The Crystal Stopper

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To ask other readers questions about The Crystal Stopper , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. The novel appeared in serial form in the French newspaper Le Journal from September to November and was released as a novel subsequently. Maurice Leblanc was inspired by the infamous Panama scandals of and The novel borrows from Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Purloined Letter the idea of hiding an object in plain sight. Quite possibly the best Arsene Lupin novel in the series so far. You do need to have read the others beforehand to appreciate the situation.

We're used to our anti-hero being one-up against all his adversaries in the past including the implausibly disguised Herlock Sholmes, master London-based consulting detective , but here Lupin is under pressure. Everything goes against him - he's battling an enemy who seems to have superhuman talents for anticipating Lupin's actions and plans.

Loved it - it made a refreshing change to have Lupin the underdog. In The Crystal Stopper , Leblanc tried to up the suspense by knocking Lupin down a few notches and raising his opponent up a few notches. In most of the previous Lupin stories I've read, Lupin is better than the best, always more cunning than those around him. He usually pulls off his schemes in some clever and wildly arrogant way. In this book, the tables are tur In The Crystal Stopper , Leblanc tried to up the suspense by knocking Lupin down a few notches and raising his opponent up a few notches.

In this book, the tables are turned, and Lupin can barely keep up with Daubrecq, his opponent.

Every move he makes, Daubrecq is always at least a step ahead. Even so, rather than feeling more on the edge of my seat each time Daubrecq bested Lupin, I instead became more and more annoyed.

I think the bit where Leblanc really lost me was when that toad of a man managed to best Lupin shortly after having been tortured. Lupin got his groove back near the end of the book, but after being knocked so flat for so long, I couldn't accept it. Leblanc's explanations for how Lupin managed it ended up coming across as flimsy authorial hand-waving to me. Just as I was less than happy with how the love interest in Arsene Lupin was portrayed, I wasn't happy with Clarisse.

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She would, I'm guessing, have been at least in her forties, maybe her late thirties. She lived through the death of her husband, giving birth to two children, and lots of stress. All those things could potentially age any woman before her time, but Leblanc's descriptions of her left me with the impression that she was physically a tragically tired-looking something so that she could be beautiful enough for Lupin to fall for who happened to have a bit of gray hair.

Such a big deal was made about that gray hair that it wasn't until I did a check in the text prior to writing this post that I realized she didn't have solid gray No, she just had a bit of gray in her otherwise dark hair, but this was a Big Deal.

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Clarisse's determination to save her son should have been awesome, and I suppose it was, at times. However, whenever the going got tough and Lupin's latest plan to beat Daubrecq fell through, Clarisse's first answer seemed to be to attempt suicide. This is a woman who was strong enough to survive so much hardship, and she attempts or threatens to kill herself before all hope is really lost? I would have thought a woman like her wouldn't have gone that far unless both her sons were already dead. Lupin's victorious ending seemed to come out of the blue.

I'm still not sure how he learned of the true location of the list did he really realize where it was on the fly, while torturing Daubrecq? While I still plan on reading more Arsene Lupin books, I hope that my next one is better. Jan 07, Nina rated it liked it Shelves: Dari beberapa buku Lupin yg sudah kubaca, ini yang paling bagus terjemahan dan gaya berceritanya. Untuk pertama kalinya aku kasih tiga bintang.

Plotnya lumayan tapi ceritanya berbelit belit. Sebenarnya jika ceritanya berhenti sampai setengah buku ini, atau dipangkas sampai setengah buku dan langsung to the point penyelesaiannya, bakalan tidak membosankan. I like big books with many pages, dan an halaman sih wajar tp buku ini terlalu panjang untuk sampai ke akhir. I had sort of fallen "out of love" with these series, but with this book I can say once more that I love them.

May 22, Tasya Dita rated it liked it Shelves: Really fun to read, finally Lupin met his equal! Daubrecq was very smart, menancing, and all around disgusting person, he's definitely hard to beat. The urgency of the situation and the high stakes also help with the atmosphere of this book. It drags at some parts, but overall I liked this one. I adored the feather of the author with always as much of suspense and addictivity.

Apr 25, Eka rated it it was ok. In this book Arsene Lupin showed his other side. In one of robbing attempt, Lupin's friends are caught by police and so facing death penalty. If Lupin usually show off his confidence and wittiness, now he must face Deputy Dauberq who is not only have equal capability with Lupin's but also able to predict what that gentleman of burglar's thinking.

Most of Lupin's idea is facing deadlock. Thing getting complicated when a woman showed between them. Is she a friend or foe? This story In this book Arsene Lupin showed his other side. This story have a lot of twist. Lupin must think hard to find a way to release his friend. His attempts is often fail by Dauberq's wits such as when he discover Lupin's disguise easily several times. It is also intense because Lupin must racing with time in order to save his friends.

Sometimes his guilt towards them make him nervous. I need several days to finished the book. I think this book is not a good start to read Arsene Lupin's series. Maybe because I was expecting to meet cocky Lupin so when I figure out that he's having difficulties to show off his ability as a thief, I'm kinda disappointed.

But maybe it just about the timing. Another thing that is very disappointing is fatal mistake by the publisher. Some paragraph is missing and some repeat in other page.

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Apparently, there mistake when they print it. Fortunately, the publisher send me the missing paragraph and page even in separate printed paper and another Lupin's book as an apology. Please be more careful next time Bukune! This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Another exciting reading from Arsene Lupin's serial. Until the last moment, everything seemed to be lost and there's no hope.

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Yet, with his determination, he went on to get what he wants. There were some odd contradiction in there. For example, how he was so against killing and blood, yet when he found out about Vauchery - he easily killed him to save Gilbert. A Another exciting reading from Arsene Lupin's serial.

The Crystal Stopper by Maurice Leblanc

Also, he didn't like torturing, yet to find the place of the paper he hurt the deputy so bad and drew one of his eyes out which was so odd, like how they hell did he knew the paper was there?! Clarisee's matter is kinda strange.

If she hoped to save her son to the last bit, why did she want to take away her life instead of saving them first before all hopes are lost?! I think this part wasn't very well. The author couldn't show the suffering in a touching way beside suicide which seemed wrong. I still didn't figure out who is Lupin's girl, Sonia, the blonde girl or Clarisee. Well, I'll find out later since there are still many to read. Hardcore Lupin fans only! Not the best Arsene Lupin adventure.

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It's pulp fiction, pure and simple--but still a lot of fun. Skip The Crystal Stopper but do take a moment to skim the others. You can read them for free thanks to Project Gutenberg. My very first own copy of Arsen Lupin.

I actually don't remember many details from it, but remember I enjoyed reading it.

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