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Fantômas #4
Tühi puusärk
The fourth book in the classic series featuring the Parisian master criminal! This novel was originally published in France in 1911, then translated and published in the US in 1917. It has remained out of print since then and copies of the original publication sell for hundreds of dollars. This book can occasionally be found as an online text, but be warned - those versions are missing the books ending. This is currently the only complete and unabridged version of A NEST OF SPIES available. This edition also contains a brief introduction and several rare images that trace Fantomas' influence on American popular culture.
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1911
11 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Marcel Allain
160 books41 followersMarcel Allain (1885-1970) was a French writer mostly remembered today for his co-creation with Pierre Souvestre of the fictional arch-villain and master criminal Fantômas.
The son of a Parisian bourgeois family, Allain studied law before becoming a journalist. He then became the assistant of Souvestre, who was already a well-known figure in literary circles. In 1909, the two men published their first novel, Le Rour. Investigating Magistrate Germain Fuselier, later to become a recurring character in the Fantômas series, appears in the novel.
Then, in February 1911, Allain and Souvestre embarked upon the Fantômas book series at the request of publisher Arthème Fayard, who wanted to create a new monthly pulp magazine. The success was immediate and lasting.
After Souvestre’s death in February 1914, Allain continued the Fantômas saga alone, then launched several other series, such as Tigris, Fatala, Miss Téria and Férocias, but none garnered the same popularity as Fantômas.
The son of a Parisian bourgeois family, Allain studied law before becoming a journalist. He then became the assistant of Souvestre, who was already a well-known figure in literary circles. In 1909, the two men published their first novel, Le Rour. Investigating Magistrate Germain Fuselier, later to become a recurring character in the Fantômas series, appears in the novel.
Then, in February 1911, Allain and Souvestre embarked upon the Fantômas book series at the request of publisher Arthème Fayard, who wanted to create a new monthly pulp magazine. The success was immediate and lasting.
After Souvestre’s death in February 1914, Allain continued the Fantômas saga alone, then launched several other series, such as Tigris, Fatala, Miss Téria and Férocias, but none garnered the same popularity as Fantômas.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 18, 2021
I am Fantômas!... I am he for whom the entire world is searching, whom none has ever seen, whom none can recognize!... I am Crime incarnated!... I am Night!... No human sees my face, because Crime and Night are featureless!... I am illimitable Power!... I am he who mocks at all the powers, at all the efforts, at all the forces!... I am Death!... I am Fantômas!
Utterly preposterous and improbable, full of unlikely coincidences, and more disguises and mistaken identities than a bagful of Shakespeare comedies, and often bafflingly confusing when the authors decide not to immediately make it clear which of the established characters are in the scene - exactly what I was anticipating!
As Souvestre and Allain were contracted to write a book per month, a certain formulaity and predictability in terms of plot are to be expected, as well as an occasional slapdash feel, but as I didn't want to be mentally exercised when I picked up this book, that was fine.
Despite knowing the ingredients, the exact dish being served is not always so certain, and there is still a lot of tension in the narrative, with part of the pleasure lying in figuring out which of the characters will turn out to be Fantômas. While for the series to continue, Fantômas must escape the clutches of Detective Juve and his journalist protege, Fandor, the interest is not if but how he will manage to evade capture.
In this instalment, espionage, military secrets and the security services are the trappings surrounding Fantômas's machinations. Written in the years approaching the Great War, there is some historical interest in the social and political anxieties being played upon, and some nationalist stereotypes about who are the ""good guys" and who are the "bad".
It's been a while since I read the previous books in the series, but this one strikes me as being more (intentionally) humorous than those.
Excellent genre fiction for when you just want to put your feet up and be swept along.
Utterly preposterous and improbable, full of unlikely coincidences, and more disguises and mistaken identities than a bagful of Shakespeare comedies, and often bafflingly confusing when the authors decide not to immediately make it clear which of the established characters are in the scene - exactly what I was anticipating!
As Souvestre and Allain were contracted to write a book per month, a certain formulaity and predictability in terms of plot are to be expected, as well as an occasional slapdash feel, but as I didn't want to be mentally exercised when I picked up this book, that was fine.
Despite knowing the ingredients, the exact dish being served is not always so certain, and there is still a lot of tension in the narrative, with part of the pleasure lying in figuring out which of the characters will turn out to be Fantômas. While for the series to continue, Fantômas must escape the clutches of Detective Juve and his journalist protege, Fandor, the interest is not if but how he will manage to evade capture.
In this instalment, espionage, military secrets and the security services are the trappings surrounding Fantômas's machinations. Written in the years approaching the Great War, there is some historical interest in the social and political anxieties being played upon, and some nationalist stereotypes about who are the ""good guys" and who are the "bad".
It's been a while since I read the previous books in the series, but this one strikes me as being more (intentionally) humorous than those.
Excellent genre fiction for when you just want to put your feet up and be swept along.
May 24, 2015
Another great pulpy entry in the Fantomas serial, but unfortunately in another execrable edition by print-to-order Lulu Press. Rife with typos, weird gaps in punctuation and poor translation choices (to be fair, the last may be original to the 1917 Brentano's edition on which it is based), I debated giving this particular edition an even lower rating, but the story is so much fun, and this was the only version in print when I purchased it a few months ago. I wouldn't want to infer that the novel itself isn't worth a read, but the constant hiccups in this edition do inhibit one's reading pleasure far too often. However, there's good news: the first five Fantomas novels are now available in handsome trade paperbacks from the Antipodes Press, and based on a quick browse of the fifth volume "A Royal Prisoner" which I've just purchased, they appear to be produced to a much higher standard. I'd urge anyone to bypass the one I'm reviewing for the 2014 Antipodes edition.
This Fantomas tale, originally published in France in 1911, is notable for its decidedly more political subtext, dealing as it does with spying and the theft of military secrets. Knowing in hindsight that WWI was only three years off only heightens the urgent relevance of the political tensions underlying the story. In this already charged climate it makes sense that Allain and Souvestre put their evil genius Fantomas in the service of the Kaiser's Germany, a nation feared and hated in France since the depredations and humiliation of the Franco-Prussian war of the 1870s. Of course we have the usual ingenious subterfuges, impersonations, and murders that always surround the masked villain, and they work very well in this new spy thriller context. I am increasingly impressed with the authors' ingenuity in devising complicated and compelling plots at unbelievable speed; these novels were originally issued only a month or two apart, and their story lines are impressive in their complexity and interconnectedness. The two collaborators must have kept flow charts to keep all the characters and their complicated histories straight! The Fantomas series remains a great entertainment for lovers of pulp fiction and literary villainy.
This Fantomas tale, originally published in France in 1911, is notable for its decidedly more political subtext, dealing as it does with spying and the theft of military secrets. Knowing in hindsight that WWI was only three years off only heightens the urgent relevance of the political tensions underlying the story. In this already charged climate it makes sense that Allain and Souvestre put their evil genius Fantomas in the service of the Kaiser's Germany, a nation feared and hated in France since the depredations and humiliation of the Franco-Prussian war of the 1870s. Of course we have the usual ingenious subterfuges, impersonations, and murders that always surround the masked villain, and they work very well in this new spy thriller context. I am increasingly impressed with the authors' ingenuity in devising complicated and compelling plots at unbelievable speed; these novels were originally issued only a month or two apart, and their story lines are impressive in their complexity and interconnectedness. The two collaborators must have kept flow charts to keep all the characters and their complicated histories straight! The Fantomas series remains a great entertainment for lovers of pulp fiction and literary villainy.
December 30, 2023
so everyone can have their identity changed at least five times but jerome fandor can't have his holiday...
February 28, 2024
I'm enjoying how the literary quality of these pulp thrillers improves as the series progresses! I admit that in these stories featuring three main characters who are all masters of disguise, I was getting a bit bored with the repeated script of "Read a scene in a new locale featuring only previously unintroduced characters talking about things that seem unrelated to the plot, and then once the scene has concluded, learn that X character was actually Juve/Fandor/Fantômas in disguise all along!" In this one, however, we are privy to the characters putting on their disguise first, and then the text itself keeps reminding you by using hyphenated character names (like "Juve-Vagaulame"), which makes for some way more intriguing scenes.
Personally I am not super invested in spy stories, but with the aforementioned masters of disguise it makes sense they'd all fit in one. Overall I felt the majority of the scenes were intriguing in their own ways. I really enjoyed the sheer cinematic quality of the scene of Fantômas in the thunderstorm delivering his big speech of how evil he is.
Personally I am not super invested in spy stories, but with the aforementioned masters of disguise it makes sense they'd all fit in one. Overall I felt the majority of the scenes were intriguing in their own ways. I really enjoyed the sheer cinematic quality of the scene of Fantômas in the thunderstorm delivering his big speech of how evil he is.
December 28, 2024
As enjoyable as ever, Fantomas is not as well written as some police/detective/crime novels, such as Ross Macdonald's, Raymond Chandler's or Michael Connolly's, to name three. For all his purported evil, Fantomas *does* seem to have a soft spot here and there for a character, and the book have a kind of Batman, or James Bond, touch in the unnecessary complications Fantomas sometimes adds. And, as always, the reader must suspend belief and accept that Fantomas, the detective Juve, and other characters are extraordinary masters of disguise. But with those caveats, the stories have their appeal and "A Nest of Spies" is superior to some in terms of plot.
July 31, 2025
The Fantômas novel where all the disguises reach previously unforeseen levels of madness with even Juve masquerading as someone who in turn is Fantomas, thereby temporarily making Juve Fantomas. Even Fan-dor briefly becomes Fan-tômas.
July 22, 2020
More than 1 impersonation as Juve continues to try to capture Fantomas.
July 14, 2014
This is my first disappointment in the Fantomas series. That's mainly because it felt utterly unlike a Fantomas book - perhaps the regime of publishing a novel a month was starting to take its toll, but this translation felt tired. Having said that that Fantomas books were churned out by writers Allain and Souvestre at an utterly unbelievable rate: truly astonishing. In 1911 10 Fantomas novels were published; in 1912, 13 novels; and in 1913, another 9 - a feat they managed by each writing alternate chapters. Unfortunately only 9 of these 32 books have been translated into English, which (along with the Arsene Lupin books) is another reason to learn French.
However, this book was missing something - and that something was Fantomas himself. What I want from Fantomas are ridiculously stupendous murders, that happen for no reason whatsoever: earlier books have had locked rooms filling with sand, the Orient Express used as a missile, dozens of rolling barrels of flaming tar and a sect of killer nuns. The closest this book had was being locked in a gypsy caravan with a hungry bear - and even that resulted in a rescue!
I felt cheated, I really did. This isn't what I read Fantomas books for, no Sir. Also, Fantomas is above merely stealing state documents - it's just too everyday.
Lets hope the next book - and the last that I can find translated into English - called "The Royal Prisoner", is a return to form
However, this book was missing something - and that something was Fantomas himself. What I want from Fantomas are ridiculously stupendous murders, that happen for no reason whatsoever: earlier books have had locked rooms filling with sand, the Orient Express used as a missile, dozens of rolling barrels of flaming tar and a sect of killer nuns. The closest this book had was being locked in a gypsy caravan with a hungry bear - and even that resulted in a rescue!
I felt cheated, I really did. This isn't what I read Fantomas books for, no Sir. Also, Fantomas is above merely stealing state documents - it's just too everyday.
Lets hope the next book - and the last that I can find translated into English - called "The Royal Prisoner", is a return to form
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews