Arsene Lupin [Paperback]

Maurice LeBlanc and Edgar Jepson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2003

LeBlanc's creation, gentleman thief Arsene Lupin, is everything you would expect from a French aristocrat -- witty, charming, brilliant, sly . . . and possibly the greatest thief in the world. In this classic tale, Lupin plans -- and pulls off -- the theft of priceless paintings for his own private collection. His brilliant effrontery in the face of the police dares them to catch him . . . with spectacular results!

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Wildside Press; Wildside Press edition (January 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587157020
• ISBN-13: 978-1587157028
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,307,360 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest character ever., October 7, 2002

By 

J R Zullo (São Paulo, Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arsene Lupin (Paperback)

I began to read the books by Maurice Leblanc when I was a teenager, and since them I read them all. Since I'm blessed with the gift of forgetting plots, stories, characters and such, I could read those books featuring Arsene Lupin as many times as I wanted, and I always enjoyed them as if I was reading them for the first time.

Leblanc was able to create the most spectacular character of all time. Better than Sherlock Holmes, better than Hercule Poirot, Auguste Dupin, better than anything I have ever read till today (I'm 25 now).

Lupin is, to say little, complex. He is capable of loving and hating with the same passion. He can hate a friend and he can love an enemy with all his heart. Leblanc thought him as a Robin Hood of his time. Possessing a fine eye for art, books, women and deciphering secrets, Lupin has lived many lifes as different people, each one better than the other. In his bboks, Leblanc created the plots using parts of french history, including treasures, landscape, hidden tunnels, immortal characters, wars, etc.

This collection of short stories is just an introduction to the wonderful world of Arsene Lupin and to his world. There are many books featuring Lupin, and in my opinion the best are, in order:

813; The hollow needle; Crystal Stopper; Teeth of the tiger; The Comtesse de Cagliostro; The eight strokes of the clock; The Eunerville Secret. All these books are wonderful adventures, and should be re-edited in english as soon as possible.

Grade 9.5/10

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great Mystery!, June 23, 2002

By 

Andrew Dobson "AKA 'Tom Preston" (Bloomington, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arsene Lupin (Hardcover)

Arsene Lupin, for those of you who don't know him, is a Gentleman Burgler. He robs from only the extremely wealthy, and usually, the most corrupt people who deserve it. His methods are playfull, and he will often send a letter to the police, the victims, and newspapers before he committs a crime to give them forwarning, which in turn makes his robberies even more daring and unique. Lupin has it all!
This book deals with a tale about a Duke who is just returning from an Antartica Adventure only to find that his best friends house is about to be robbed by Lupin (and has in the past). Once the ball gets rolling, every new fact and clue twists the plot and changes the motives. How does Lupin do it? You'll Just have to find out.
This is a great series by Maurice Leblanc. I would recomend reading "Homelock Shears vs Arsene Lupin" and "The Crystal Stopper" before this, just to get to know Lupin better.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars absolutely hilarious!, September 28, 2004

By 

Arsene Lupin "denaz" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arsene Lupin (Paperback)

Having read both Chinese and English versions of this book, I'd first establish that the English translation has a much better woven plot and greater tension between the characters. No doubt, we all know that Arsene Lupin is one extremely charming gentleman burglar, with a soft spot for women (esp. beautiful women). What made this reading so enjoyable (perhaps it's because I'm overtly sentimental and like romantic novels) is partly because of the romantic 'subplot' involving Sonia and Arsene Lupin.

Of course, I personally think that this is not really typical of Maurice Leblanc himself to write such a mushy lovey-dovey subplot and I wonder if Edgar Jepson co-wrote this book with him, or only after Leblanc had passed away. (Then again, it doesn't matter, since I did like the mushy bits anyway. They were absolutely hilarious!) Other Lupin books that I've read were certainly more capable of creating essential suspense, for e.g. The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar (N.B. This book might have been revised and edited from Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar. I'm not too sure, because this was written by the mystery writing team, Boileau-Narcejac.)

I do agree that the pace of the novel is a little slow, but perhaps it feels slow because it requires length to be able to reveal the full implications of certain details which is necessary to create suspense and tension. Characters might have been made to look diabolically extreme, in that Arsene Lupin always seems to be the good guy, and poor Guerchard takes on the baddie's role. However, one has to read the other Lupin works to understand how intelligent our dear Lupin is, and certainly much cleverer than the average detective.

I did thoroughly enjoy this book, but I have to give it only 4 out of 5 stars because I found it rather fairy-tale like, not quite characteristic of other Leblanc works which I truly adore and would rank them above Dolye's Sherlock Holmes.