As Sherlock Holmes’ popularity grew into the early 20th century, French novelist Maurice Leblance wrote stories featuring a protagonist equal to Holmes in every detail, except for the side of the law he operated on. The gentleman burglar and man of a thousand disguises was nearly as successful as the great detective, appearing in more than a dozen novels and almost 40 short stories.
This 1907 publication is the first collection of stories to see print, consisting of nine stories that saw print in periodicals in the few years preceding. The collection opens with two very storng stories, “The Arrest” and “In Prison,” showing how being in captivity merely gives the great thief the best alibi possible. It does not keep him from masterminding criminal acts.
Similar to Holmes, Lupin shows extraordinary skills in disguise, dressing up both himself and others when needed. His attention to detail and fast-moving mind help him commit crimes, and when his sense of justice is insulted, to deliver a criminal to the police. This “Robin Hood” approach aids to his legend among the Parisian populace.
The volume includes a story that actually features Holmes, and in it the two men are presented as near-equals. Of course, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did not appreciate another author using his famous creation. The law was on Doyle’s side, so Leblance changed the name of “his” character to Herlock Sholmes. No, really.
Now that these stories have fallen into the public domain, Holmes’ name has been restored to the story for recent publications. I enjoyed these stories, although they did fall short of both Holmes and of Agatha Christie’s great detective, Hercule Poirot.
Source: The Classic TalesPodcast, which produces high-quality audio versions public domain literature.
Thoroughly enjoyed this Professor Alan. As I mentioned on Facebook, Ruth and I discovered Arsene Lupin because of being fans of the anime Lupin III. I always found it funny that Leblanc "borrowed" a character from another writer without permission because decades later his estate tried to sue the Japanese company that made Lupin III for the same reason, but were unsuccessful in their attempt, though it did delay the release of the Lupin III anime in the US for a while. Great review as always.
ReplyDeleteThoroughly enjoyed this Professor Alan. As I mentioned on Facebook, Ruth and I discovered Arsene Lupin because of being fans of the anime Lupin III. I always found it funny that Leblanc "borrowed" a character from another writer without permission because decades later his estate tried to sue the Japanese company that made Lupin III for the same reason, but were unsuccessful in their attempt, though it did delay the release of the Lupin III anime in the US for a while. Great review as always.
ReplyDelete