Résumé
Résumé de Le Cambrioleur amateur
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
For readers who love clever crime, Victorian London and rogues with charm, and anyone curious about the roots of the gentleman thief.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
The Amateur Cracksman is a book of eight linked stories by E. W. Hornung, published in 1899. A cracksman is an old word for a burglar, and the hero of these tales is the most polished one in London. A. J. Raffles is a gentleman, a celebrated cricketer and a welcome guest in the best houses. By night he steals jewels. Hornung wrote the stories at the end of the Victorian age, and he dedicated the book to his brother-in-law Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
The tales are told by Raffles's old schoolfellow, Bunny Manders, who is drawn into the game and tells it all with awe and guilt. You get clever plans, tense nights in dark houses, narrow escapes and a close, odd friendship. You also get a picture of London clubs, country weekends and cricket grounds. Each story is short and complete, yet together they build one relationship. Let us start with how an honest young man in trouble first meets the thief.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A ruined man turns to his old friendFree
- 2The perfect gentleman has a double life
- 3Disguise and nerve carry the early jobs
- 4Origins, close calls and rising danger
- 5Friendship, class and the lure of risk
- 6A rogue seen through his admiring friend
Point clé 1 sur 6
A ruined man turns to his old friend
The first story, The Ides of March, opens in London with Bunny Manders in deep trouble. He has run up debts that he cannot pay, and he is too proud and too ashamed to tell his family. In his despair he thinks of the one person who might help him, his old schoolmate A. J. Raffles.
Raffles lives in rooms at Albany, an elegant set of apartments off Piccadilly. Bunny remembers him as the star of the school cricket team, a man everyone admired. He goes to Albany expecting sympathy and perhaps a loan. He does not expect what he finds, which is a calm, amused host who has plenty of money but no visible way of earning it.
Raffles listens to the story and treats the matter lightly. Then he shows Bunny that his easy life rests on a secret. He is a thief, and a very good one. He steals for the thrill and because he is short of money, and he sees nothing wrong with taking jewels from rich people who will hardly miss them.
Bunny is shocked, and yet he is trapped. His debts press on him, and his old hero is offering a way out. The story shows the first night of crime with great care, and it fixes the pattern for the whole book. Raffles plans, Bunny trembles, and the work gets done. What matters most is not the loot. It is the moment Bunny crosses a line and finds that he cannot easily come back.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Le Cambrioleur amateur
What is The Amateur Cracksman about?
It is a set of eight stories about A. J. Raffles, a gentleman cricketer who secretly burgles the rich, and his friend Bunny Manders, who joins him and tells each tale in his own voice.
What does cracksman mean?
Cracksman is an old slang word for a burglar, especially one who breaks into houses or cracks safes. The word amateur in the title stresses that Raffles steals for sport and skill, not as a common criminal.
Is Raffles based on Sherlock Holmes?
Raffles is not based on Holmes, but he is a deliberate mirror of him. Hornung, brother-in-law of Arthur Conan Doyle, made a gentleman thief with a loyal narrator, and he dedicated the book to Doyle.
When was The Amateur Cracksman written?
It was published in 1899, in the late Victorian period. The stories are fiction, but they use real London settings such as Albany, Piccadilly, clubs and the world of first-class cricket.
Is The Amateur Cracksman hard to read?
No. The stories are short, quick and clearly written. The plots are easy to follow and each tale stands on its own.