Litsy

The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien: Inspector Maigret #3 | Georges Simenon

I have read, & loved, a few of Simenon's romans durs but this is my first experience with Maigret outside of a couple stories. It opens with Maigret shadowing a suspicious traveler who ends up committing suicide after having their suitcase switched, by Maigret himself no less. I really liked this propulsive suspense story that went to some really dark places. I will not be reading all of the Maigret books, but I will def be returning to them!

vivastory Have you read this one @bookwomble 1w

BarbaraBB Maigret… that brings back memories. It doesn‘t feel outdated? 1w

Bookwomble I haven't read this one. Although I had a Maigret binge last year, there are still loads I haven't got to yet! Sounds like a good one 😊 @BarbaraBB Obviously, I can't speak to this specific novel, but I haven't found the other books particularly dated, just atmospheric. By contrast, I've tried a couple of Christie's and thought them almost unreadably dated #UnpopularOpinion 1w

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Cathythoughts I read Hatters Ghost and really enjoyed it. I must try the Maigret series. Where would I start with Maigret? I love the suspenseful stories. 1w

Bookwomble @Cathythoughts The stories are all standalone, so I wouldn't worry too much about where you start. I just went with what the library had in and it was fine. I did find it took me a few books to get to know Maigret - he's a private man, but Simenon gradually builds up a fascinating portrait. If I was accused of a crime (I didn't commit!), of all the fictional detectives I've read, it's Maigret I'd want investigating. 1w

Cathythoughts @Bookwomble 😂 Well if Maigret would be your detective that says it all. I must get moving on these books ❤️👍🏻 1w

Bookwomble @Cathythoughts I do love #SherlockHolmes but he's about the intellectual challenge, solving the puzzle, and the game of pitting his wits against an antagonist (all fun to read), whereas Maigret is interested in the lives of both victim and preparator, and it's his compassion for both that is often the key to his success. He's got a strong moral centre, too, and is implacable when he sees thugishness or cruelty. Please forgive the fanboying! 😄 1w

Cathythoughts @Bookwomble I love the fanboying and your description is excellent… I think that‘s exactly why I will like Maigret too 1w

Bookwomble @Cathythoughts 😊👍 1w

LeahBergen I need to try a Maigret, too! 1w

vivastory @BarbaraBB I didn't find it to be outdated. Simenon writes in an almost clinical, detached manner with very little emotional investment quickly moving from point to point. I was often reminded of Highsmith's Ripley novels while reading, or some of Hitchcock's early movies.. I do think that the Ripley novels are slightly better in terms of characterization, but this was a great time & I LOVE Simenon's romans durs (esp Dirty Snow) 1w

vivastory @Bookwomble Care to share favorites from your Simenon binge? 😀 1w

vivastory @Cathythoughts What I did was go to my local bookstore, grab all of the Simenon Maigret novels, read the synopsis & buy the one that intrigued me the most. I know that there are a few guides online of the best in the series, but I get the general impression that you can't go too wrong with what you choose. (edited) 1w

vivastory @LeahBergen I think you'd like him! A quick read. I polished it off in a couple of hours! 1w

Cathythoughts Oh good ! I‘ll just pick one so. Maybe this tagged one 👍🏻❤️ 1w

Bookwomble @vivastory lt's hard to pick, so I'll mention three that are a bit different. Mainly they take place in Paris, and while "Maigret Takes a Room" does too, the setting is unusual and shows another side of the city and the man. Maigret comes from Normandy and a few of the stories see him back there: "The Misty Harbour" is a good one of those."Maigret Travels" sees him amongst the millionaires, travelling from the Côte d'Azure to Switzerland, and ⬇️ 7d

Bookwomble @vivastory ... getting very uncomfortable. Horse you enjoy whatever you pick up 😊. 7d

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Centique

A Maigret Christmas | Georges Simenon

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Im trying to get a bit of Christmas spirit this year as last year was a total failure in that respect! This little book was a good start (if you like the quieter type of detective stories like i do) Three short tales of deaths on Christmas Day and the detective or police drawn in to solve them. Simenon is a French author who wrote a series of detective novels and this was a good introduction (thanks @merelybookish for putting this on my radar!)

Centique Photo is from my friend‘s gift shop which is all set up for Christmas. 🎅🤶 5mo

LeahBergen What a festive pic! I‘ve been meaning to read this one for ages. 5mo

CarolynM What a lovely display 😍 My daughter has been crochet Christmas decorations for her workplace. I‘m trying to persuade her to do some for us too😆 5mo

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TrishB That‘s a gorgeous pic. 5mo

Centique @CarolynM they sound gorgeous! We need a picture i think! 😍 5mo

Centique @LeahBergen @TrishB her shop is so full of christmas wonders; I‘ve taken lots of photos so you‘re bound to see some more 😂😂 5mo

merelybookish Love all those angels! Glad you enjoyed. Something fun about spending Xmas in a seedy part of Paris. 😄 5mo

Reggie That is an awesome pic. I‘m trying to decide if I want to put up a tree. 5mo

Centique @Reggie we had no tree last year because of kittens and general disinterest!! I put it up early this year so i had a quieter space/time to do it in. And i put a Christmas cooking show on in the background to give me some vibes 😂😂 5mo

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Bookwomble

New Investigations of Inspector Maigret | Georges Simenon

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Seventeen short stories, collectively published in 1944, and spanning Maigret's career from his early cases as Chief Inspector of the Police Judiciaire through to post-retirement calls on his services, showing that if Simenon didn't have a preconceived plan for his protagonist's life arc, he did refer back to these earlier tales as he wrote his later novels.
I think I do prefer Maigret at novel length, but these were still good, and it was ⬇️

Bookwomble ... interesting to get a compressed view of Maigret's development from a somewhat brash inspector prepared to crush toes and loosen teeth during an interrogation, to a somewhat world-weary, but not cynical, revered elder-statesman, both enjoying and chaffing at retirement. 6mo

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Bookwomble

New Investigations of Inspector Maigret | Georges Simenon

"The keeper of the lock at Le Coudray was a thin, sad-looking man in a couduroy suit, with droopy moustaches and a mistrustful expression, a type frequently encountered among estate managers."
- The Hanged Couple

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

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Bookwomble

New Investigations of Inspector Maigret | Georges Simenon

These "new" investigations were published in 1944, and first translated into English in 1962, so "nouvelle" only in the sense that they were newly translated in 2022 for the Penguin series.
I don't know Simenon's biography well enough to know what he was doing in WWII: I don't think he wrote any Maigret novels (I'm happy to be corrected), but he did write these short stories. I think I'll intersperse them with some Halloween horror stories ??

Dilara That rang a bell, so I checked on fr.Wikipedia. He lived in Charentes-maritimes & Vendée. He was an official Belgian delegate who dealt with Belgian refugees, and in that capacity, refused to help Belgian Jews. He wrote 20 novels, including 3 Maigrets, but I don't know how many were published during the war. He did publish stories in nazi-controlled newspapers & signed movie contracts with Continental, and therefore was investigated after the war. 7mo

Dilara ⬇He never meddled in politics or propaganda, which helped him avoid prison, but he probably was a small-time collaborator, as many were. He did however move to Québec and California right after the war, just to be on the safe side while the post-war purges were going on (and also to work with Hollywood studios). (edited) 7mo

Bookwomble @Dilara Ah, thank you. That's interesting, if disappointing, to learn. I guess it's easy to be judgemental from the comparative safety of my position, but I'd have wished that he'd helped the Jewish people who came within his ambit. The one Maigret I read that was written towards the close of the war had the detective in some official disgrace & shunted out of Paris, so neatly sidestepping any Reich entanglements and all mention of the occupation. 7mo

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kwmg40

Night at the Crossroads | Georges Simenon

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This was a low pick for me -- a good but not great installment in the Maigret series. It was interesting to compare to a couple of film adaptations I've seen of this story. I had read this in the original French so might have missed some subtleties!

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#SummerEndReadathon @TheSpineView
#RushAthon @DieAReader @Andrew65 @GHABI4ROSES

TheSpineView Fantastic! 7mo

DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 7mo

TheAromaofBooks Yay!! 7mo

Andrew65 Well done 👏👏👏 I am enjoying the Maigret series but the books can vary in quality. 7mo

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Bookwomble

Maigret in Vichy | Georges Simenon

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Simenon explicitly references Maigret's advancing years in this one (an ancient 55 years old! Made me feel effing ancient reading that!), when on his doctor's advice he takes a month off in Vichy to take the waters for his health. Louise Maigret gets more page-time in this one, but only because Maigret is spending more time with her - I think we'll never really get a proper view of her other than as his wife, which is a shame.
Despite being ⬇️

Bookwomble ... outside his jurisdiction and on leave, when a woman is found strangled, Maigret's interest is piqued, and the high regard, if not veneration, in which he is held by the local gendarmerie leads to his assistance being called upon.
I found Maigret's process as fascinating as ever, though the unspoken moral judgements Simenon makes about the murder victim and perpetrator didn't sit well. I'm not sure if this is due to a cultural Franco-British ⬇️ 7mo

Bookwomble ... divide about 'crimes passionnel' against women, or a historical shift since this was written in the late '60s against their social acceptability (a shift that still had some way to go, sadly). 7mo

Bookwormjillk Where are the doctors telling me to take a month off 🤣 7mo

Bookwomble @Bookwormjillk Maybe if you shop around?👩‍⚕️😄 7mo

Bookwormjillk @Bookwomble good idea 😁 7mo

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Andrew65

The Yellow Dog | Georges Simenon

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Book 6 in the Maigret Series. Written almost 100 years ago and they were much shorter books, but I really do enjoy these books. #Classics

9th book finished for #SummerEndReadathon #SeriesLove2023 @TheSpineView
#Rushathon @DieAReader @Ghabi4Roses

TheSpineView Excellent!🤩📖📚 7mo

DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 7mo

kwmg40 I'm enjoying the Maigret books too. I've been trying to read them in French. It's a bit challenging for me, especially when Simenon uses slang that was commonplace 90 years ago. 😅 7mo

Andrew65 @kwmg40 Impressive! That would add an extra challenge 😳 7mo

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Bookwomble

Night at the Crossroads | Georges Simenon

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Maigret number 7 presents a younger, more active and brash detective than I've come to know from the later books in the series, and it's fascinating to read them out of order to really feel the difference in temper, and yet still recognise the same character.
Where the later books are complex, this one is convoluted, which is not without its own attraction. This Maigret shows signs of the psychological method he will more fully... ⬇️

Bookwomble ... develop as he matures, and I was a little shocked at the violence he was prepared to use in this case, both with his fists and his gun. At one point he's rather reckless, perhaps even displaying a touch of arrogance that the older Maigret would surely deplore.
If Simenon had intended to develop this growth of character from the outset over the course of four decades of writing, then he was a genius; if not, then he was inspired, perhaps, in ⬇️ 9mo

Bookwomble ... a sense, possessed, by his great creation. And yet you could easily pick up any single book in the series and find it no more than a competent crime thriller. Inspired genius! Simenon hasn't let me down yet. 9mo

The_Book_Ninja There‘s a Maigret film on Talking Pictures tomorrow: Maigret at the Majestic. I‘m taping just to see what this chap is all about. ☺️ 9mo

Bookwomble @The_Book_Ninja Oh, that's interesting. It looks like it's a French production - if it's subtitled rather than dubbed, I'll have a look at it myself 😊 9mo

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Bookwomble

Maigret and the Killer | Georges Simenon

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Maigret is close to retirement, though the authorities have just raised retirement age for police inspectors by five years, so he's got some way to go yet. Simenon deftly paints an impression of a man ready to lay down the burden of long responsibility, and who will likely be lost without that lifetime purpose.
Following what the papers report as a frenzied knife attack by a lunatic, Maigret is pressured by the Examining Magistrate to bring in ⬇️

Bookwomble ... the "psychopath" as soon as possible. Maigret eschews these gross oversimplifications of character, taking chances on his intuition to understand the personality of the man he needs to bring before what passes for justice. While Maigret is never conflicted in his duty, his compassion for victim and perpetrator set him apart from those around him as much as the killer's crime sets him apart from society. 5⭐ 11mo

The_Book_Ninja Who do you love the most. Maigret or Sherlock? 11mo

Bookwomble @The_Book_Ninja I've known Holmes as long as I can remember. Although I recall my Nana sending me to the library for Maigret books when I was 7, I only recently found him myself. So Holmes is more wrapped up in my psyche & is archetypal, whereas Maigret is more recent, human and humane. I'd be fascinated meeting Holmes, I'd be moved meeting Maigret. If accused of a crime, whether I was innocent or not, I'd rather have Maigret investigating. 11mo

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The_Book_Ninja I‘ve never read a Maigret but I do love Holmes. I read so much Holmes when I was a kid, contemporary detective novels I read later seemed a bit too simplistic to me 11mo

Bookwomble @The_Book_Ninja I do love Holmes, too, and I felt slightly guilty preferring to have Maigret investigate my case 😳 I'm also currently reading an annotated edition of all the Holmes stories, and the question is kind of like being asked if I'd rather have chocolate ice cream or lemon sorbet - just depends on the day and my mood 🍨🤷🏻‍♂️🍋😁 11mo

bibliothecarivs Great question, @The_Book_Ninja, and great answers, @Bookwomble :) 11mo

The_Book_Ninja @Bookwomble that‘s totally relatable. One last question: Holmes has his pipe, his violin and his “transcendental stimulation”. What fun hobbies does your man Maigret have? 11mo

The_Book_Ninja @bibliothecarivs thanks. Bookwomble is my brother from another mother 11mo

Bookwomble @bibliothecarivs 😊 11mo

Bookwomble @The_Book_Ninja Pipe smoking, again, alcohol, not excessive but somewhat more than his doctor is happy with, and good food of the homely kind. A favourite dish seems to be a traditional French sausage called Andouillette, which sounds disgusting to me! 11mo

Bookwomble @The_Book_Ninja Aww! 😀🫂🤗 11mo

The_Book_Ninja @Bookwomble ☺️ 11mo

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