No Subject

[john]

hey everyone. I dont understand the book at all. wot does iron have too do with Porthos? This such a silly billy book. I rate it 10 out of 10. Well done! best book of the year award goes to harry potter.

[Unregistered]

This is just a thought, but here's my take on the ending. D'Artagnan's last words are that he will soon se Porthos and Athos, but he bids Aramis farewell forever. Why? Aramis will eventually die - unless he did something unforgivable. The king has switched favorites after an absence by D'Artagnan and Aramis is back in favor. Maybe Aramis pulled off the switch in the end.

[Lianne]

A depressing ending? How bad would the book have been if they all lived happily ever after? The book is fantastic, my copy is so battered, I've read it that many times. The characters need to die, it just shows how close to reality these characters actually are. If they hadn't died, it would have been such a let down because who wants a happily ever after ending. Not me! Well done Dumas

[verily]

Umm. I don't understand your confusion. Porthos was not the man in the iron mask! I found the book wonderfully well-written and profound in revealing universal truths. Posthumous kudos for DA MAN in France at the time, Monsieur Dumas!

[verily]

It is entirely realistic for men who led such dangerous lives to die. Dumas' book is to be commended for showing the truth. Perhaps war would not be embarked upon so readily if more people were as realistic as Dumas' about people with "action packed" lives and their sometimes untimely ends. Dumas' own father had risen to the rank of top general in France by the age of 31, but died before he made enough to leave his family much of an inheritance. Ironically, death is a fact of life for military men. Happy endings are nice and are sometimes realistic, too. But it takes nothing away from the brilliance of Dumas that he showed the ultimate price the soldier sometimes pays.

[verily]

I loved it. Dumas was a genius who wrote a brilliant book. As I said earlier, it profoundly reveals universal truths. It is particularly admirable that Dumas was a black man who overcame poverty and prejudice to write some of the most well-loved, action-packed literature the world has ever known. I believe the Three Muskateers was recently found to be the most performed literary work in history! And with good reason. The Man is the Iron Mask is even better for its gentle, moral profundity.

[Margot]

Um, what's with the end? Is that depressing or what? I mean, they all die, except for Aramis, who for some weird reason, is back in favor with the king. It's not a nice death, either: Porthos gets crushed by rocks, Athos just gets depressed and lies down and dies, and D'Artagnan gets blown up by a cannon. Not cool.<br>