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Arsène Lupin #5

Το Κρυστάλλινο Πώμα

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During a burglary at the home of Deputy Daubrecq a crime is committed, and two accomplices of Arsène Lupin are arrested by the police. One is guilty of the crime, the other innocent, but both will be sentenced to death. Lupin seeks to deliver the victim of a miscarriage of justice, but struggles against Deputy Daubrecq's ruthless blackmailer, who has hidden an incriminating document.

399 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1912

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2315 people want to read

About the author

Maurice Leblanc

2,067 books943 followers
Maurice Leblanc (1864 - 1941) was a French novelist, best known as the creator of gentleman thief (later detective) Arsène Lupin.

Leblanc began as a journalist, until he was asked to write a short story filler, and created, more gallant and dashing than English counterpart Sherlock Holmes.

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5 stars
702 (30%)
4 stars
919 (39%)
3 stars
538 (23%)
2 stars
122 (5%)
1 star
25 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 176 reviews
Profile Image for Phil.
628 reviews31 followers
January 22, 2014
Brilliant. 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. Through a full 90% of the book, Lupin seems to be heading towards an untimely fall from grace - until the final denouement. Loved it - it made a refreshing change to have Lupin the underdog.
Profile Image for Nourhan Ashour.
18 reviews7 followers
July 2, 2025
الرواية دي، يا جماعة، هي واحدة من القصص الممتعة بتاعة أرسين لوبين، الراجل اللي بيسرق بس بأناقة وذكاء يخليك تقول "يا سلام على الدماغ دي!" القصة لوبين وهو بيحاول يحل لغز "سدادة الكريستال"، وهي حاجة زي الكنز المخفي اللي فيها سر كبير. الرواية مليانة تشويق وألغاز ذكية، وطبعًا لوبين بيستخدم دهاءه وخفة دمه عشان يفك الخيوط واحدة واحدة.اللي عجبني جدًا في الرواية إنها مش بس قصة سرقة، لأ، دي مليانة تطورات غير متوقعة وأحداث بتخليك تقلب الصفحة ورا الصفحة عشان تعرف إيه اللي هيحصل.

Profile Image for Ορφέας Μαραγκός.
Author 7 books47 followers
March 13, 2023
Ο Αρσέν Λουπεν βρίσκει το δάσκαλο του και κάνει μαζεμένα όσα λάθη δεν έχει κάνει συνολικά στη ζωή του. Σασπένς, αγωνία, μυστήριο, ηθική ακεραιότητα εκεί που δεν το περιμένεις. Νομίζω είναι τρομερά τα βιβλία του Λεμπλαν.
Profile Image for Cami L. González.
1,459 reviews687 followers
June 10, 2022
3.5/5
Creo que este puede ser el libro de Lupin mejor estructurado de los que he leído hasta la fecha, por desgracia, el formato de audiolibro no me resultó tan cómodo para seguir las pistas y los giros que ocurrían. Aun así lo disfruté bastante.

Lupin está realizando un robo, pero una persona termina muerta y dos de los miembros de su banda van presos y son condenados a muerte. Sin embargo, Lupin sabe que uno de ellos, el joven Gilbert, es inocente y terminará pagando por un crimen que no cometió. Así que hará todo lo que esté en su poder para liberarlo.

Daubrecq fue un gran villano, todo el libro me pareció mejor estructurado como novela que los otros. Se acercó más a ser una novela de Holmes con varios giros, problemas por solucionar y misterios por resolver. b>Y Daubrecq estuvo a la altura del caso, fue un adversario digno de nuestro protagonista pues durante gran parte del libro fue capaz de ponerlo contra el muro y superarlo.

Al Lupin que vemos en este libro es una versión un poco más seria que en los primeros, no quiere tanto llamar la atención al inicio y termina involucrado de forma personal en todo el enredo. Además, durante gran parte no es capaz de ganarle a Daubrecq por lo que conocemos una faceta más derrotista y pesimista, que se ve preocupado y asustado. Es solo para el final que saca esa personalidad más extrovertida y dramática que le conocimos en las primeras historias.

El tapón de cristal es un relato mejor que construido que otros previos en el que Lupin se enfrenta a un digno rival que lo pone aprietos, Daubrecq. Pasa gran parte del libro luchando contra él dejando ver una faceta más preocupada y humana del personaje.
Profile Image for Florin Pitea.
Author 41 books199 followers
March 27, 2022
Definitely more serious and less entertaining than the preceding books in the series.
Profile Image for LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions).
1,263 reviews25 followers
November 19, 2012
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. Sadly, the result did not work as well for me as The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar, or even Arsene Lupin.

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 turned, and Lupin can barely keep up with Daubrecq, his opponent. Every move he makes, Daubrecq is always at least a step ahead.

Because it's not Lupin's life in the balance, but rather his comrade's, I suppose the “will Lupin succeed?” feeling that Leblanc was probably trying to achieve is believable. 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. 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 20-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.

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. I mean, what? 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? how...disappointing), and his actions to get at that list seemed to come awfully close to the torture he had, earlier in the book, decided he'd never be able to do. While I still plan on reading more Arsene Lupin books, I hope that my next one is better.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Profile Image for Azuma-chan.
592 reviews11 followers
June 16, 2017
Another exciting reading from Arsene Lupin's serial. This time, Maurice decided to make everything against Lupin just like what happened with Sherlock in (Sherlock Holmes vs Arsene Lupin). Until the last moment, everything seemed to be lost and there's no hope. 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. 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. If someone is willing to have/do something so badly, they'll risk everything till the last moment. 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. 5 stars despite the things I didn't agree on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Anna Catharina.
626 reviews60 followers
September 10, 2021
Irgendwann in den frühen 2000ern habe ich den "Kristallstöpsel" schon einmal und erinnerte mich an: Nichts! Arsène Lupins Jagd nach dem Kristallstöpsel, im Wettlauf gegen zahlreiche Gegner und die Zeit (schließlich sollen seine Komplizen hingerichtet werden) war eine kurzweilige und abwechslungsreiche Lektüre, auch wenn ich finde, dass man dem Buch sein Alter schon anmerkt. Es ist etwas behäbig und stellenweise langatmig, die waghalsigen Aktionen aus heutiger Sicht etwas unrealistisch, aber ich kann mir vorstellen, dass man das vor über hundert Jahren noch als atemberaubende Spannung ansah. Insgesamt aber eine nette Lektüre.
Profile Image for Cameron Trost.
Author 55 books672 followers
November 30, 2022
I'm a fan of Maurice Leblanc's "gentleman cambrioleur" and consider him one of my favourite French authors. This one, unfortunately, was a let-down. There's plenty (too much) dialogue for most of the book and episodes of over-the-top action, but what I love most about Arsène Lupin are the puzzles and the mystery, and all that was missing here. Each to his own, but if you haven't joined Lupin on an escapade yet, don't start with The Crystal Stopper.
Note: Two stars might seem a little harsh but I gave The Hollow Needle three and it's easily worth a star more than this one.
8 reviews1 follower
December 28, 2022
Wonderful book with a most unpredictable mystery with shocking, startling clues! The most surprising twists and turns are weaved beautifully into the flow of the original conundrum. The plot can be difficult to follow, though.
Profile Image for Carlos Simos.
173 reviews6 followers
January 1, 2023
La primera reseña de 2023 estaba avisada en la última recomendación. Mis últimos libros del año pasado era dos de Arsène Lupin: 813 y El tapon de cristal.

Se podría decir que, si bien este libro salió después de 813, su historia se sitúa antes de los sucesos contados en el mencionado libro. Pero en El tapon de cristal nos encontramos con un Lupin mas vulnerable y al parecer sin tantos recursos o herramientas para enfrentarse a un enemigo que siempre va 10 pasos adelante de él. Se podría entender por el lugar que ocupa Lupin en 813 pero de todas maneras lo noté, repito; mas vulnerable.

Aquí la aventura va en principio por una falsa acusación de asesinato hacia uno de los cómplices de Lupin que luego deviene en un asunto de chantaje que puede afectar a las esferas mas altas del gobierno francés. De ahí en mas Lupin tendrá la doble tarea de salvar a uno de sus complices de la guillotina al tiempo que intenta recuperar un famoso tapon de cristal que esconde el secreto de 27 personas culpables del mas atroz crimen.

Una historia que va a contrarreloj todo el tiempo y en el que en todo momento se van sacando ventajas uno a otro mientras la guillotina comienza a caer lentamente sobre un inocente.

¿Recomendado? Obvio.
Profile Image for Iskren Zayryanov.
229 reviews16 followers
October 31, 2025
Този роман на скоро пак се появи на български но под заглавието „Кристалната тапа“. Взех си го и чак тогава установих, не само че са една и съща книга, но и че на времето съм си я взел, но не съм я чел. Е, наваксах си този пропуск, но четох превода на „Тренев & Тренев“, просто защото се оказа по-добър.
Тук любимият ми крадец-джентълмен не е в обичайната си позиция да ръководи действието, да дърпа конците задкулисно. Тук той се забърква в необичайни афера случайно, след провален обир, който не е организиран от него, а от негови сподвижници и се озова в окото на бурята в ролята на догонващ. Корумпиран депутат, който притежава списък с 27 имена и благодарение на него изнудва влиятелни личности за пари. Има и загадка – къде се крие списъка, има романтична нишка с тайнствена дама, която първоначално е противник на Люпен, има и семейна драми, заровени тайни от миналото които се намесват в аферата по неочакван начин. Има естествено и солидна доза наивност, неочаквани обрати, които са малко неразбираеми за съвременния читател, но все пак книгата трябва да се чете с едно на ум за времето в което е писана. Определено ми хареса, но ако я бях прочел началото на 90-те щях да бъда възхитен от нея.
Profile Image for Mohamed Shoaib.
374 reviews34 followers
May 5, 2025
لغز السدادة الكريستال هو اول عمل اقرأه ل "اللص النبيل" ارسين لوبين.

مفامرة مثيرة تحتوي على لغز ذكي، سدادة من الكريستال تبدو عديم القيمة، لكنها في الحقيقة تحتوي على سر سياسي خطير، قد يفضح شخصيات مرموقة في الدولة.

يدخل لوبين القصة بعد ان وقع احد مساعديه في السجن وهو على وشك ان يعدم ويجب على لوبين التحرك سريعًا و حل اللغز لإنقاذه

القصة مليئة بالتحولات والأسرار التي تجعلك مشدود الانتباه.

الترجمة كانت مميزة فلم تقلل من التجربة

Profile Image for Nina.
570 reviews53 followers
January 7, 2017
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 360an halaman sih wajar tp buku ini terlalu panjang untuk sampai ke akhir.
Profile Image for Cameron.
233 reviews7 followers
January 20, 2024
Another great read from Maurice Leblanc. At the same time, this story was a little girl-heavy and kind of repetitive in the middle as always it was jaw-dropping. You can not guess what's going to happen. Arsene Lupin is the man, faults and all. On to the next!

After rereading this book I would only give it 3 stars. Maybe it is not as good as I remember or maybe I just don't feel the same. Still not bad just a little long. I like his short story form better.
Profile Image for Ag.
73 reviews
January 22, 2015
I had sort of fallen "out of love" with these series, but with this book I can say once more that I love them. Arsène is a hero again, doing the impossible to save the life of one of his accomplices wrongfully accused of a murder. A great story.
873 reviews
May 22, 2017
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.
Profile Image for Nicinha || Nicinha_book’s.
664 reviews14 followers
August 27, 2021
Neste livro vamos embarcar mais uma vez nas aventuras e peripécias de Lupin, o camaleão dos roubos, está prestes a roubar a casa de um deputado, mas esse roubo não foi armado pelo Lupin, prevendo que algo inesperado irá acontecer, pois ele não conhece nada do local ou sobre o dono do mesmo, confiando em Gilbert.
Mas como nem tudo é fácil para nosso ladrão, o plano de seu comparsa sai errado e Lupin não parece entender muito do que aconteceu durante o roubo, mas consegue fugir antes que a polícia o apanhe, ao contrário dos companheiros que são presos e Lupin promete tirá-los da cadeia antes que sejam enviados para a guilhotina.
Muitas perguntas ficam na cabeça de nosso protagonista, afinal ele não conhecia nada sobre o plano do roubo e muito menos de quem era aquela casa e com isso ele decide começar uma investigação, mas o que Lupin não esperava é que seu adversário fosse mais perspicaz do que ele, que seu adversário fosse o tão conhecido e temido deputado Daubrecq.
Muitas perguntas ficam no ar, principalmente o do por que as pessoas tinham tanto medo do deputado e principalmente sobre um objeto que Lupin tinha posse, uma rolha de cristal que para Lupin não parecia nada demais, mas que para nosso deputado significava muito e até mesmo para outras pessoas importantes que vão surgindo ao longo da história. O que tem na rolha de cristal? O que ela tem de tão importante? São perguntas que até mesmo Lupin terá que descobrir.
Com a ajuda de Clarisse Mergy, Lupin tem pouco tempo para desvendar o mistério e derrotar o deputado Daubrecq e assim salvar da guilhotina seus companheiros. Será que ele vai conseguir?

Profile Image for Minh Trang.
626 reviews190 followers
August 18, 2023
"Tình yêu đích thực thì luôn luôn ngượng ngùng, ngập ngừng và nhút nhát."

Đây là lần đầu mình đọc câu chuyện về Arsène Lupin. Thấy cũng không đặc sắc lắm 😂

Cách kể chuyện đậm màu cổ điển nên rất dài dòng, với nhiều đoạn tả tâm lý tình cảm lê thê. Và thành công của Lupin có vẻ đến từ may mắn nhiều hơn là nhờ vào tài trí của ông ấy.

Nhìn chung là câu chuyện này không dở, chỉ là không hợp gu mình cho lắm thôi 😂
-----
Btw, bạn nào muốn mua sách đẹp với giá hợp lý thì ghé page mình xem nha :")
facebook.com/hieusachcuaGaby
Profile Image for Myreadbooks.
1,455 reviews26 followers
September 9, 2017
An adventure of Arsène Lupin who with be 105 years old this year and that did not take a wrinkle. One finds there in this fifth volume Arsène Lupin at the time of a burgling which turns badly, and thereafter it will seek to inquire into this famous crystal stopper. I adored the feather of the author with always as much of suspense and addictivity.
Profile Image for noujoud.
92 reviews
April 2, 2024
Pour la première histoire je mets 4/5 car c'est un très bon récit plein de rebondissements et d'intrigues et un dénouement inattendu tout simplement magnifique bravo❤️
Pour la seconde je mets 3/5. Un peu déçue de ce récit par rapport aux autres histoires de Maurice Leblanc. Une histoire cependant agréable à lire et la fin est assez drôle 👍🏼
Profile Image for Nadiia.
107 reviews1 follower
February 23, 2025
Коли мені було 15, я читала Моріса Леблана і мені дуже подобались історії про Арсена Люпена.

Перечитавши в 30+ - я шось не знаю що мені так подобалось 😅

Це окейні твори, нічого особливого

Ps: серіал, як на мене, слабенький
Profile Image for Alice.
80 reviews
September 29, 2025
4 petites étoiles

Pas mon genre préféré et j’ai mis longtemps à le finir, mais le personnage de Gilbert et la cachette de la liste m’ont fait augmenter la note!

Je pense que j’aurais du le lire d’une traite, pour me souvenir de tous les enjeux et personnages
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Luis Bernardino.
184 reviews14 followers
November 12, 2023
Um livro que até à última página me deixou interessado em como o autor iria fechar o livro.
Muito bom livro de suspense e aventura. Final surpreendente.
Gostei bastante e recomendo.
Profile Image for Esther Vertelman.
90 reviews1 follower
December 18, 2025
als je je dochter met haar Franse boekpresentatie mag/moet helpen. viel me alles mee wat ik begreep van het boek
Profile Image for zuz.cahoj.
395 reviews16 followers
October 31, 2025
Knihy o geniálnom lupičovi Arsène Lupinovi si užije každý milovník klasických detektívok. Mňa zatiaľ obchádzali, táto je prvá, po ktorej som siahla, ale rozhodne sa chystám aj na ďalšie (najmä z tejto krásnej edície s oriezkou 😍).

Pre Lupina nič nie je nemožné, neexistuje miesto, kam by sa nevedel dostať a človek, ktorého by ľsťou nevedel presvedčiť o svojej pravde. Je to majster prevlekov, vie sa vydávať v podstate za kohokoľvek. Aj tak mu však riešenie tajomstva krištálovej zátky dá zabrať. Závisí totiž od neho nejeden život. Tentoraz sa musí postaviť rovnocennému súperovi, ktorý má známosti na vysokých miestach a vyzerá to tak, že je pred Lupinom vždy o krok vpred. Sama som už bola ku koncu zvedavá, ako sa celú situáciu podarí Lupinovi vyriešiť, keďže to do poslednej chvíle vyzeralo naozaj beznádejne.

Aj keď som bola zo začiatku trochu zmätená s postáv, keď som ich už dokázala zaradiť, veľmi ma bavilo hádať, čo sa udeje ďalej. Autor ma svojský štýl, na ktorý si človek ale vie ľahko zvyknúť. Za mňa ideálne čítanie na tieto jesenné dni, keď hľadáte záhadu, ale bez zbytočných krvavých scén, zato s poriadne zamotaným riešením.
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