“Arsene Lupin and the Hollow Needle” by Maurice Leblanc
With its new series “Lupin” Netflix dropped a bomb on us. It has been going through the roof and is inspired by the stories of the gentleman burglar “Arsène Lupin” by Maurice Leblanc. Assana Diop (Omar Sy) portrays a modern version of Lupin, who takes his inspiration from the books. He battles against one of the richest men in France, who is not completely innocent. You will see Diop dressed as food delivery driver, member of the cleaning staff of the Louvre and policemen. The series is thrilling, funny and leaves the viewer mesmerized. To see how the original Lupin is like, I decided to read the books by Leblanc.
The Gentleman Burglar
“Arsène Lupin, the Gentleman Burglar” was the first story published on July 15th in 1905 in the French magazine “Je sais tout” (engl. I know everything). More than twenty stories followed until the 1940s. I was not the only one trying to get his hands on the first story of Lupin. They were completely sold out. As were most other Lupin books and later books only were available in French. So, I bought the first book that was available: “Arsène Lupin and the hollow needle” (original title “L’Aguille creuse”).
The Hollow Needle – L’Aguille creuse
First published on August 15th in 1908 in “Je sais tout” (pp.437), “The hollow needle” is about a mysterious break in at Lord de Gesvres mansion. Nothing seems to have been stolen. But the body of a shot burglar is missing and soon after the niece of the lord and everybody who is on the hunt for the burglars goes missing. Only the high school kid Beautrelet can make sense of the dubious crime. Beautrelet gets on Arsène Lupins track, who is keeping the biggest secret of France.
Despite not being the first story of Lupin, I found it to be very good starting point into the gentleman burglars’ tales. It takes the reader through several known locations in the Normandie like Étretat. It is known for its magnificently shaped rock cliffs and was LeBlanc’s part-time home, where he wrote Lupin stories. The municipality hosts a Lupin Museum and also finds its place in the Netflix Series.
Which, having read the books, portrays Assana Diop in a very similar to his role model Lupin. Murder is not an option for both, they are masters of disguise and play the game for the fun of it. Sound familiar to you?
Lupin vs. Holmes
It sounds like the British private detective Sherlock Holmes. Holmes also has a modern version portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the BBC series “Sherlock”. In fact, Leblanc used Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character as a counter player of Lupin in one of his books. But Conan Doyle’s lawyers were not particularly happy about that. Leblanc soon had to change the name to “Herlock Sholmes” (try saying that out loud when ordering the book in store, you’ll feel like an idiot. At least I did!)
Final Thoughts
While I can’t comment on the English version of “the hollow needle”, the German translation had no 1905-character to it, was smooth to read and felt like it matched Leblanc’s style. It doesn’t happen often that I read through an entire book in one day, but this one was just too good. The story had a nice pace to it and always left me wondering what Lupins plans were. Much like in the series we only get to know his true motives and plans after he puts them into action. It is simply amazing story telling!
If you haven’t watched the series, go ahead and watch it. This will be one of the few times where I encourage you to spend some time in front of the TV. But is totally worth watching and reading Lupin. I am already reading the next one and will let you know what I think of it as soon as I finish (might take more than one day to read it though). There are plenty more stories to read and I hope I could spark some interest for Arsène Lupin and his masterful heists.
Please let me know if this book helped you solve your Reading Dilemma and what you think of Maurice Leblanc’s classic tales. I am, as always, happy to get in touch with you!
