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A review by kynan
Arsene Lupin Vs. Herlock Sholmes by Maurice Leblanc
1.0
TL: Ugh. A poor interpretation of Holmes and Watson in an attempt to prove Lupin's worthiness to be Holmes' nemesis.
TL;DR: The cover claims that this book is "A Classic Tale of the World's Greatest Thief and the World's Greatest Detective". I'm not sold on the former claim and I found the portrayal of Holmes and, in particular, Watson to border on offensive. Watson, or "Wilson" as copyright claims required him to be named, is not even a parody, he's a lumbering idiotic dolt and Leblanc does everything he can to remove him from the story whenever he pops his head up. Herlock Sholmes (again, thanks copyright) is a better interpretation and the original material occasionally shines through but there's so much time dedicated to making a fool of him that the more nuanced and clever parodying is hidden. Additionally, I felt that the very first story removed Lupin's (dubious) claims from the first book that he's a harmless Robin Hood.
Complaining aside, there are elements of this book that are quite good! The Blonde Lady thread is very well done...and I think I've run out of nice things to say now actually. I've given this 1-star because, well, I legitimately didn't like it. 1-star is maybe harsh but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone, which I think effectively pushes it out of "OK" territory.
TL;DR: The cover claims that this book is "A Classic Tale of the World's Greatest Thief and the World's Greatest Detective". I'm not sold on the former claim and I found the portrayal of Holmes and, in particular, Watson to border on offensive. Watson, or "Wilson" as copyright claims required him to be named, is not even a parody, he's a lumbering idiotic dolt and Leblanc does everything he can to remove him from the story whenever he pops his head up. Herlock Sholmes (again, thanks copyright) is a better interpretation and the original material occasionally shines through but there's so much time dedicated to making a fool of him that the more nuanced and clever parodying is hidden. Additionally, I felt that the very first story removed Lupin's (dubious) claims from the first book that he's a harmless Robin Hood.
Complaining aside, there are elements of this book that are quite good! The Blonde Lady thread is very well done...and I think I've run out of nice things to say now actually. I've given this 1-star because, well, I legitimately didn't like it. 1-star is maybe harsh but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone, which I think effectively pushes it out of "OK" territory.