The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (trans. Lawrence Ellsworth)

I read this before, but so long ago that I remembered next to nothing (I made some strange reading choices when I was a child) and I definitely did not expect how incredibly good it would be. I loved this book so much that I wish it were fifty times longer (I do know that there are about fifty sequels, but I feel like it just won't be the same). I was a bit apprehensive about the translation, because it's a very recent one and the translator is somehow associated with Dungeons and Dragons or something, but it was actually a very good translation, it doesn't have the terrible formality and dryness that seems to be the common characteristic of translations from French that I usually encounter, it's very lively and exciting, the word choice is good and the style well-rendered and sustained. I forgot just how amazing it feels to read a really great adventure story and get so invested in the characters. I also didn't remember (or didn't get it when I was little) how absolutely hilarious the first two-thirds of the books are. There's a definite shift in style towards seriousness and gravity with the beginning of the Siege of La Rochelle, but before that, I was rolling with laughter, and I sort of wish it had been that was the whole way through. It's also incredibly exciting and suspenseful, and I honestly have no idea why anyone has bothered to write an adventure novel since 1844, because I don't think anything can top this. I usually don't pay that much attention to plot, but I definitely did in this novel, and it was both fascinating and easy to follow. There's also something really visceral and alive about the characters; they immediately engaged my feelings, and I got really wound up in which ones I liked and which ones I disliked. I fell in love with the charming, erudite and amorous Aramis in about three seconds, he was definitely my favourite, with his constant declarations of going into the church while having about fifty mistresses. I also loved Milady, and actually was sort of on her side, since she was so clever, resourceful and delightfully evil. I didn't like d'Artagnan at all though, and heartily wished the Cardinal would destroy him, and I didn't like Athos much either, I don't feel that it's just alright that he tried to hang his own wife and then spent years whining about how his life is broken because of it. I really loved the way allegiances shift; enemies become friends and friends enemies (starting with d'Artagnan being about to duel with all the musketeers and becoming their best friend, and ending with d'Artagnan and Comte de Rochefort, one of the main villains of the book, becoming sworn friends). Even though the Cardinal is probably the central antagonist, he is far from being 'defeated' in the end, in fact he sort of also wins, by gaining the loyalty of d'Artagnan. I actually now want to read the other books about d'Artagnan, but I've heard they're not as good, and I'm afraid they definitely won't be as funny, which was what I liked best.