# 3 Musketeers - um... interesting cover?



## vermontcathy (Feb 18, 2009)

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Musketeers-Complete-Version-ebook/dp/B002AJ88L2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1290445436&sr=1-1

I won't put the actual cover in case anyone is offended... but it's a naked woman, facing away... what's going on here? I'm not a prude, I don't care, I'm just very curious what's going on. Also somewhat funny that if you scroll down to the description, the first one is from School Library Journal, and starts with "grade 6 and up".


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## terryr (Apr 24, 2010)

vermontcathy said:


> http://www.amazon.com/Three-Musketeers-Complete-Version-ebook/dp/B002AJ88L2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1290445436&sr=1-1
> 
> I won't put the actual cover in case anyone is offended... but it's a naked woman, facing away... what's going on here? I'm not a prude, I don't care, I'm just very curious what's going on. Also somewhat funny that if you scroll down to the description, the first one is from School Library Journal, and starts with "grade 6 and up".


Maybe that was why Queen Anne was embarrassed.  Richelieu had compromising photographs...
And hey,  it's a great hook to get 12 year old boys (and up) to read the classics. It's a tasteful photo, at least.


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## kindlegrl81 (Jan 19, 2010)

It is probably a portrait from the time era of the book.  Classic novels like doing that.


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

Grade six and up sounds about right.  I know I would have bought that book for the cover alone when I was that age.


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2010)

kindlegrl81 said:


> It is probably a portrait from the time era of the book. Classic novels like doing that.


Er, no. It's a photo of a nekkid woman with a sepia tone.  She's too modern curvy to be period-specific.

The cover isn't appropriate for the book (not because I'm a prude. Because it doesn't make sense and doesn't covey the themes of the book). And the reviews (and even the info from the School Library Journal) looks like they are for different editions, not this one. It looks like some outfit repackaging public domain stuff and just slapping quasi-erotic covers on them. The publisher seems to be hoping naked woman on the covers sells books.

http://www.amazon.com/Vexin-CLassics/lm/R1LTCHNRL4TNO3


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## vermontcathy (Feb 18, 2009)

Well THAT'S interesting.. makes me reconsider buying the bible for kindle - is the whole thing as exciting as the cover?  And "Man-size" is pretty funny. I'm going to have to get a sample of one of these to see if they pulled any hijinx on the inside.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

For a rather high price, as well.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

That version of the book is public domain, so the creator can put on whatever cover.  The old translation is, ironically, supposed to more prudish and chaste than the original French.  Apperantly there were sexual innuendos and implied lesbianism that the English translator mollified.  Maybe the cover just wants to put back a little of what's missing.

In any case, readers might be better off paying for the modern translation even it's sans a nice butt on the cover.


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## Krink (Jun 18, 2009)

Vexin Classics maybe it should read Vixen Classics


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## MulliganAl (Nov 11, 2010)

See, that's what you get when you pay the extra $2.90 and get the $3.79 version over the $.89 version.


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

Geemont said:


> That version of the book is public domain, so the creator can put on whatever cover. The old translation is, ironically, supposed to more prudish and chaste than the original French. Apperantly there were sexual innuendos and implied lesbianism that the English translator mollified. Maybe the cover just wants to put back a little of what's missing.
> 
> In any case, readers might be better off paying for the modern translation even it's sans a nice butt on the cover.


There isn't much lesbianism in "The Three Musketeers," but it's definitely in "The Count of Monte Cristo." The veiling of it is very thin... And yep, the original translation gutted it all.

That cover could represent Milady as well, during one of her many trysts. Or even Constance during her affair with D'Artagnan.


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## Lori Devoti (Oct 26, 2010)

I loved The Three Musketeers and I can see how the cover "could" fit, but it certainly wouldn't have been my first choice of art...okay, not even my 1,000th choice....even from a marketing point of view. 
Lori


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Also, one review seems to be for an audio production, and others for the print book.


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

R. Reed said:


> Also, one review seems to be for an audio production, and others for the print book.


Reviews on Kindle editions of classics are ridiculously messy. I think anyone publishing can link their book to any other edition - and many people do. So if you're looking for a specific edition - and translation - you have to be very very careful!


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## Jan Strnad (May 27, 2010)

It just goes to show that you can't judge a butt by its cover. 

I mean, you can't judge a book by its butt.

No, wait. I mean...I don' t know what I mean. It's a butt. It's a book.

Was there a thought here?


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

God forbid children should see naked bodies! 

I would've liked to be able to see a fleur-de-lis somewhere on the naked chick...


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

nomesque said:


> God forbid children should see naked bodies!


If children happen to see nude artwork in museums and such, no biggie. But it does seem a little inappropriate to have a nude woman directly above a review from a middle school talking about how it's for Grade 6 and up. It's one thing for kids to happen to see nudity, it's another to target it right at them. I also don't understand what the cover has to do with the book! The publisher obviously just thought "this will grab people's attention!" without any regard for the target audience or content of the book.


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2010)

I thought I'd go for something provocative for my new edition of "Robinson Crusoe" coming out, so I'm using "Nude Descending a Staircase" by Picasso.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

We're talking about it.  The cover worked.


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2010)

Daniel Arenson said:


> We're talking about it. The cover worked.


Unless someone here actually bought it, then it didn't.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> Unless someone here actually bought it, then it didn't.


Which they probably won't have done because there are less expensive options.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Check out the cover for Frankenstein: http://www.amazon.com/Frankenstein-Modern-Prometheus-ebook/dp/B001DTB3UI/ref=cm_lmf_img_39

or better yet, The Adventure's of Huck Finn: http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Huckleberry-Finn-ebook/dp/B0019ENB8Y/ref=cm_lmf_img_30

Let me tell ya, give me those covers in high school, I might have paid more attention when reading them...


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

The mind boggles. . . . .


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2010)

That was a great scene in Huck Finn, with the naked woman with the water jug over her shoulder. What a literary masterpiece.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

And I never knew the bride of the monster, which Dr. Frankenstein tried to make, looked that good.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

R. Reed said:


> And I never knew the bride of the monster, which Dr. Frankenstein tried to make, looked that good.


Ah, but there is no "Dr. Frankenstein" in the novel. As written by Mary Shelly, Victor Frankenstein was only a _student_ of natural philosophy. He only became a "Dr." in the Hollywood versions.


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## sportourer1s (Oct 2, 2010)

Proof once again that there is no such thing as bad publicity


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

Okay, those covers for "Frankenstein" and "Huck Finn" are beyond ridiculous!  I can sort of see where a naked woman might come in in "3 Musketeers" (there are a couple.)  But the other two?!


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## Cathymw (May 27, 2010)

DYB said:


> Okay, those covers for "Frankenstein" and "Huck Finn" are beyond ridiculous! I can sort of see where a naked woman might come in in "3 Musketeers" (there are a couple.) But the other two?!


I thought the same thing. I was able to buy naked chick on 3 Musketeers, since D'Artagnan was a player. But I don't remember any naked women in Huckleberry Finn.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Cathymw said:


> I thought the same thing. I was able to buy naked chick on 3 Musketeers, since D'Artagnan was a player. But I don't remember any naked women in Huckleberry Finn.


But there were naked boys. . .pretty sure some skinny dippin' in the river happened. Or maybe that was in Tom Sawyer. . . . . .


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## Snorkledorf (Oct 18, 2009)

You can put Godward's Delphic Oracle on any book you like, and it'll increase my likelihood of purchasing it by 37%!


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> But there were naked boys. . .pretty sure some skinny dippin' in the river happened. Or maybe that was in Tom Sawyer. . . . . .


That was in _Leaves of Grass_ by Walt Whitman. The DTB has two naked boys with one reaching out to .... I'm on the iPhone and it's too difficult to show the link. But along the same lines as what's been shown here before.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Geemont said:


> Ah, but there is no "Dr. Frankenstein" in the novel. As written by Mary Shelly, Victor Frankenstein was only a _student_ of natural philosophy. He only became a "Dr." in the Hollywood versions.


Ok, but doctorate or not, he tried to make a female monster, and I doubt it looked like the woman on the cover of that edition.


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