I'm a little frazzled from lack of sleep and the tail end of some annoying virus (infecting me rather than my laptop -- ho-ho-sigh) so I don't expect any major insights to hit the screen as I rattle through the motions here.
I do not blame Simenon for this mood, incidentally. Bet that's put him at ease.
He MIGHT Google this, no...? Ah, a Bing man, eh...? Oh, right. RIP, then.
Really enjoyed this read. Simenon made me feel uncomfortable, impressed and satisfied with a book that had a lot to say about racism. It was first published in 1933. 81 years on and it still seemed relevant. Mind-blowing.
My original reason for picking this up was that I was trying to find another example of behaviourist* POV. Took a roll of the dice with this one. French writer, same publisher as the Manchette translations I've read, it post-dates Hammett's The Maltese Falcon by four years (though I haven't looked into when TMF might have seen a French translation)... alas, this was an example of third person limited (a good example) and not third person objective POV. Still, a worthy read. I'll hunt out more of these romans durs and probably look for a Maigret omnibus too. Some time.
Here's a link to a recent(ish) review of the book on The Guardian website. It seems entirely on point to me.
*a current obsession mentioned and poorly explained in a good portion of the books I've documented since January. I'll actually write a post about the writing POV when I'm more adept at explaining it.
2 comments:
I'll put this on TBR list. I haven't really been able to get into Maigret, not that I've given him that much of a chance, but I really liked Red Lights when I read it a couple of years ago. It is set eastern U.S. and the atmosphere reminded me a lot of Mad Men.
I've always felt that Maigret wouldn't be my cup of tea. Seems like cosy territory to me. But really I should have a look and let the actual books make my mind up for me.
And Red Lights you say? I'll keep an eye out for that one.
Cheers
gb
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