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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Enjoyed the read - old fashioned storytelling was a nice change
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
After playing Persona 5, I was curious to see exactly who Arsène Lupin was. I really enjoyed the book, and laughed aloud when I read a comment about Holmlock Shears.
Arsène Lupin acabou por se mostrar um personagem fascinante, não é o ladrão usual, muito menos um cleptomaníaco. Num primeiro momento pensaria em um Robin Hood do século XIX, mas ainda se trata de uma definição insuficiente, pois nem sempre Lupin rouba para distribuir, embora por vezes o faça, inclusive ajuda a polícia em certas circunstâncias, mas muito mais como uma crítica, uma forma de ridicularizar a burguesia e a aristocracia da época, e suas normas e formas de conduta, de ser em sociedade, de suas convenções. Arsène Lupin é inclusive vítima dessas sociedades, mas para se perceber isso, é necessário ler o livro, uma leitura deliciosa.
A criação de uma sátira/crítica à Conan Doyle é hilária. Nem Herlock Sholmes é páreo ao incrível Lupin.
A criação de uma sátira/crítica à Conan Doyle é hilária. Nem Herlock Sholmes é páreo ao incrível Lupin.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I read this mostly to practice my French reading skills, and found it to be fairly easy going. Almost too easy, in fact. Proust, here I come! (Not so fast, buddy, read some more light-weights before you get to the heavy-weights...)
Anyway, it was a fun read, not so much who-dun-it as how-did-he-do-it? And it wasn't predictably structured. The first story recounts Lupin's arrest, making you think, huh? are we starting at the end? In reality, we're starting at the middle, and the middle is where it starts (sort of). The middle story, "Le sept de coeur" ("Seven of Hearts"), kind of explains the whole book (and is one of my favorites): "...the interpretation that I give certain acts of which we've only seen the exterior manifestations without getting into the secret motives or invisible mechanisms..." (my translation from the French) [1] So we've got these little stories that are puzzles, brain-teasers asking to be solved, without getting deep into back-stories or why-dun-it.
On the same page, chance is given its due: "...[it was] by chance...that I was the actor in a drama of which he was the marvelous director..." [2]
All in all a delightful read, especially if you like your heroes problematic. Trickster makes this world, as Lewis Hyde once wrote.
[1] "...l'interprétation que je donne de certains actes dont on n'avait vu que les manifestations extérieures sans en pénétrer les raisons secrètes ni le mécanisme invisible..." (pg 99)
[2] "...par hasard enfin que je fus acteur dans un drame dont il fut le merveilleux metteur en scène..." (pg 99)
Anyway, it was a fun read, not so much who-dun-it as how-did-he-do-it? And it wasn't predictably structured. The first story recounts Lupin's arrest, making you think, huh? are we starting at the end? In reality, we're starting at the middle, and the middle is where it starts (sort of). The middle story, "Le sept de coeur" ("Seven of Hearts"), kind of explains the whole book (and is one of my favorites): "...the interpretation that I give certain acts of which we've only seen the exterior manifestations without getting into the secret motives or invisible mechanisms..." (my translation from the French) [1] So we've got these little stories that are puzzles, brain-teasers asking to be solved, without getting deep into back-stories or why-dun-it.
On the same page, chance is given its due: "...[it was] by chance...that I was the actor in a drama of which he was the marvelous director..." [2]
All in all a delightful read, especially if you like your heroes problematic. Trickster makes this world, as Lewis Hyde once wrote.
[1] "...l'interprétation que je donne de certains actes dont on n'avait vu que les manifestations extérieures sans en pénétrer les raisons secrètes ni le mécanisme invisible..." (pg 99)
[2] "...par hasard enfin que je fus acteur dans un drame dont il fut le merveilleux metteur en scène..." (pg 99)
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was interesting in the beginning, while waiting for “the happening”, but it never appeared. All in all a quite boring read with no explanations to how Lupin managed to do what he did. Almost like a reversed Sherlock Holmes; albeit nowhere near as good.