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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mostly of academic interest, seriously needs new translation, December 12, 2010
This review is from: Memoirs of Vidocq: Master of Crime (NABAT) (Paperback)
As someone has pointed out, this book is more of anthropological/criminological/historical interest than a true story of Vidocq's life. Readers wishing to know more about the man himself should rather read one of the biographies on him. This 1935 translation really leaves a lot to be desired, one cannot translate 18th century French idiomatic expressions literally and expect them to be understandable to 21st century English readers, and so dozens of sentences cannot be understood correctly. In a way this is part of the charm of the book, as one is unexpectedly confronted with unusual but authentic expressions from so long ago. Frankly, Vidocq comes across as a far warmer character in his days of crime. When he turns into a snitch (police secret agent he calls it), he doesn't let any human feelings get in the way of his job. Tricking people into carrying out crimes with his help, then taking part in their arrest, today he would quite correctly be accused of entrapment by many law enforcement agencies. And remember that this was a time when forgers and repeat burglars, amongst many others, could be guillotined. His calmness at tricking men into giving themselves away, his insistence that they were actually grateful for ending their lives of crime, and his attendance at their executions, when they supposedly expressed their gratitude once more, left me with mixed feelings. In another anecdote, he got a wily female thief to fall in love with him, then pretended to fall seriously ill so that she would be forced to rob again to steal money for medicine for him. Of course, his agents were waiting for her and she ended up getting 7 years 'in the hulks at Brest', an unexplained but ominous term (prison ships?) which crops up repeatedly in the book. These stories are often related as examples of his genius or cleverness, but ones like this do no favours for his image as far as humanity goes. Describing his days of crime, when he often relates how lucky he is to evade capture, and later his detective days, when he mentions his luck at finding criminals, he seems to see no paradox in what he regards as being 'lucky'. The book seems partly a defence against a number of criminal charges against him, but the fact that, according to the foreword of the book, he left the police an extremely rich man, would seem to indicate that most of them were in fact true. Worth reading IMO for an interesting insight into an obscure part of history that is often overshadowed by the French Revolution, it can however only be recommended to readers over 21 who can penetrate a book which at times is not easy reading.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good book. So so translation, April 23, 2009
This review is from: Memoirs of Vidocq: Master of Crime (NABAT) (Paperback)
This is a great book in a translation from the 1930's that is pretty bad. It stumbles over idioms and slang so that some sentence make no sense at all. Still worth reading, but there has to be a better version.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Okay, so it's not exactly masterful writing, February 3, 2010
This review is from: Memoirs of Vidocq: Master of Crime (NABAT) (Paperback)
I read this book as more of an anthropological study. The story is great - a self-admitted swindler and ne'er do well turns around and not only becomes a detective, but sets the standard for how detectives work and operate. One of the problems with the book is also one of the most amusing - Vidocq isn't the most reliable narrator so you can never depend on him to tell the actual truth. Even when you feel like he's narrating the events accurately, you get the feeling he's not being exactly truthful with his motivations. The book is dated, unquestionably. However, it's still a fun read, the more so because it is - at least basically - true. I'd recommend it for anyone 16 and older, any younger and the archaic writing style may put the reader to sleep.
About the NABAT version of the book: It's hard to find a good printing of this book, so thanks for publishing it. It's nothing fancy, but the font is legible and the binder holds.
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