#le vicomte de bragelonne

[widevibratobitch]

what the fuck dumas

[ravravix]

✨M. de Lorraine’s Jealousy✨

The Duc d’Orléans uttered a cry of delight on perceiving the Chevalier de Lorraine. “This is fortunate, indeed,” he said; “by what happy chance do I see you? Had you indeed disappeared, as every one assured me?”

“Yes, monseigneur.”

“A caprice?”

„Le vicomte de Bragelonne” - A. Dumas

[gellavonhamster]

...she was charming when she laughed, beautiful when she became serious; but, let us hasten to say, she was more frequently charming than beautiful.

aure de montalais, the vicomte of bragelonne by alexandre dumas.

[ougonnotaiyou]

Here are my Three Musketeers bookmarks.

Left to right:

1. Athos, “The Musketeers” (BBC TV series) version played by Tom Burke. A gift for @ja87.

2. Athos, the version from my imagination based on the books of Dumas. A present for a person who doesn’t have an account here.

3. Aramis as the cunning bishop of Vannes, my own version based on the books. A gift for myself. :)

[jaimelire-france]

[artificial-librarian]

Evil twin fix-it RPF

[iphigeniarising]

If number of books read in a month is important to you, i recommend not choosing to read multiple books that are over 700 pages long at once.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Je suis né gentilhomme, de bonne maison. Le nom de d'Artagnan était déjà connu quand je vins au monde.

Courtilz de Sandras, 1701.

Charles Ogier de Batz was born around 1612 in Castelmore near Lupiac in Gascony. He joined the company of musketeers around 1633, taking his mother's name, d'Artagnan, and the title of count. The historical d'Artagnan, the one originally portrayed by Courtilz de Sandras and the one more famously inspired by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet (Maquet was Dumas closest collaborator and never got the proper credit) have a few things in common. Both the de Sandras and Dumas versions of the real d’Artagnan were cadets from Gascony, who went to Paris to 'take up service' and became courageous and loyal musketeers to the king.

In 1646, the musketeers were dismissed and d'Artagnan entered Mazarin's service as one of his "ordinary gentlemen". His loyalty to the minister and the king during the troubles of the Fronde earned him a number of delicate missions, which revealed his tact and humanity, as well as rewards, such as the position of captain of the King's little dogs hunting deer. When the musketeers were reconstituted, d’Artagnan became a lieutenant in the first company of musketeers (1665), he soon became its captain-lieutenant (1667). It was said that this was the finest position in the kingdom, and D'Artagnan fulfilled it marvellously. His company soon became a model company, as brilliant as it was well trained, and the king congratulated him on several occasions.

It was as captain of the musketeers that d'Artagnan took part in the 1667 campaign in Flanders, with the rank of cavalry brigadier. He was part of Turenne's army, which besieged and captured Lille, and was appointed governor of that city. He was still there in 1672 when the Dutch war broke out. His so-called Memoirs say very little about this episode in his career. Nevertheless, he played an important role in the capital of French Flanders. It was he who had Vauban's plans for the new fortifications of the city carried out.

Dumas and Maquet, somewhat taking artistic licence (see the end of the Vicomte de Bragelonne) portraying d'Artagnan as commanding an army corps in front of the siege of Maastricht. It was there on the battlefield, shortly before the action in which he took part, he received a letter from Colbert, in which the minister announced that the king had just made him Marshal of France. But this is nonsense. The king did not need Colbert's pen to inform the captain of his musketeers of his decision regarding such a great reward; Louis XIV was in command in person before Maastricht, and he could have said to d'Artagnan: "Monsieur, je vous fais maréchal”. But he never said it. D'Artagnan was not yet a lieutenant-general; he only held the rank of marshal of the King's camps and armies.

In any case on 25 June 1673 Captain-Lieutenant d’Artagnan was killed at the siege of Maastricht. Siege warfare could be as dangerous as battlefield combat. As it was, d'Artagnan was not on duty that day, but events shifted, requiring his presence. He was hit in the throat by a stray bullet, which killed him.

[madame-fouquet]

So I’ve been LOVING the new english translations of The d’Artagnan Romances (Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, Le Vicomte de Bragelonne) and while waiting for his edition of the next book in the Ten Years Later chunk I found out that he is releasing the chapters serially online RIGHT NOW! https://musketeerscycle.substack.com/p/court-of-daggers

Like you can be actively reading the story as a weekly serial the way it was originally published!!! This is such a cool flippin thing for them to be doing and I’m even more hyped than I already was!

[las-microfisuras]

Hay cierto número de obras, y generalmente entre las que más nos gustan, que acaban mal: en ellas algo se termina, se consume. Durante todo el libro ha habido una aventura, un movimiento, una búsqueda, unos encuentros: gentes que no se conocían se han cruzado; han caminado juntas, se han amado, han cambiado. Y luego todo se detiene. Es el fin. No hay continuación. Alguien muere o desaparece. Sentimos un vacío. Por ejemplo, el final de Los tres mosqueteros, cuando se separan, siempre me ha parecido una perfecta expresión de la tristeza. Y también el principio de Vingt ans après –se vuelven a encontrar como enemigos, han envejecido-, al final de Vingt ans après, se separan de nuevo; Le Vicomte de Bragelonne, finalmente, cuando Porthos muere: durante años (no exagero nada) he sentido la desaparición física de Porthos; le echaba de menos; acordarme de todas sus aventuras, de su fuerza, de su necedad, de su apetito de ogro, de su vanidad, de su ropa, y luego de su decadencia, de su impotencia final: muere aplastado bajo una roca que ya no tiene fuerzas para levantar… Esto es el sentimiento más simple, en estado bruto. Creo que lo sentiría igual si leyera la muerte de Hercule Poirot. Pero los hay más matizados. La muerte de André Bolkonski (creo que se llama Bolkonski o Bolbonski) en Guerra y Paz; el final de Casque d’or. Y sobre todo, no ya muertes, sino extinciones, desapariciones, finales tranquilos, nadas: es el tiempo que pasa, el ocio, el hueco, el vacío, la melancolía, la añoranza, el recuerdo, lo irremediable. Por ejemplo, el final de Under the net de Iris Murdoch, que acabo de buscar, y de no encontrar, por todas partes: tras innumerables aventuras, más bien risueñas, los inseparables se separan; se van cada uno por su lado, “es la vida”… O bien el final de Pierrot mon ami… O bien esta última pregunta (que a menudo me ha aterrorizado) que clausura el capítulo de preguntas y respuestas de Ulises, cuando Stephen y Bloom se separan: ¿Dónde (va Stephen)? Jamás lo sabremos. Y ese jamás, verdaderamente, es algo terrible. No triste exactamente. Pero terrible. Un punto de interrogación para el que no hay respuesta posible. Algo que no se abre sobre cualquier cosa. Algo acabado. O bien el final de Fermina Márquez. O bien el final de La educación sentimental: las últimas páginas, y sobre todo “la amargura de las simpatías interrumpidas”: ¿alguna vez se ha expresado mejor el vacío? O el final de Suave es la noche: el tipo que va de ciudad en ciudad… metrópolis, pequeños centros, aldeas, pueblos y luego se acabó. Se ha perdido su rastro. No está muerto, no; sigue viviendo: sigue pensando, no ha olvidado nada; pero está vacío, ha fallado, ha fracasado, ha naufragado. Así vivirá siete años, la eternidad… O bien el final de La montaña mágica. Y estoy seguro de que aún hay innumerables ejemplos.

- Georges Perec, Carta a Denise Getzler.  Traducción de  Eva María Manso

[widevibratobitch]

thinking about Athos standing under that scaffold and getting drenched in the king's blood Carrie-style... truly one of the most scenes ever. Dumas served absolute cunt in 20 Years After.

[ravravix]

heaad full Chevalier de Lorraine looking at the Philippe d'Orleans

✨Le vicomte de Bragelonne✨

[drawnecromancy]

Books I want to read in 2023

I am a very, very slow reader, for many reasons, several of which amount to bad time management and too many hobbies. Still, there's several books I want to read this year, and I'm thinking that maybe if I write them down, I'll manage to do it. Or some of it. I don't know.

The idea is that I'll reblog this when I finish a book or more to see my progress.

The Hawkmoon series, M. Moorcock (that's 7 books, but i'm not listing them one by one.)

Moi, Oméga, E. Barillot (it's in french.)

Gideon the Ninth, T. Muir (i've had it since December 2021. still unread.)

Legendborn, T. Deonn

Vingt Ans Après, A. Dumas

Le Vicomte de Bragelonne, A. Dumas (this one is tentative and will depend on whether or not i manage to read VAA)

Horrorstör, G. Hendrix

This seems like a long enough list for someone who has read 0 books in January and February.

[take-me-to-valhalla]

The 2022 Big Book Review

Books read in 2022

Absolutely non-exhaustive. I dropped Goodreads and can’t keep track of anything I don’t write down. Also not counting the children’s books and other quite short stuff I read in 5 minutes so I can tell customers what it’s about.

All in all : it’s a CLASSIC year lads. And I’ll be screaming about Marguerite Yourcenar to everyone forever.

Total (minus comics): 60 books

Total (including everything): 168 books

I organized them loosely, but it won’t be very consistent. Tried to add some comment but this won’t be a literary review

Classics

Mémoires d’Hadrien – So good omg. One of the books ever. Words fail me to say how much this book is amazing. Made me visit the Villa Adriana when I went to Rome. Indirectly responsible for a tendinitis in my left foot. Madeline Miller WISHES she were Yourcenar.

Miss Pettigrew lives for a day - A cute one! Recommended by my sister

La guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu - found in an old edition in a tiny free library. Very good & depressing

La vie de Monsieur de Molière, Boulgakov - If I had a nickel each time I read a book by a beloved author written by another beloved author, I’ll have two nickels.

Balzac, le roman de sa vie, Zweig – See above

Mille et un fantômes, Dumas - a Russian-doll-type-set of stories, but I have no recollection of them

Lorenzaccio - my sister recommended it to me in 2010. Finally got around to it.

Little House in the Big Woods - Cottagecore before it was cool. Also devoid of the unfortunate racism of the sequel

Le Vicomte de Bragelonne 1 & 2 - I’ll finish it next year for sure

Balzac et la petite tailleuse chinoise - loved the book, hated the ending

Pauline, Dumas - it was okay, I guess

La fin de Satan, Hugo - “Les soleils étaient loin, mais ils brillaient encore”. Hugo always goes HARD

Balzac :

Here’s an extract from a June entry in my diary : «  because of a tumblr post, I started reading Le père Goriot, and it’s quite good, which I find irritating ». And now look here we are.

Le père Goriot - So Good. So good I keep jokingly (?) recommending it to customers when they don’t know what book to buy

Le Code des Gens honnêtes - a fun read. Serves as documentation for 19th century life, too

Illusions Perdues - It’s like watching a car crash for 800 pages. In other words, excellent. Also did not expect the ending.

Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes - Come for the story, stay for the harsh commentary on capitalists that Marx wishes he wrote. Horrible, and a masterpiece.

Ferragus - only read it because of the “there’s a secret society in La Comédie Humaine” premice.

La Duchesse de Langeais - funnier once you learn exactly why Balzac wrote it

La Fille aux yeux d’or - Marsay is a dick and I love it

Le Colonel Chabert - SO. GOOD.

La peau de chagrin - This year’s mandatory reading for highschoolers. I pity them.

La Rabouilleuse - Ft the most punchable asshole you’ll ever read in your life

La maison du chat qui pelote – which does not mean, as I initially thought « the house of the cat who plays with a ball of yarn »

Mémoires de deux jeunes mariées - Both very good and quite sad, I couldn’t say why

Le Curé de Tours - Beware the Old Maids, they’ll ruin your life if you don’t treat them well. Pettiness is not a crime, except when it is.

Pathologie de la vie sociale - no recollection of it

History

Les bas-fonds, naissance d’un imaginaire - Very good! Required reading if you love 19th century (and early 20th) literature

La vie quotidienne des religieux au Moyen-âge - Read for documentation purposes

La vie quotidienne des templiers - ditto

La vie quotidienne sous le Directoire - ditto. Quite interesting!

La vie quotidienne des français sous Napoléon, Tulard - I had to hunt it down, but it was worth it. Tulard knows his stuff.

La vie quotidienne à Florence au temps de Dante - Read in Florence, of course.

La vie quotidienne en Italie au temps de Machiavel - To carry on after the previous one.

Yeah, I own quite a lot of these books.

Les jours sans : l’alimentation en temps de guerre - Read it before, but worth it. It’s always good to see history from the side of everyday life.

Pour vous mesdames ! La mode en temps de guerre - Disappointing.

Les Douze heures noires, la nuit à Paris au XIXè siècle - SO GOOD. But I said this before.

Le monde du crime sous Napoléon - Jean Tulard again. Still knows his stuff, but it’s more trivia than a real historical study

Manga

I have to read quite a lot of them for my work. It’s hard, I know. I read the whole series, unless specified

Thermae Romae - still a favourite

Vinland Saga - everyone should read Vinland Saga. Everyone.

Angel Sanctuary 1-20 - Sadly does not hold up today.

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun - One of my favourite new series. I laud it (and sell it) every chance I can.

Look Back - are you an artist? Read this.

Nonnonbâ, Mizuki Shigeru - a very sweet story. But then I love Mizuki’s work.

Berserk 1-4 - good art, but I’m not sold on the story. I’ll try again, I think.

Spy x Family - For once, a series that is both popular and good enough for me to sell to parents who don’t know anything about manga

The Apothicary’s diaries, 1-5 - Not bad, maybe even good, but I don’t get the hype around it

Atelier of Witch Hat, 10 - read this series. That is all.

Kitchen of Witch Hat - Exactly what I want: short, slice of life stories in a fantasy world, centered around food.

Heaven’s Design team 1 - Not bad.

Beastars 21&22 - Good ending to a great series

DanDaDan - the other of my favourite new series. Highly recommended if you’re not allergic to absurd stuff.

Chouchin X 1&2 - Can’t get behind this, sorry. And yet I loved Tokyo Ghoul.

Comics

Not much to say about this section, I’m afraid.

Three Joker

The Joker : 80 years

I, Joker (yeah, it was a Joker binge)

Batman : Year one

Beasts of Burden

The Ex-People - a nice indie comic ft an immortal horse (among others)

The entire Calvin & Hobbes series - as often

Franco-belgian comics

Les cahiers d’Esther 3 – 7

Journal d’un ingénu 3 - 4

Le Projet Jules Verne

E.C. Jacobs, le rêveur d’apocalypse

La Marque jaune - directly linked to the one above.

Jours de sable - an indie comic about the Dustbowl. Both excellent and depressing

L’arabe du futur 6 - READ IT

Mystery & Thrillers

Messieurs les hommes, S. Antonio - San Antonio is (was?) a big name in the roman de gare genre. The language used is worth bearing the sexism of the MC (in par for the course for a novel written in the 50s, but still)

La Daronne - a very fun read

The Cuckoo’s Call

Career of Evil

Lethal White

Troubled Blood - All of these are good, but I especially loved this one + Career of Evil (bc BÖC)

The Shawshanks Redemption

Du plomb dans la tête – Absolutely bad. Doesn’t help that it was supposed to be a revenge story, and instead I got a badly written pseudo-shocking thriller. Blah.

Which strenghtens my theory that women just write better thrillers than men.

Contemporary, fantasy & YA

Game Changer, N. Shusterman

A Deathly Education – Why don’t I see anything about this series anywhere ? It’s so good.

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, V. Schwab - aka I think one of the only YA writers worth reading past 25

Legends and Lattes – The best coffeshop slice of life fantasy I had the pleasure of reading. The only one in existence, which is a crying shame

Gideon the Ninth - no need to say anything about it. Tumblr knows it’s a masterpiece

Âge Tendre, C. Beauvais - A sweet read, and cleverly written, too

Les petites reines, C. Beauvais

Vampyria 3, V. Dixen – See my comment about Deathly Education. We’ve got a dystopian YA series where Louis XIV is a vampire and no one talks about this ?

Hogfather

Equal Rites

Mort

The Truth - Yeah, I re-read a bit of Discworld. Whenever I find myself in a reading slump, Pratchett’s always got my back.

Others :

Vers la sobriété heureuse, P. Rabbi

L’humanité en péril 2, Vargas

Tried reading more books about ecology and sobriey but it’s quite depressing.

[gellavonhamster]

monthly media recap: april 2023

Local Woman Still Can't Shut Up About the D'Artagnan Romances (& other stuff)

read:

The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas - the third and final of the d'Artagnan Romances, three huge ass volumes that are published as three separate books in English, I believe? I think this might actually be my favourite Musketeers book - I highly enjoyed both the court soap opera and the Man in the Iron Mask subplot, and really appreciated the Themes and Motifs re: the four musketeers being these mythical figures who eventually pass into myth to clear the way for different, younger and more ordinary people (rambled about it a little here). I spent three long novels finding the protagonists annoying only to cry my eyes out at their fate in the end (I'll admit I warmed up to them as they grew older, though - eventually it was less of "these fucking guys" and more of "my uncles who are the Worst"). Also, Aure de Montalais is now definitely my favourite girlie in these books after Constance and Milady - really fond of this little shit who schemes and plots but at the end of the day still cares

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - an easy, engrossing read. I didn't care that much about the characters, but I enjoyed the atmosphere and the conflicting perspectives of the same events

+ progress on the Vulgate Cycle: read Part V and VI of Lancelot and started The Quest for the Holy Grail, also started reading The Terror by Arthur Machen

watched:

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) - I don't know shit about DnD, but just as a movie it's fun and cute! It is hilarious, but also treats the fantasy genre earnestly, and, thanks to that, is very heartfelt

Renfield (2023) - I hoped it'll be good, and it was! Wrote about it a bit here

Carnival Row (s3, 2019-2023) - very rushed, some plot twists looked like they came out of nowhere. Also that one character shouldn't have died, and the ending in general is pretty unsatisfying. Which is a pity, because the concept and aesthetics of this show are great

Les Trois Mousquetaires: D'Artagnan (2023) - the plot, while close to the first part of the book, was changed a bit, so that was interesting. Alas, this film forgets that the book's a comedy to a great extent and tries to be a Gritty Action Movie, which makes the result kinda dull. Also visually it's a disaster, another case of "oh, in the past everyone only wore brown and was dirty". I thought cinema has evolved past that? And the casting choices are. Choices. But at least d'Art & Constance were cute and Eva as Milady was blonde for like 5 minutes, lol

+ watching the TV adaptation of Daisy Jones & The Six and, obviously, Yellowjackets (wilderness baby AND the reunion of the older versions of the characters this week, holy SHIT)