hopefullyliterate's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely one of Leblanc's finest. However, I like to address the negatives before the positives first though, so let's start with that.
I believe another reviewer picked up on this but Maurice Leblanc once again displays a fundamental misunderstanding of women as 3 dimensional human beings. Though this is a facet of the time period he's writing in, it is still important to address this as it has disturbing parallels to modern day misogyny. Women are either pure or evil in his stories and this is on full display with how the ingenue Clarisse d'Etigues compares sharply to the femme fatale Countess of Cagliostro. Arguably, the Countess' role as a villain could be attributed to masculine fears of a woman in control of her sexuality.
Onto what I liked. I'd say that this, Arsene Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes, and the Hollow Needle are my top 2 favorites of the series. The mystery is gripping and has the characteristic trickster quality of the earlier novels blended with the author's affections for the beloved Normandy of his youth. I heard that Leblanc wrote this one about 20 years he wrote the first book and wanted to return to the original flavor of his earlier stories. The effort paid off excellently- lots of twists and turns and fast paced action.
Thoughts on the characters: Barring the Queen's Necklace short story, this story has the youngest Lupin, 20 year-old Raoul Andresy: brash, reckless, with a dash of his older self's dangerously sharp intellect without the life experience, and definitely more than a little inconsiderate. He may be a well educated young man, but he thinks with his libido over his intellect more than once in this story. .
I believe another reviewer picked up on this but Maurice Leblanc once again displays a fundamental misunderstanding of women as 3 dimensional human beings. Though this is a facet of the time period he's writing in, it is still important to address this as it has disturbing parallels to modern day misogyny. Women are either pure or evil in his stories and this is on full display with how the ingenue Clarisse d'Etigues compares sharply to the femme fatale Countess of Cagliostro. Arguably, the Countess' role as a villain could be attributed to masculine fears of a woman in control of her sexuality.
Onto what I liked. I'd say that this, Arsene Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes, and the Hollow Needle are my top 2 favorites of the series. The mystery is gripping and has the characteristic trickster quality of the earlier novels blended with the author's affections for the beloved Normandy of his youth. I heard that Leblanc wrote this one about 20 years he wrote the first book and wanted to return to the original flavor of his earlier stories. The effort paid off excellently- lots of twists and turns and fast paced action.
Thoughts on the characters: Barring the Queen's Necklace short story, this story has the youngest Lupin, 20 year-old Raoul Andresy: brash, reckless, with a dash of his older self's dangerously sharp intellect without the life experience, and definitely more than a little inconsiderate. He may be a well educated young man, but he thinks with his libido over his intellect more than once in this story. .
cuavia's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
More...