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Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin
by Maurice LeBlanc

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156041.Extraordinary_Adventures_of_Arsene_Lupin?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172261456m/156041.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156041.Extraordinary_Adventures_of_Arsene_Lupin?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1569298.Maurice_LeBlanc">Maurice LeBlanc</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26005125?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 4 of 5 stars<br/>	I am sure that I had to read an Arsene Lupin story at some point in my 9 years of French classes.  I do know that we read a good number of short stories.  I also know that it was a very rare instance when I actually caught the surprise by the end of the story.  The French seem to have a particular talent for throwing in a twist in the end of a story that is so bizarre and funny that if you are unsure of your vocabulary, you can never catch, because what you are reading just doesn’t fit with what you thought was happening.  
<br/>	That is exactly the type of stories contained in this volume, except this time, they are translated into English, so a reader will be able to catch what is going on.  The stories are about Arsene Lupin, a psychologically calculating burglar who lives in turn of the century Paris, and terrorizes the rich for his own sport and financial gain.  Each of these stories has a twist.  Usually, it is based on the fact that the speaker does not tell us who Arsene Lupin is (he is usually in disguise) until well into the story.  In a few instances, you are most of the way through the story before you discover that the speaker is Arsene Lupin, rather than the usual narrator.  The stories always had at least one surprise that made me laugh out loud, and they never seem contrived.
<br/>	The back of the volume says that Lupin is often called “the French counterpart to Conan Doyle’s creation Sherlock Holmes.”  I would agree with that, with a significant qualifier.  Lupin is the Holmes of “A Scandal in Bohemia,” rather than the Holmes of some of the other stories.  He depends less on observation than playing on the psychology of his victims.  Lupin uses the mind and imagination of others to pull off his stunts.  Thus, he is more like Holmes trying to get into the safe with the scandalous information than Holmes trying to solve an impossible murder case.  Given that “A Scandal in Bohemia” is the best of the Holmes short stories (and in my opinion the second best of the entire Holmes cannon, after “The Sign of the Four,”) I would say that my qualification is a complement to Leblanc.
<br/>	The stories are short enough to make for good bedtime reading when you are tired need to unwind for about a half an hour.  I highly recommend this story to anyone who likes a good heist story.      
<br/>
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/778342?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Benjamin's review
rating:
bookshelves: fiction
recommended for: People who like a good heist story

I am sure that I had to read an Arsene Lupin story at some point in my 9 years of French classes. I do know that we read a good number of short stories. I also know that it was a very rare instance when I actually caught the surprise by the end of the story. The French seem to have a particular talent for throwing in a twist in the end of a story that is so bizarre and funny that if you are unsure of your vocabulary, you can never catch, because what you are reading just doesn’t fit with what you thought was happening.
That is exactly the type of stories contained in this volume, except this time, they are translated into English, so a reader will be able to catch what is going on. The stories are about Arsene Lupin, a psychologically calculating burglar who lives in turn of the century Paris, and terrorizes the rich for his own sport and financial gain. Each of these stories has a twist. Usually, it is based on the fact that the speaker does not tell us who Arsene Lupin i...more I am sure that I had to read an Arsene Lupin story at some point in my 9 years of French classes. I do know that we read a good number of short stories. I also know that it was a very rare instance when I actually caught the surprise by the end of the story. The French seem to have a particular talent for throwing in a twist in the end of a story that is so bizarre and funny that if you are unsure of your vocabulary, you can never catch, because what you are reading just doesn’t fit with what you thought was happening.
That is exactly the type of stories contained in this volume, except this time, they are translated into English, so a reader will be able to catch what is going on. The stories are about Arsene Lupin, a psychologically calculating burglar who lives in turn of the century Paris, and terrorizes the rich for his own sport and financial gain. Each of these stories has a twist. Usually, it is based on the fact that the speaker does not tell us who Arsene Lupin is (he is usually in disguise) until well into the story. In a few instances, you are most of the way through the story before you discover that the speaker is Arsene Lupin, rather than the usual narrator. The stories always had at least one surprise that made me laugh out loud, and they never seem contrived.
The back of the volume says that Lupin is often called “the French counterpart to Conan Doyle’s creation Sherlock Holmes.” I would agree with that, with a significant qualifier. Lupin is the Holmes of “A Scandal in Bohemia,” rather than the Holmes of some of the other stories. He depends less on observation than playing on the psychology of his victims. Lupin uses the mind and imagination of others to pull off his stunts. Thus, he is more like Holmes trying to get into the safe with the scandalous information than Holmes trying to solve an impossible murder case. Given that “A Scandal in Bohemia” is the best of the Holmes short stories (and in my opinion the second best of the entire Holmes cannon, after “The Sign of the Four,”) I would say that my qualification is a complement to Leblanc.
The stories are short enough to make for good bedtime reading when you are tired need to unwind for about a half an hour. I highly recommend this story to anyone who likes a good heist story.
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