and, though the settings may be foreign to many, the characters and dramas which occupy them are expressed in a truly individual voice and so are never stereotypical, despite the subject matter. The work is more reflective than the Three Musketeers and explores not only the muscular knight amongst the underdogs but also the more aged and vulnerable who have to fight if only to contend with the demands of life and the survival of personalities which Nature has sometimes left frail before the more stolid and resilient.

This is a brilliant book. The story line is excellent and the character relationships were once again a focus. This could possibly the best book in the series.

This is a good translation without the awful Americanisms of the Penguin version.Slightly unsatisfactory end but a memorable read.Allan Livingston.

If you're expecting this book to be like the Leonardo Di Caprio movie, you will be disappointed. That film takes inspiration from a couple of chapters and uses creative licence to fashion its own happy ending. This is the epic final instalment of the Three Musketeers saga. There is treachery afoot, swashbuckling battles and tragedy. The Man in the Iron Mask is a quality read.

Good book to read, and the story keep the reader interested.

I started the series here not knowing it was a series.While it's not imperative and is regardless an excellent read I am now at the end wishing I had started with the three musketeers