Το Νησί με τα Τριάντα Φέρετρα

Arsène Lupin #9

by Maurice Leblanc

Τριάντα απειλητικοί ύφαλοι περιβάλουν το νησί του Σαρέκ στη Βρετάνη. Οι προληπτικοί κάτοικοί του το ονομάζουν "Το νησί με τα τριάντα φέρετρα". Ένας φοβερός θρύλος στοιχειώνει τη σκέψη όλων: τριάντα άνθρωποι πρέπει να πεθάνουν και ανάμεσά τους τέσσερις γυναίκες θα οδηγηθούν στο σταυρό. Η Βερονίκ ντ' Ερζεμόν πηγαίνει στο νησί για ν' αναζητήσει το γιο της έπειτα από δεκατέσσερα ολόκληρα χρόνια. Εκεί την περιμένει μια σειρά από δυσάρεστες εκπλήξεις: θα ανακαλύψει τα αρχικά του ονόματός της χαραγμένα πάνω σε πόρτες και ξωκλήσια και θα αναγνωρίσει τη μορφή της πάνω σε ένα σχέδιο που αναπαριστά μια σταυρωμένη γυναίκα!
Η αλλόκοτη ατμόσφαιρα των κέλτικων μύθων, η "Λίθος του Θεού που δίνει ζωή ή την παίρνει", η αιματοβρεγμένη προφητεία, ο διεστραμμένος κόμης Βόρσκι προκαλούν τον τρόμο και την αγωνία.
Ευτυχώς, ο Αρσέν Λουπέν μαζί με ένα σκυλάκι ονόματι "Όλα Καλά" είναι εκεί για να αντιμετωπίσουν την κατάρα!
Στο φανταστικό αυτό μυθιστόρημα του Μωρίς Λεμπλάν, το σασπένς και η άψογη σκηνοθεσία της πλοκής στο ερειπωμένο και άγριο νησί του Σαρέκ καταλήγουν σε ένα ευφάνταστο όσο και εύθυμο τέλος.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Classics, France, Crime, Thriller, Detective

550 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1919

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Sushi (寿司) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questo segna il mio primo goal raggiunto. 14,000 pagine lette di soli libri. Per l'altro goal mancano ancira 4 libri.

Bello, bello anche se ultimanente Lupin mi fa sudare il suo arrivo. Intendo arriva sempre nella seconda parte. E mi devo abituare a Luis Perenna. Ho già sbirciato nell'indice del sucessivo e sarà ancora con questo nome.

[Anna Catharina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Die Inhaltsangabe klang ganz spannend, aber dann hat mich das Buch wahnsinnig enttäuscht. Die ersten hundert Seiten waren ein grauenvolles Gemetzel, dann wurde es wirr und die letzten hundert Seiten waren mir zu viel Klamauk, das passte einfach nicht zu dem vorangegangenen Horror. Auch sonst war die Geschichte an de Haaren herbei gezogen und überhaupt nicht glaubwürdig. Für mich das bisher schlechteste Arsène Lupin-Buch, das komplett aus der Reihe fällt.

[Jean-François Lisée · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je n'avais jamais lu d'Arsène Lupin. Ici, il n'intervient que dans le dernier tiers. Mais le livre est un exceptionnel suspense. La première moitié est très angoissante. La seconde, assez brillante.
Je le recommande chaudement.

[Florin Pitea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The longer this series gets, the more violent it becomes and the less charming.

[Nilakhay · Rating 1 out of 5]

it was the longest book ever. It felt like they were continuing the end for no reason. Arsène Lupin is barely even there. What a scam. A fraud 😱😱😱

[Phil · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oooof, sorry but this was substantially the worst of the Arsene Lupin books so far (although I didn't read L'Eclat d'obus because all the reviews said that Lupin didn't appear in it and it didn't have the feel of a Lupin novel). And perhaps that's the problem. Leblanc has lost almost everything that made the earlier Lupin novels and stories so fun and enjoyable.

This book was nasty, brutish, ghoulish, callous, violent, but - even worse - stupid, mawkish, sentimental, colonialist, illogical, badly written and inconsistent.

Here we are thrown into the lives of people we don't know. We meet a saintly woman living in a convent after fleeing her psychopathic husband. We hear that her son and father were drowned escaping said husband. The husband is now dead, having been stabbed in an internment camp during WW1. But - as you might expect - things are not what they seem. In a news reel she sees a stone marker with her name on it, a number and an arrow. She travels to the spot, finds a body missing a hand, reports the body but when she returns the body has been moved. A trail leads her to The Island of 30 Coffins, or the Isle of Sarek. And from there the plot gets REALLY daft.

What follows involves massacres, awful gawkish sentimentality, an annoying disregard and glossing over of the lives and situation of anyone not directly involved in the plot, ridiculous coincidence, bad writing (although I admit much could be down to the translator), a submarine with a crew of "silent moors" (read: slaves), and a change in character of the bad guy from "evil genius" to incompetent uncontrolled buffoon in the blink of an eye.

Ach - honestly, it's just awful.

I honestly think that this book was so bad, that I'm now completely done with Arsene Lupin, after reading the whole series up until now. It's just lost a spark that made it fun and joyous and gained a dark unsatisfying heart.

[Cameron · Rating 1 out of 5]

WOW!!! Is all I can say. Where has my beloved Arsene Lupin gone? This book was so bad. Not only was Lupin bearly in it. The story was not entertaining or captivating and had no mystery at all. I really don't know how I finished it. I will not read another Maurice Leblanc book like this! Fingers crossed the next book will redeem the series.

[Dee Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chirp 12 hours 27 min. Narrated by Mark Meadows (5)

The Island of Thirty Coffins is more bizarre than the other Arsene Lupine novels. I would classify those as pure mystery. This story was more of a thriller, especially the first two-thirds in which I began to wonder if my favorite gentleman-thief was even going to make an appearance at all. If this had been a paperback, I would, of course, have flipped to the back of the book to answer my question.

A mother searching for her estranged son is suspiciously stranded on a small island. A druid's prophecy, suspicious deaths, endless false clues, red flags, and an intelligent dog named All's Well turned this into an adventure.

Negatives: Scientific explanation of effects and uses of uranion and final detailed solutions to ALL the loos threads.

Arsene Lupine's final line to the dog: "If I were a novelist and if it were my duty to tell the story of Coffin Island, I would not trouble so much about the horrid truth, but I would give you a much larger part.... In the end, you with your marvelous instinct would punish vice and make virtue triumph. And it would be much better so!"

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first book from Maurice Leblanc and it wasn't quite what I expected.

The story was gruesome and weird and dark; it was an interesting story. The legend was so unbelievable, but I was glad to still have a clear explanation of the events.

The whole thing was a bit too slow-paced though. A lot of detours that I found somewhat unecessary were made and it felt like the author was stretching the story at moments.

The characters were not that interesting. Maybe Vorski because he's such a freak of nature and pure evil, but except that, I found the other characters kind of bland.

Also, the character who I was waiting to read about was Arsene Lupin and he just showed up at the end of it all just to explain stuff. I was expecting a lot more, but I'm not that disappointed yet and will definitely read other books with him.

The writting though was what I enjoyed the most. It was pleasant to read and, even if it as long, I njoyed reading anyways.

[Homunculus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aufgrund der neuen Serie bei Netflix bin ich auch auf den Detektiv Lupin aufmerksam geworden und wollte ihn auch mal ausprobieren.
Vom Titel fand ich dieses Buch am interessantesten, es ist der 9te Band aber scheinbar wirklich nicht zum Einstieg geeignet.
Ich habe extra aufgepasst und der Name Lupin taucht in diesem Buch das erste mal bei 50 % auf und richtig in die Geschichte steigt er erst bei 80% des Buches ein und löst die ganze Geschichte relativ schnell auf. Dies hatte ich anders erwartet und war daher ein wenig enttäuscht.
Trotzdem war die Story des Buches interessant und ziemlich spooky mit der Insel der 30 Särge, daher wollte ich doch immer weiterlesen und schauen wie dann irgendwann Lupin in die Geschichte kommt.
Es war sicher nicht das richtige Buch zum Einstieg, daher werde ich wohl noch einen weiteren Teil testen.

[Maryse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but it really annoyed me. The author would take long detours in writing and even though I could recognize a good intrigue, I constantly felt frustrated by the way the story was told. In the heat of the action, it would be good, but I needed to push myself to go on. And so, this book leaves me with an odd frustration feeling

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leblanc does have his own style and the characters and the mystery were interesting enough, but I really did like the earlier books where Lupin was there from the start outwitting people.

[Sully Holt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une héroïne aux prises avec le mal qui étouffe une île bretonne dépeuplée... Des évènements dramatiques... Des disparitions mystérieuses... Des fous... Des trésors et des prophéties macabres qui font froid dans le dos... Voilà le pitch de L'île aux trente cercueils, une histoire publiée au début du siècle dernier par Maurice Leblanc et qui s'éloigne des univers policiers habituels de l'auteur. Si la première partie respecte toutes ses promesses et fait planer une atmosphère lourde et angoissante aux accents gothiques sur le récit de Virginie – décor à la fois sauvage et inquiétant, falaises menaçantes, menhirs, champs de fleurs étranges, passages secrets et scènes sanglantes qui flirtent avec l'étrange – la suite est malheureusement une légère déception. L'arrivée en fanfare d'un personnage bien connu de l'auteur vient malmener le récit et y apporter une touche de grotesque lors de la résolution de l'enquête. Ce qui, à mon sens, gâche un peu la recette et transforme le tout en farce indigeste.

Cependant, même si l'ensemble a mal vieilli et que les dialogues surannés peuvent rebuter, il est difficile de ne pas s'incliner devant l'imagination débridée de l'auteur (à défaut de maîtrise policière) – capable de construire des intrigues passionnantes très tordues, de vous immerger dans un univers gothique et violent, et de maintenir le suspense d'un bout à l'autre sans faillir.

Le fil du récit se déroule avec fluidité, l'écriture est belle (évidemment) et les personnages secondaires ne sont jamais en reste. Quant à Virginie, c'est agréable d'avoir affaire à une femme courageuse qui n'attend pas le secours des hommes pour survivre et affronter ses ennemis.

Chaque élément du décor est soigné, rien n'est oublié. C'est jouissif de suivre jusqu'au bout de l'enfer la malheureuse Virginie au destin maudit qui va enfin lever le voile sur les drames de son passé.

[Libby · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t bear to finish it —gratuitous misogyny , cruelty, and endless flowery language. I was only half way through, but felt that I had wasted enough time. There are so many other works of fiction.

[Boti Xuebar · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'ai mis un peu trop de temps à rentrer dedans, c'est sûrement dû au fait que le héros intervienne très tardivement dans le livre. Mais le dernier tiers du livre est vraiment chouette, ce qui remonte grandement la note générale du livre selon moi.

[♡ Chera ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5

Ça fait bizarre de relire un livre que j'avais étudié en 4ème.

Mais bonne vieille histoire qui va vous rappeler vos cours de Français du collège.

[Thor The Redbeard · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10

[Adrian Sirbu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arsene Lupin - Insula celor treizeci de sicrie, de Maurice Leblanc, a 7-a din aceasta serie, a 3-a din 2024.

Unul dintre cele mai captivante mistere citite vreodata!

Este vorba despre legenda insulei Sarek si profetia care “trebuie” sa se intample in 1917 acolo.

Va pot spune doar ca radacinile legendei propriu-zise sunt din 25 iulie, din anul 732 i.Hr. …

Am inceput cartea pe 11 si am terminat-o pe 14, nu am putut sa ma opresc din citit.😁🙌

Recomand 102%, atentie! Are ceva horror, ceva mai mult, mister cat cuprinde, actiune si apare inevitabilul Arsene cu umorul caracteristic, cu logica imbatabilă!🙌🙌

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every one of the Lupin books I've read so far has been different, and this one is a bloody melodrama, in which Lupin isn't even mentioned until 39% of the way through the book. The overall tone is highly sensational, and very early on there's a harrowing description of a mass murder, made worse in that the viewpoint character believes one of the murderers to be her long-lost son. No fewer than five characters are, at some point, believed to be dead but actually turn out to be alive.

Lupin's contribution is his classic "manipulate people's perception to pull off a seemingly impossible illusion," some elements of which are not especially convincing. Working apparently without a jeweler's specialized tools, he's able to fake a very specific ring out of old jewelry only based on a description, which fools someone very familiar with it. Another key feature of the plot is based on contemporary misunderstandings of the properties of a then-little-understood substance. The substance is radium, which is more concentrated than it ought to be (even given the knowledge of the time; this is acknowledged) for vague and speculative reasons, and has the power to heal as well as kill, and to promote the growth of plants. And the whole plot, we're asked to believe, is constructed largely upon a combination of coincidence and the credulity of a madman who takes a meaningless prophecy seriously because it happens to match up with a large number of contemporary circumstances.

It was gripping, though, and even though the amount of suffering and death was wildly excessive for my taste (my taste being for very little of either), and even though I set it aside for some time to read other things, I still found it compelling to read when I went back to it; there are weaknesses in the plot, for sure, but this is still a highly skilled writer, and I have to give it a (low) spot in my Best of the Year list just based on how well it's done.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Véronique is a BAMF. By the standards of 1919 AND 2013.


Véronique finds out that she is being stalked by a serial killer. She starts her own investigation. She comes home and finds her father in the process of being murdered. She grabs a ladder, climbs up the side of the house, and tries to rescue him. The whole household gets shot. She immediately starts first aid. She's the last victim of an And Then There Were None situation. She does her own semi-wilderness survival. Exploring, she happens upon three other women locked in a cellar. They band together. Two of the women get captured by the mass-murdering bad guys. Véronique makes a dash for the gun magazine with the intent of reemerging Rambo-style and rescuing the women. The third woman gets killed and the plan falls through. Véronique blows up a bridge. She finds her son and helps rescue him. She finds an old flame, determines he's weaker than her, and athletically tries to rescue him. Indiana Jones happens. They both get rescued by the son. The son gets captured. Véronique rescues him. They both get captured. She faces down her psychopathic, abusive ex-husband. He monologues at her, threatening her and her son. She ignores him. He attacks her. She shoots at him. Bad things happen. Lupin is the deus ex machina. Lupin does French colonialismFAIL, not as explicit as in The Golden Triangle but no less bad. Véronique basically proposes to her bf.

[Amr Khashoggi · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was much much younger, I read, I think, most of the stories about Arsene Lupin by Maurice Leblanc, translated into Arabic. I was totally enthralled and intrigued by them, as I did with those of Sherlock Holmes. Of course I forgot the stories and plots, and they only came back to me in skimpy fragments of my failing memories. The Secret of Sarek (or the Island of Thirty Coffins, as it was originally named) had so many twists and turns that I could not guess what was going to happen next. Not wanting to spoil the plot, all I am going to say, is I enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai réussi à mettre la main sur un (des rares) Arsène Lupin que je n'avais jamais lu. Celui-ci est digne des maîtres de l'horreur : une île anglaise battue par les vagues, des pierres dressées, une malédiction nordique, des crucifiées... plusieurs rebondissements de plus en plus désespérants avant le dénouement final. Prenant !

[Elenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

You read one Lupin. It’s good. You’re on Brittany for holidays and there is a Lupin for that. It was my perfect holiday read and Leblanc style is just so good. This novel is more of a thriller and is a bit scary. Arsène Lupin arrives only at the end to explain every mystery. It kept me on the edge of my seat.

[Sanaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce livre m'a vraiment attiré dès la première ou disons les premières pages .Une aventure que j'ai lu et que j'ai également vécu avec véronique .Parfois , les événements n'avançaient pas vraiment , ils prenaient longtemps mais ça n'empêche que l'histoire était captivante .

[Liny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sans nul doute l'un de mes préférés d'Arsène Lupin ! L'histoire est glaçante entourée d'un esprit un peu mystique, magique. L'amour fait place à l'effroi et l'on suit Véronique dans toutes ses aventures attendant inlassablement l'arrivée de notre héros.

[Mathilde Weiss-Maurin · Rating 5 out of 5]

une île, deux assassins (visibles), trois canots... un huis clos incroyable, inracontable, insoutenable... et pourtant, Maurice Leblanc l'a fait !!
un vrai régal, avec Arsène Lupin au sommet de sa gouaille inimitable

[Hugues · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a scarring and bloody book !

[Sylviane Werth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great suspense!

[Hobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

more about this book, just check my complete review at here :
( http://my-mystery-readings.blogspot.c... )

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

ugh