Quote:
Originally Posted by astrangerhere
That seems a penny for a pound to how Dumas treated most of his women. They were commodities - marriageable or otherwise. I realize that this is partially a product of the system that divested women of all their property and vested it into a husband at marriage, but it does not make it any less palatable.
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I've never, after four tries, been able to finish TTM. And I have, absolutely, tried. I simply can't.
It's not particularly the treatment of the women, although it's despicable by the standards of any point in time, after the cave. Sure, men of the time treat women like property, yadda, but that's not
quite the same thing as what occurs in TTM. The callous disregard for the effect that their behavior has, upon their various lovers, the results after they've been tricked or cajoled into stealing money/jewels from their husbands, etc., isn't given a moment's thought.
I simply don't see, time period or otherwise, what "Chivalry" or "honor" exists in the book. Nor humor, unless you're partial to the sort of crude, mean-spirited humor that infects 12-y.o. boys. (And out of which they grow, hopefully.)
"Romantic heroes?" In whose book, no pun intended? I see absolutely nothing romantic about any of them, in any sense of the word. I find them pretty loathsome, all in, on all fronts. The beating of the valet--and the valet seems to
approve of this, mind you (rather than being driven to no longer consider leaving, through sheer fear and intimidation, which seems much more the thing)--the contemplated beating of the women...I
just can't get through this book. It's at best repugnant, as are the characters, pretty much
ALL of them. (It's like these modern-day "dramas" on Netflix, HBO, etc., where every single character is some unlikeable creation, flawed in some fundamental way, so that you can't empathize with, relate to or even "root for" anyone. That the stories have to go so far out of the norm, to be considered "interesting" that we're all being desensitized to just how perversely disgusting they are...and no, before anyone thinks it, I'm
not talking about people's sexuality, not within any of the norms, or modern-norms, I should say.)
If the so-called heroes were
actually heroic, in any sense of the word, I could probably slog through it. Just fighting in a war, or having a swordfight, isn't in and of itself, heroic. That's action, yes--not heroism. If they showed
any loyalty, whatsoever, to anyone else, male, female,
HORSE, (yes, Catlady, I had the exact same reaction. I'm surprised he didn't sell the poor pony to the meat man...)...to call them a band of thugs is praise.
I've tried various translations; I've tried reading it in smaller bits, to make it less repulsive to me in smaller bites, but...I just can't get there from here. And their big "score," managing to chase down and execute a woman (for the 2nd time, mind you)...my, what big grand heroes you are!! A woman that has been, arguably, driven certainly in large part to her behavior by the priggish prideful behavior of her former husband, who thinks that a brand means he should HANG HER TO DEATH.
I simply do not see that the abhorrent behavior in question is related to the period of time. We're not talking about slavery here, or the practice of dowries, or anything that we tell ourselves is something that's occurred in the past, that we've grown out of, etc.
I fail to see that we'd give a pass to some man, some trickster or con artist, convincing a woman to steal from her husband, today, or that we'd think it was morally admirable. Why is it different for TTM? The boy, D'Artagnan, promises his father to take great care of this loyal pony--and promply doesn't. A promise given, with zero intent to honor it. Sure, it's "just" a horse, but that's not the point, is it? An allegedly loving husband, finds out today that his wife spent a year in prison, let's say, for being a thief, and shoots her. Is that remarkably different than what Athos did?
The behavior that is
so odious
isn't related to the time period. We're not talking about that, in any way, manner, shape or form. I think most of us can look past behavior that's related to a point in time; we can read Mark Twain, etc.
I simply can't tell myself that the decidedly non-heroic antics of this gang is based in that. It seems, rather, to be based in an utterly narcissistic, nearly-sociopathic disregard for the lives, the quality of live, the feelings or existence of anyone beyond themselves. The only reason, IMHO, that this book has survived as it has is because the "high points" of the book--the alleged honorable swordfights, working for the "good guys" etc., are what get remembered and what are portrayed in the myriad movies, all of which ignore completely the more-disgusting, and more-telling, behavior of our "heroes."
I have thousands of books in my home, more on my Kindles, and I can count on one hand the number that I've never finished. This counts as one of them.
FWIW.