Inspiration
Bonnoit highlights the influence of the Mémoires de Vidocq on Gaboriau, the partly fictionalised memoires of a thief who went on to become the head of the Paris police, particularly the influence of Vidocq’s art of disguise. Lits observes that Lecoq’s name was clearly formed in imitation of Vidocq, and that this was the name of the policeman in Paul Féval’s Habits Noirs. Gaboriau’s detectives, both Lecoq and Tabaret, solve crimes in a manner that is similar to that of Edgar Allan Poe’s detective, Dupin. As Gaboriau admired Poe, it is not surprising that Lecoq and Dupin share many traits, and Murch observes, “they both regard a mysterious puzzle as a challenge to their powers of perception; they reason with mathematical precision and enjoy giving little lectures on ‘algebraic analysis’ to their associates.”
Read more about this topic: Monsieur Lecoq (novel)
Famous quotes containing the word inspiration:
“Poets should be lawgivers; that is, the boldest lyric inspiration should not chide and insult, but should announce and lead, the civil code, and the day’s work. But now the two things seem irreconcilably parted.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“For a painter, the Mecca of the world, for study, for inspiration and for living is here on this star called Paris. Just look at it, no wonder so many artists have come here and called it home. Brother, if you can’t paint in Paris, you’d better give up and marry the boss’s daughter.”
—Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986)