Arsene Lupin - The Original Classic Edition

These stories are forgotten classics-- in terms of truly excellent mystery stories, they rank right up there with the best of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. Arsene Lupin is no common pilferer-- hes a gentleman thief of the highest regard, and virtually a celebrity throughout France. He is constantly being pursued by Inspector Ganimard, his only worthy adversary, yet is never caught-- and while Lupin may be an unscrupulous, good-humored bandit on the surface, his larcenous actions end up aiding the common good as often as not. Lupin is something of a folk hero in France, having recently spawned an excellent animated cartoon series entitled Nighthood-- hopefully, in light of that, these wonderful old stories will be rediscovered. Arsene Lupin is now a classic; he is as famous as Napoleon, Cyrano de Bergerac or Gavroche. He embodies the utopic fighter of the industrial era, stealing from the rich, solving mysteries for the promise of a smile, playing with words and women. His remarks are always polite to women and vitriolic to the police that pursue him. Never vilent, he manages to escape all dangers with a smile. An absolute must read; he will make you dream and want to be a better person. This book is the perfect exemple of these attributes. I began to read the books by Maurice Leblanc when I was a teenager, and since them I read them all. Since Im blessed with the gift of forgetting plots, stories, characters and such, I could read those books featuring Arsene Lupin as many times as I wanted, and I always enjoyed them as if I was reading them for the first time. Leblanc was able to create the most spectacular character of all time. Better than Sherlock Holmes, better than Hercule Poirot, Auguste Dupin, better than anything I have ever read till today. Lupin is, to say little, complex. He is capable of loving and hating with the same passion. He can hate a friend and he can love an enemy with all his heart. Leblanc thought him as a Robin Hood of his time. Possessing a fine eye for art, books, women and deciphering secrets, Lupin has lived many lifes as different people, each one better than the other. In his bboks, Leblanc created the plots using parts of french history, including treasures, landscape, hidden tunnels, immortal characters, wars, etc. This collection of short stories is a fantastic introduction to the wonderful world of Arsene Lupin and to his world and it is simply excellent for any hardcore mystery fan.