spoiler visualizarluscazenriqué 11/12/2023
A collection of short stories and the première of Arsène Lupin, a total personification of a "like a boss" stereotype in the role of a "professional" burglar who steals really expensive items and, in principle, always has the control of every situation. I discovered it after watching the Lupin Netflix series (Leblanc really would get a lot of followers due to it today). I really got curious about the character and his stories and ended up getting this first one to check.
It's really admirable how Leblanc strolls through different forms of narrating the facts - either by a "disguised Lupin", in first person or by his friend who archives most of them, in the third person. The building of the narratives is fairly objective and the few connections between stories are very cool ([Spoiler] particularly the one involving mrs. Nelly)
By default I don't like bad character protagonists. I'd cheer for Lupin's prison in every act of crime he does, as he doesn't even do it for "a greater unnoticed good who'll bring justice in the end" - as it happens at the series, for instance. So I just see it as a group of stories where a burglar steals rich people and doesn't get arrested when it's not his plan.
[Spoiler] Sherlock Holmes is often mentioned as "the perfect detective", and it's so corny how it seems to build this image for him, particularly in the last chapter, when he finally would enter the story just to end up being fooled by Lupin, so the thief again is shown as the unbeatable one.
People into thief and crime stories maybe would think it worths it to give it a try.