Discovering a lost classic

I have been reading The Man in the Iron Mask this past week. It is the final volume in the Three Musketeers series of books. The book has been extremely exciting to read. Whereas I had seen the Three Musketeers Movie, and therefore was familiar with the basic plot outlines, I knew nothing about the Iron Mask book. Every page has been a new revelation, a new adventure, and something I was dying to find out how it would end.

I actually prefer to read a book in a single sitting—if at all possible, because it makes the book more enjoyable, and it allows me to get into the world that is created by the author in a more complete fashion. Of course, there are practical things such as work, and life in general that can interfere with the goal of single sitting book consumption.

With The Man in the Iron Mask, I was unable to read it in a single sitting because I got involved in a couple different projects around the house that prevented this. In fact, I recently picked up the book after a three week hiatus. The good thing about Dumas’s writing is that he originally wrote the novels for serialization in a newspaper, and therefore he provides a number of transitions between chapters to help readers to keep up with the progression. At over 600 pages in length, it is a book that requires a decent level of commitment to finish, but it reads extremely well, and the pages seem to fly by.

If I were going to relate the book to the world of business, I would start by emphasizing commitment to ones friends and co-workers. One might see examples of thinking outside the box, and responding in an engaging manner to unexpected challenges that might arise. But mostly the book is just a fun book to read, an excellent story, and a source of relaxation while one enjoys a different world, a different culture, and a different time. In short, it is a timeless classic.