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Arsène Lupin

 Arsène Lupin is a french fictional character who not many outside of France know. If you are french, however, you have most likely heard of him the same way we have heard about James Bond or Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes specifically is compared to Lupin a lot, however, they have one large difference. Sherlock Holmes solves mysteries, he is a detective, but Arsène Lupin is on the other side of the law, he is a gentleman burglar.

    Arsène Lupin was introduced in a series of short stories in the Magazine "Je Sais Tout" in 1905 by the author Maurice Leblanc. Leblanc continued with his character and wrote many more books. In the next 36 years, he wrote 17 novels and 39 novellas about Lupin. He even wrote an additional 4 stage-plays about Lupin. Getting back to the Sherlock Holmes comparison, Holmes was featured in some of the Lupin installments (in some installments he was named "Herlock Sholmes" because of legal battles with Arthur Conan Doyle). Leblanc only stopped writing Lupin stories when he died in 1941, but that was not the end of all stories about Lupin. 

    In the 1970s the writing duo Boileau-Narcejac was given permission to write 5 extra Lupin novels. Additionally, in 2011, a lost Lupin installment was released after having been found by one of Leblanc's descendants. This was the end of the official or authorized Lupin saga. Obviously, Lupin being a french cultural icon, it only makes sense that there have been countless films, books, and plays featuring Lupin that are not apart of the "official canon".

    This brings us to 2021 when the Netflix show Lupin has come out to make the character known among wider audiences. The show does not technically feature Lupin, but it draws heavy inspiration from the stories, and the main character bases himself off of the Lupin after having read the books. With a second part of the show coming out soon, it seems like Arsène Lupin is only getting more popular.

-Coleman

Comments

  1. LisaFebruary 23, 2021 at 11:47 AM

    I really liked your post, especially your introduction. I had never heard of Arsène Lupin before, so it was really cool to read about him, and the introduction made it really easy to understand his role in France. I might check out a few of Leblanc's stories and maybe even the Netflix show. I also really liked the detail about how Leblanc changed Sherlock Holmes' name to Herlock Sholmes lol. Overall, great job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Evan W.March 12, 2021 at 5:31 PM

    The gentleman burglar is a classic trope and one that I love to see. Too bad it isn't super common, but maybe that a good thing so we don't get an oversaturation of the same character traits.

    ReplyDelete

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