“What a pity that I am not an honest man!
Yesterday, I just finished reading “Arsène Lupin: Gentleman Burglar” by Maurice Leblanc. Lupin is one of the powerhouse names in the world’s literature, although I was quite confused seeing that there are not a lot of online discussions about the stories considering how famous he is. Even when it did, the only discussion place I could find is the Reddit’s channel /ayearoflupin. That said, there are ample mentions of its Netflix adaptation, a series with the same name, even shorter: “LUPIN”
As much as I would love to yap about this series (you have to watch it!), this post would be about the classic stories, the ones that inspired the Netflix series.
At first, I thought the story would be the usual Agatha Christie-ish: One book for one story, so I got pleasantly surprised when I found out the book is more similar to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous “Sherlock Holmes”: One book, comprised of short stories! While I enjoy reading detective stories, I admit that this type of arrangement of having short stories in one book is one of my favorites, too, since I don’t have to hold my focus for far too long and can easily hold my pace (yes, looking at you, Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose”.)
Since this work is such a classic, I don’t think I have a lot of comments to share, other than Arsène Lupin has been such an icon that inspired so many characters, even in anime and manga.
What I love about “Arsène Lupin: Gentleman Burglar” is how we also see this gentleman thief got caught, jailed, even fooled. I didn’t expect this because I had already grown accustomed to the main protagonist of the story always having the upper hand and consistently getting away unscathed. Perhaps this is the charm of classic works, as we also see the characters as human, as us. Just like Sherlock Holmes said, “I have been beaten four times — three times by men, and once by a woman.” I love how we also see the main character on their low points, and sometimes I caught myself thinking, “Lupin, you are being careless, my friend.” Another side of Lupin that I love is how sassy he is. The sarcasm is dripping, a jab to the riche nouveau, or those with money easily fooled with glitz and glam.
Arsène Lupin, the eccentric gentleman who operates only in the chateaux and salons, and who, one night, entered the residence of Baron Schormann, but emerged empty-handed, leaving, however, his card on which he had scribbled these words: “Arsène Lupin, gentleman-burglar, will return when the furniture is genuine.“
I also found it amusing seeing Sherlock Holmes — yes, that Holmes — appeared in one of the stories (“Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late”). Unfortunately, Conan Doyle’s lawyers asked Leblanc not to proceed with the character, which made Leblanc create a similar-ish detective character with the name “Herlock Sholmes”. Monsieur Leblanc, sir, the Gen Zs would call you “cringe”.
The only gripe I have about this book is my lack of knowledge and understanding of French and its history. I know I must have missed some important context on the story, which made me unable to appreciate the work on a deeper level. I got annoyed at myself when I saw someone on the subreddit channel mention Lupin’s disdain for the French class differences. The comment also made me realize that Lupin usually robbed from the rich and powerful, a bit of Robin Hood, if you will. That said, I’m not sure if we have a book about Lupin — and I wish we did — so I would allocate some time for myself to scour the Internet, looking for discussions and comments about our gentleman thief, Arsène Lupin.
Also, to continue on the next book.
