A Must For Lupin III Fans: Get This for FREE

[hbk101]

If you are a fan of Lupin III series, you owe yourself to read at least one book from the original Arsene Lupin stories that the anime is based on. Even though I like the Lupin anime a lot , it never quite comes close to the enjoyment of reading the superb original novels. Supposedly, Lupin III is the grand son of a famous French thief Arsene Lupin, but it feels more like Japanese cartoonist stole the Lupin character right out of the novels and planted other Japanese characters around him to 'japanify' Lupin, so to speak. There are many parellels between the anime and the books such as Lupin's love for treasure hunt and beautiful women, bumbling inspector Genimard ala Zenigata, colorful villains with super abilities, and the riddles of mysteries.

Original Lupin stories are written by a French author Maurice Leblanc. Some of his best works of Lupin are "Countess of Cagliostro aka Memoirs of Arsene Lupin," "813," "Secret of Sarek," "Teeth of Tiger" "GoldenTriangle" and "Hollow Needle" There is even a story in which he goes against the famous detective Sherlock Holmes for battle of wits, titled "Arsene Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes" Unfortunately, the original stories were written in French and it is very hard to obtain English translated versions nowadays. One time, I had to shell out 50 pounds for a second edition of "Secret of Sarek" that came out in 1920's.

Luckily, thanks to the tremendous effort of public service by Project Gutenberg, some of the original Lupin books are restored into electronic version in English, and now they are available for free. These links are from the University of Pennsylvania library web site.

The Hollow Needle:

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/web...p?num=4017

Crystal Stopper:

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/web...p?num=1563

Arsene Lupin:

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/web...p?num=4014

ExtraordinaryAdventures of Arsene Lupin, the Gentleman-Burglar:

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/web...p?num=6133

Among this list, I highly recommend "The Hollow Needle" and "Crystal Stopper" For all Lupin III fans, please, try one and enjoy the same thrill that I enjoyed.

[ElVaquero]

wow, that is incredibly cool. thank you so much.

[sanosuke]

dude you are indeed a legend!

[beboprules]

This is really cool. I noticed some sites actually charge money for downloading the copies of these files. They are all free here for anyone to download. Awesome.

[hbk101]

I see some online bookstores are charging for these. It's not fair to charge for something that belongs in public domain. I think, the copyright holders have rights for 75 years presently, which means that after that duration, all of the current animes will be free. Yiepie!!!!!!!!! Why buy expensive DVD's now! Just wait for another 75 years and watch for free then.......hehe

[rugrats1]

I think, the copyright holders have rights for 75 years presently, which means that after that duration, all of the current animes will be free.

Though of course, I think the copyrights can be renewed and, down the road, maybe lengthened. Some of you allready heard about Disney's successful battles to extend the copyright time, just so they can keep Mickey Mouse in their hands.

[ElVaquero]

What are some other good sites for free full book texts?

[hbk101]

Originally posted by ElVaquero
What are some other good sites for free full book texts?

memoware.com has a pretty good collection including a lot of science fiction. They also got another Lupin Book titled "Woman with Two Smiles"