La Barre-y-va

Arsène Lupin #16

by Maurice Leblanc

Rentrant tard du théâtre un soir du mois d'août, le vicomte Raoul d’Avenac, alias Arsène Lupin, découvre son appartement éclairé. Il y rencontre une jolie jeune femme qui l'attend, Catherine Montessieux. La jeune femme semble effrayée par divers évènements qui se sont produits récemments. Ayant entendu parler de Raoul d’Avenac, elle a pensé que celui-ci pourrait l'aider et s'est introduite chez lui. Alors que Raoul d’Avenac a commencé à lui poser quelques questions, le brigadier Théodore Béchoux, une vieille connaissance du cambrioleur, téléphone à son ami depuis la région normande où il est en convalescence à 30 km du Havre, près de Tancarville, à Radicatel, afin de lui demander de l’aide dans une affaire compliquée de meurtre suivi d'une disparition inquiétante. D'Avenac apprend par Catherine qu'elle connaît Béchoux et qu'elle vient directement de Radicatel. Il rassure la jeune femme et lui promet de la protéger : ils quittent immédiatement Paris et vont en automobile au domaine de La Barre-y-va.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, France, French Literature, Contemporary

189 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1931

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

[Florin Pitea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty nice. Recommended.

[Mélodie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm going to start writing my "reviews" in english so that Erou, Karyn and Marsha understand and can comment if they want (hello girls ily if you are reading this). So i picked up this book from a "Boîte à lire" because i enjoyed watching the Netflix serie "Lupin". But this is obviously far different and very old language/ story telling which wasn't quite my cup of tea if you will. I read until page 58 and really thought while reading it that i should finish it because it's not even 200 pages but i can't i'm sorry i'm just not interested lmao. So there you go

[Agnieszka na grzbietowisku · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kolejna niesamowita przygoda przeżyta u boku Raoula d'Avenac, szerzej znanego jako Arsene Lupin. Tym razem Arsene pomaga dwóm siostrom rozwiązać zagadki posiadłości Barre-y-va ...

[Ζαχαρίας Παπαθωμάς · Rating 4 out of 5]

Κλασικό βιβλίο του Λουπέν όπου με ταχυδακτυλουργική μαεστρία ξετυλίγεται το κουβάρι και βρίσκεται ο ένοχος.

[Macqueron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Du Arsène Lupin pur jus: un flic un peu sot, des femmes à protéger, un mystère, un trésor, la Normandie et du génie. Parfois un peu vieux jeu (mais bien dans l’air de son temps). Un grand moment d’aventure

[Konstantinos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ωραία πλοκή με μυστήριο, σχετικά πρωτότυπη, αν και από κάποιο σημείο και μετά αρκετά προβλέψιμη. Αυτό που μου αρέσει, κλασικά, στον Αρσέν Λουπέν είναι ο κεφάτος και παιχνιδιάρικος χαρακτήρας του, η εξυπνάδα και η σιγουριά του, και φυσικά η γραφή του Μωρίς Λεμπλάν. (Τριάμισι αστέρια)

[Amani Fz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Délicieux, comme mes années d'ado,
délicieux, comme un rêve d'enfant ..

[Aaron Aoyume · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambiguity

This book made me remember an old movie by the [[Coen Brothers]] called [[Blood Simple]], where nobody is really what they seem to be and moral ambiguity is the catalyst for surprising plot twists. In **Barre-Y-Va**, Leblanc experiments with ambiguity in many levels : from Raoul's split love for the beautiful sisters Catherine and Bertrande, to Béchoux's questionable affair with Charlotte, to Montessieux's complex family relationships. As a result, this is a more nuanced novel, with a much less black-or-white dualistic resolution and richer and deeper characters. There is no real villain in **ByV**, although the book does operate under the detective story framework.

Leblanc had already flirted with this kind of nuanced plot in "Thérèse and Germaine," one of the interconnected short cases of [[Arsène Lupin e as Oito Badaladas do Relógio]] where a complicated love triangle drives the crime resolution, but **ByV** moves a step further with a more intricate, multilayered story. Still, the ultimate cause for the mystery is within the realm of the same kind of natural phenomena or historical events that are deployed in other novels. Leblanc explores these like a [[National Geographics]] program (in his many books, he went from radioactivite rocks to secret treasures in medieval abbeys to submersed Roman cities to the tidal bore into the Seine), but what the characters do with it here is different. Leblanc strives to connect to Lupin's previous adventures using dialogs that are a little more expositional than easter-eggs, maybe trying to connect with a new generation of readers.

Indeed, Leblanc always seems very conscious of the cultural changes of his time and adapted the Lupin franchise to keep it fresh and alive. The humorous gags between Raoul and Béchoux are like Laurel and Hardy's, very different from previous interactions in [[Arsène Lupin e A Agência Barnett e Associados]]. On the other hand, the richer and deeper allegory of the novel makes the scene where Raoul and Béchoux can't tell if they go north or south, to Biarritz or Brussels, seemed to bridge this clown-ishness to more existential questions, as if innocence was about to end even for Lupin (the crimes he plans to solve are horrendous). The last chapter felt like **Circe** in [[James Joyce]]'s [[Ulysses]] (Bloom rescuing Dedalus as Lupin rescues Béchoux) and a prelude to [[Samuel Beckett]]'s [[Waiting for Godot]] :

> **ESTRAGON :** *Well, shall we go?*
> **VLADIMIR :** *Yes, let's go.*
> *They do not move.*
> *Curtain.*

[Irune · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Avec une poussé douce, il obligea Fameron à s'étendre, lui remonta ses draps jusqu'au menton, le borda et s'en alla sur la pointe des pieds, en lui recommandant de faire dodo bien sagement."

Raoul d'Avenac/Arséne Lupin est un personnage très amusant. J'ai passé un très bon moment avec ce livre. J'ai du regarder dans le dictionnaire de temps en temps, mais en general ça n'a pas été trop difficile à lire.

[Celso Ferreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mais uma grande história e uma grande aventura de Arsene Lupin. O enredo tem grandes reviravoltas é um final surpreendente, mostrando as fraquezas, que mesmo um Lupin possui.

[Kiki Dal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 αστέρια

[Thor The Redbeard · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10

[Laughson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bromance pomiędzy Arsenem i Béchoux w tym tomie jest po prostu rozbrajający. Uwielbiam zakończenia tomów o Lupinie – a ostatnie strony tego tomu są po prostu miodne.