Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret is one of the most unusual characters in all of detective fiction. Instead of following the lead set by Edgar Allan Poe in the "tale of ratiocination" and of Arthur Conan Doyle with his wizard of 221b Baker Street, Simenon gives us a gallic policeman who solves...
Not a book to make your acquaintance with the writing of Georges Simenon and his wonderful creation - Chief Inspector Maigret. This is the 8th in the series and perhaps the weakest to date. It is a confusing plot set in Holland; the French police are requested to go to support a French national w...
Simenon, Georges. MAIGRET AND THE MAN ON THE BENCH. (1953). ****. The similarity of plot twists between this novel and “Maigret and the Wine Merchant” is amazing. This, too, involves a man who has lost his job and is afraid to tell his wife about it. He manages to continue to leave the hous...
La particolarità di questo Maigret è che la trama gialla viene in secondo piano rispetto alla vera caratteristica di tutti i romanzi di Simenon che costituisce l’elemento distintivo della sua scrittura e la sua grandezza: l’indagine psicologica dei personaggi. Simenon utilizza una tecnica semplic...
A few weeks ago, I witnessed one of those little internet dramas that one often sees on Goodreads. A person calling himself "Edward" starting leaving comments on my reviews, particularly my long Charlie Hebdo thread. Most of Edward's comments didn't make sense, coming across either as extracts fr...
This novel is about Maigret. Oh sure, there's a murder and an investigation, and we eventually get to know a good deal about the victim and about the suspects, but above all else, we get to know Maigret.Scotland Yard has heard about the famous Maigret, and with the permission of the Paris police ...
WHEN I WAS OLD: Simenon on Simenon. (1970) George Simenon. ****.Back in 1960, George Simenon bought three leather-bound journals. He planned to leave some kind of written record of his life and career for his sons. It was never his intent to have the journals published. At the time, he was...
In Georges Simenon's 1942 novel, Hotel Majestic, Chief Inspector Jules Maigret must solve the murder of an American tycoon's wife whose strangled body is found unceremoniously stuffed into an employee's locker in the basement of a Paris hotel. The tycoon, however, has an alibi (he's been dallying...
A light but satisfying read, which I devoured in an hour or three. Having first seen the French TV series starring Bruno Cremer, and later a BBC version with Michael Gambon (and Minnie Driver as the unfortunate dancer), it was interesting to see how faithful both dramas were to the original text....
Wait, is that title symbolic or did they actually still use the guillotine in 1931? Someone mentions it, but I didn't know if they were being flowery or not...Anyway, this was my introduction to Simenon and his extremely famous (in much of the world) Maigret character, and it was a pretty unique ...
The host welcomed two guests: Professors Sian Reynolds and Peter France. The Maigret book chosen ("La Danseuse du Gai-Moulin" - published 1931 in France) had been recently translated into English by Sian as "The Dancer at the Gai Moulin". Peter was the editor of the “Oxford Guide to Literature in...
Very happy to read this book again, I remember the TV episode with Michael Gambon also with great fondness.Maigret sees a warning note alerting the police of a murder which will take place in Saint-Fiacre, the village where Maigret's mother and father lived and where he was born and grew up. No-o...
Poor old Maigret. This just isn't his week. Everything goes wrong from the start, and it's none of his fault, but there we are--the price of fame.Well, sort of. None of this would have happened if he'd gone home for lunch on time, instead of stopping off for a pastis or four with a workmate and g...