Maigret Forum Archives 2005

New Years Greetings 1/3/05 – Thank you for the compliments. To all involved in the Maigret Forum website, a Happy and Successful 2005. Peter Foord

Maigret Feedback 1/3/05 – You have one of the great web sites devoted to any author. One question (which you must have been asked many times), and one suggestion. Haven't you considered a vast parallel site on all of the rest of Simenon? And here's the suggestion. The Forum is not intuitively laid out. It is nonsense to have to "jump to the newest entries". The Forum should be laid out like a weblog, with the newest entries at the top of the column. I especially like your focus on specific Maigret titles and look forward to discussion of the less-known ones, such as the First Case or the Calame Report. For what it is worth, here are my own 3 files listing what I regard as the 244 "core" Simenon titles. If you are in any doubt how I get to 244, do ask! I allow 4 pseudonymous works (the 4 Maigrets) into this list. There are many Simenon bibliographies. Half of them are inaccurate, and I don't think any of them are as lucidly set out as mine. The only way I think it could be improved as a core list would be by checking the order of appearance of each title within each year -- by month. I haven't done that yet, but could do it. Please tell me if you think I've got anything wrong. I give the Fayard titles numbers because they are a kind of sacred oeuvre within the oeuvre. For most authors, those 20-odd titles would be a life's work. I am compiling a file of Simenon plaudits by the great and good, from Gide to Stravinsky to Dirk Bogarde. May send it to you in due course. Maigret.pdf Non-Maigret.pdf Main Autobiographical.pdf Best regards, David Derrick

Maigret et la Seconde Guerre mondiale [Maigret and World War II] 1/3/05 – On trouve une allusion à la collaboration économique dans Maigret et le Clochard (1962) -- « Il a fatalement travaillé avec les Allemands et a amassé une fortune considérable... » --, ainsi qu'à la filière espagnole pour fuir en Argentine avec femme et fortune (Chapitre 4, p. 86-87 de l'édition P. C. 38 NS). Une précision pour les personnes peu familières avec l'Histoire de France : l'Alsace dont il est question pour ce Lemke ferrailleur à l'origine de la fortune de Mme Keller n'était pas occupée par l'Allemagne, mais annexée au IIIe Reich. Tout Alsacien, par définition, a travaillé pendant plus de quatre ans pour l'Allemagne... There is an allusion to economic collaboration in Maigret and the Bum (1962) – "Inevitably he had to deal with the Germans, and he amassed a considerable fortune ... he and his wife managed to reach Spain, and from there they sailed to Argentina..." (Chapter 4, p. 88-89, Popular Books, Jean Stewart translation.) A point of clarification for those less familiar with French history: the Alsace of the scrap metal dealer Lemke and the origin of Mrs. Keller's fortune, was not occupied by Germany, but annexed to the Third Reich. All Alsatians, by definition, worked during more than four years for Germany... <ST> Richard Budelberger

Maigret in Romanian 1/6/05 – The books of Georges Simenon are also translated into Romanian. I am not sure how many titles have been printed in the past (before 1989 - the Communist period) but in 2004 the Polirom publishing house started reprinting the series of Commisar Maigret. Until now there have been 10 books printed. The titles are the folowing: Asta-i Felicie Dansatoarea de la Gai-Moulin (La danseuse du Gai-Moulin) Nebunul din Bergerac (Le fou de Bergerac) Maigret si Mortul (Maigret et son mort) Maigret se teme (Maigret a peur) Maigret si scoala crimei (Maigret à l'école Inspectorul Cadavre (L'Inspecteur Cadavre) Prima ancheta a lui Maigret (La première enquête de Maigret) Cazul Louise Laboine (Maigret et la jeune morte) Maigret la New-York (Maigret à New York) Best regards, Alexandru Jianu

Maigret of the Month --2005 month title January L'affaire Saint-Fiacre - Maigret Goes Home (1932) February Chez les Flamands - The Flemish Shop (1932) March Le port des brumes - Death of a Harbormaster (1932) April Le fou de Bergerac - The Madman of Bergerac (1932) May Liberty Bar - Liberty Bar, Maigret on the Riviera (1932) June L'écluse no. 1 - The Lock at Charenton (1933)

Maigret of the Month: L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre (Maigret goes home) - 1 1/08/05 – With this novel, Simenon introduces the reader to the village where Maigret's mother and father lived and where he was born and raised. Although the novel is a work of fiction, Simenon based the location on an area of France he knew well. When Simenon left his home city of Liège, in Belgium, in December 1922, he went to Paris where he was to start a new employment, made possible through a family connection, as a secretary to the journalist and writer Gustave Binet-Valmer. The latter was far more interested in a veterans' organisation with right-wing political associations, but one of the adherents was the Marquis Raymond d'Estutt de Tracy who in seeking a secretary took on the young Simenon in May 1923. The Marquis had inherited a fortune and property, among other bequests, from his father. The property included one of several châteaux, one being in the département of Allier at the village of Paray-le-Frésil twenty-five kilometres from the town of Moulins. Simenon was required to accompany the Marquis to his various properties and according to Tigy, Simenon's first wife, the Marquis '...prefers his Paray-le-Frésil château, near Moulins' (Tigy Simenon, "Souvenirs," Gallimard, 2004, page 22). It was in and around the village of Paray-le-Frésil, renamed Saint-Fiacre by Simenon, that he chose to set his Maigret novel L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre and there to give Maigret his roots. This particular location and period in Simenon's life is well documented, not only in the biographies by Fenton Bresler, Stanley G. Eskin, Patrick Marnham and Pierre Assouline, but also by the following: Gilles Henry: Commissaire Maigret, Qui Êtes-Vous? Librairie Plon, 1977, 284 pages. (Reprinted as La Veritable Histoire du Commissaire Maigret, Editions Charles Orlet, 1989, 269 pages). With reference to Simenon's autobiographies and fictional work, Gilles Henry has extracted details relevant to several aspects of Maigret's creation, life and career. Also by obtaining information from various archives and people in certain locations, he has pieced together how Simenon has used fact to create his fiction. There are two black and white aerial photographs of the village and the château of Paray-le-Frésil (the latter similar to the photograph in the Forum entry for 6/26/00 from Jérôme Devémy), two photographs of Pierre-Augustin Tardivon, the steward to the château, on whom Simenon based Maigret's father, and various stills and photographs of actors who have played Maigret. At the end of the text there is a list of the Maigret novels and short stories, plus a list of characters appearing in the Maigret works. The reprint of 1989 has the same texts but omits the photographs. Neither book has been translated into English. Claude Menguy. In the article Simenon: "sites classés". Traces N° 10, Université de Liège, Centre d'Études Georges Simenon, 1998, pages 186 to 193. Claude Menguy visited Paray-le-Frésil in May 1998 and his text reveals details of Simenon's connection with this village and the château gleaned from some of the inhabitants and his extensive knowledge of the author's work. The text is enhanced by Claude Menguy's own photographs of this location. He reveals that the inn in the novel where Maigret stayed and run by Marie Tatin was in fact, in 1923, owned by another Marie, Marie Picard, who was the youngest of six sisters. The Marquis, Simenon was soon to discover, had certain rigid ideas. Although Simenon had only been married for two months, the Marquis forbade his secretary's wife Tigy to live in the château or in any of his other properties he visited. Tigy decided to follow her husband and his employer, staying nearby in various rented accommodation. In Paray-le-Frésil, she stayed for a time in Marie Picard's (or the fictional Marie Tatin's) inn. In her Memoirs ("Souvenirs", Gallimard, 2004, page 22) Tigy Simenon writes: 'At Marie Picard's, the real country inn, with the feather bed and the red eiderdown, perched on top. But the grub is fantastic and the board and lodging ridiculous: ten francs a day.' (In her Memoirs there is a small photograph of Tigy standing in front of the inn). As the Marquis seemed to be wanting to stay at this château for some time, Georges and Tigy Simenon decided to rent two rooms in a small house about a hundred metres from Marie Picard's inn in the Rue Haute (Claude Menguy: pages 191 to 193). Simenon remained in the employment of the Marquis until the spring of 1924 when he and his wife returned to Paris. Neither Claude Menguy's article nor Tigy Simenon's Souvenirs are available in English translation. Guido De Croock. L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre - 1 and 2. From his website: www.maigret-in-france.net. In September 2003 Guido De Croock visited Paray-le-Frésil, posting his findings on to his website with photographs and maps. In the December bulletin from "Les Amis de Georges Simenon" there is this item from the press (unidentified source): 'Pierre-Augustin Tardivon. He was my father. At the close of the Great War, he became steward to the Marquis de Tracy, at Paray-le-Frésil, in the Allier. There he made the acquaintance of Georges Simenon, at that time secretary to the Marquis, with whom he got on well. In a letter addressed to my sister on the 22nd of November 1977, Simenon wrote, "I am happy to tell you what admiration I had for your father. It is on him that I based Maigret's father." So by the magic of the pen, without knowing it, my father took on the paternity of the renowned Commissaire Maigret'   Pierre-Henri Tardivon. So less than eight years after his stay at Paray-le-Frésil, in January 1932, whilst living at the villa "Les Roches Grises" at Cap-d'Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes) on the French Riviera, Simenon turned certain aspects of real life into the novel L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre. A map showing the route east from the town of Moulins, along the N79 to Chevagnes and then north east along the D238 to Paray-le-Frésil, all in the département of Allier (from France: Map 238. Centre: Berry-Nivernais, Michelin 1989). click to enlarge A note is sent to the police at Moulins, and then on to the police in Paris at the Quai des Orfèvres, stating that a crime is going to be committed at first Mass in a certain church in a certain village on a particular day. The police regard it as a probable hoax, but Maigret recognises the location, takes it seriously, and travels to the village of Saint-Fiacre. There he finds accommodation at the inn of Marie Tatin, who he remembers from his childhood, and the following morning attends the first Mass at the village church. At the end of the Mass his apprehension is realised with the death of the Comtesse de Saint-Fiacre. Making himself known, Maigret soon learns how conditions have changed, especially at the château, since he left the village as a young man to live in Paris. What he discovers saddens, disgusts and angers him. The standards that were maintained by the late Comte de Saint-Fiacre in the running of the château and the estate have been eroded leading to dire financial problems, exacerbated by the personal activities of the Comtesse and her son, the current Comte de Saint-Fiacre. Maigret wanders about the village, looking in at the church and the château, talking to people, as well as visiting the town of Moulins, gleaning as much information as he can in trying to unravel the circumstances leading to the death of the Comtesse. With his now familiar writing skill, Simenon presents the atmosphere of village life both through Maigret's boyhood memories and the changes that have been, and are, taking place. But it is when the Comte de Saint-Fiacre invites a group of people to dinner, including Maigret, who have connections with his family and the château, that events reach a climax. Simenon entitles the chapter in which this dramatic event takes place as "Sous le signe de Walter Scott" (translated as "In the style of Sir Walter Scott" and "A Scene from Scott"). From his childhood onwards, Simenon was a prolific reader of the works of many authors, including the Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), and he is recreating a remembered atmosphere for the dénouement of this novel. A dénouement that brings out the motive of greed with the manipulation of circumstances and certain people. But it is Maigret who puts into place the final piece of the mystery. There are two English translations of this novel. The first is by Margaret Ludwig originally published under the title of "The Saint-Fiacre Affair" in the two novel volume with the overall title of "Maigret Keeps a Rendez-Vous" (in the UK by Routledge, 1940, and in the USA by Harcourt, 1941). The second is by Robert Baldick originally published by Penguin Books, UK, 1967 as a paperback under the title "Maigret Goes Home". Both English translations are close to Simenon's French original. Peter Foord, UK

Maigret of the Month: L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre (Maigret goes home) - 2 1/10/05 – I just reread Maigret et l'affaire Saint-Fiacre. It is even better than I remembered. This is a strange book, as Maigret seems to be a witness and is not conducting the inquiry. He is more following The Comte. The main meal at the end of the book is like some of those "huis-clos" and for me the whole book looks like a "huis-clos" in the village between Maigret and the others. Maigret seems to be more concerned by his memories of youth. In chapter three Simenon writes, "Mais il était furieux qu'on vïnt salir ses souvenirs d'enfance!" At the end the official justice is not called and even if the crime is vile, the criminal can leave freely. It could be more related to the non-Maigret books by the vile crime and the abject criminal and motive. You may have noticed that the name of The comte's girlfirend is Marie Vassilief, a clin d'oeil from Simenon as Marie Vassilief is the name of the painter that painted the wall of the restaurant 'La Coupole' in 1927 where Maigret and Joséphine Baker used to meet. (See 5/2/04 Forum). I now need to reread the story "Maigret and the altar boy" to see if there is any point related to the altar boy in this story... Regards, Jerome

Maigret of the Month: L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre (Maigret goes home) - 3 1/11/05 – [Édition de référence : Presses Pocket n° 1333 (1989) ; pagination : 7 ; 25 ; 41 ; 61 ; 78 ; 94 ; 113 ; 130 ; 146 ; 166 ; 179-185.] Si Paray-le-Frésil est Saint-Fiacre, et Moulins Moulins..., alors Chevagnes, c'est Matignon ? Car c'est ainsi (Ch. 1, p. 9) que Maigret identifie son village : « — Saint-Fiacre, par Matignon ? ». Simenon respecte la géographie locale, en plaçant Saint-Fiacre et Moulins (Ch. 8, p. 138) : « Toujours est-il qu'il franchit les vingt-cinq kilomètres séparant Moulins du château en moins d'un quart d'heure... ». La carte Michelin 238 « Centre : Berry-Nivernais » proposée supra par l'érudit britannique Peter Foord nous indique 18 km de Moulins à Chevagnes (N79), puis 7 km de Chevagnes à Paray-le-Frésil par la D238. (Voilà bien un paragraphe inutile, puisqu'il est possible que Matignon ne figure plus nulle part ailleurs dans l'œuvre de Simenon !...) Oui, mais... Simenon et la France... Pour Simenon, Saint-Fiacre, c'est dans le Berry (Ch. 5, p. 86) : « On devait parler dans tout le Berry de la vieille folle qui gâchait la fin de sa vie avec ses soi-disant secrétaires ! ». Alors que tout le monde et son chien sait que Paray-le-Frésil confine au Nivernais et au Bourbonnais. Peut-être est-ce la raison du revirement de Simenon quinze ans plus tard, en 1947, quand il rédige les Vacances de Maigret (1), où Saint-Fiacre se voit transporté (Ch. 3, p. 48) : [Dr Bellamy] — De quelle province êtes-vous ? D'autres auraient dit département, et Maigret saluait au passage ce mot province qu'il aimait. — Du Bourbonnais. (Les Français se divisent entre les tenants des provinces historiques (le Bourbonnais) et les partisans des technocratiques départements (l'Allier) et régions. Toutefois, le négligent Simenon n'est pas à une contradiction près (Ch. 1, p. 6) : « [le] jeune Maigret qui, jadis, dans son village de l'Allier... » !) 1. Édition de référence : Presses de la Cité m 13 (1989) ; pagination : 5 ; 27 ; 47 ; 67 ; 89 ; 109 ; 129 ; 151 ; 171-190. Afin de se repérer dans les multiples éditions des Maigret, et dans l'attente d'un système définitif, j'indique un volume de référence, et la pagination des chapitres, en terminant par le numéro de la dernière page. Ici : ch. 1 p.5 ; ch. 2 p. 27 ; [...] ; ch. 9 p.171 - dernière page : p. 190. Ainsi, une règle de trois devrait permettre de s'y retrouver dans une autre édition ou une traduction... [Edition of reference: Presses Pocket n° 1333 (1989); pagination: 7; 25; 41; 61; 78; 94; 113; 130; 146; 166; 179-185.] If Paray-le-Frésil is Saint-Fiacre, and Moulins Moulins, then is Chevagnes Matignon? Because that is how Maigret identifies his village: "— Saint-Fiacre, by Matignon." (Ch. 1, p. 9). Simenon respects local geography in placing Saint-Fiacre and Moulins: "Still, the fact is he covered the twenty-five km separating Moulins from the château in less than a quarter of an hour..." (Ch. 8, p. 138). Michelin map 238 "Centre: Berry-Nivernais" set out (above) by the British scholar Peter Foord, indicates that it is 18 km from Moulins to Chevagnes (N79), then another 7 km from Chevagnes to Paray-Le-Frésil by D238. (This may be really a rather valueless paragraph, since it is possible that Matignon doesn't appear anywhere else in the entire Simenon œuvre!)* Yes, but... Simenon and France... For Simenon, Saint-Fiacre is in Berry (Ch. 5, p. 86): "They would tell all over Berry of the old madwoman who wasted the end of her life with her so-called secretaries!" Whereas everybody and his uncle knows that Paray-Le-Frésil is confined to Nivernais and Bourbonnais. Could this be the reason for Simenon's reversal 15 years later, in 1947, when in Maigret on Holiday (1), Saint-Fiacre finds itself transported (Ch. 3, p. 48) : [Dr. Bellamy] — From what province are you? Others would have said department, and Maigret gave nod to this word province that he liked. — From Bourbonnais. (The French are divided among those holding to the historical provinces (Bourbonnais) and partisans of the technocratic départements (Allier), and régions. However, a negligent Simenon is not above a contradiction: "the young Maigret who, previously, in his village in the Allier..."!) (Ch. 1, p. 6) 1. Edition of reference: Presses de la Cité m 13 (1989); pagination: 5; 27; 47; 67; 89; 109; 129; 151; 171-190. In order to align the multiple editions of the Maigrets, and in the absence of a definitive system, I indicate a volume of reference, and the pagination of chapters, while finishing by the number of the last page. Here: Ch. 1 p.5; Ch. 2 p. 27; [... ]; Ch. 9 p.171-last page: p. 190. Thus, a rule of three should permit its recovery in another edition or translation... (*Matignon is not mentioned elsewhere in the Maigrets.) <ST> Richard Budelberger

Maigret of the Month: L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre (Maigret goes home) - 4 1/11/05 – I just read "Maigret and the altar boy" again, and on the last page, when Maigret is ill and resting after having solved the case, Simenon wrote: "Il s'endormi enfin, le cou entouré d'une large compresse, en rêvant des messes de son village, de l'auberge de Marie Titin, devant laquelle il passait en courant parcequ'il avait peur" [He fell asleep at last, with a huge compress round his neck, dreaming of Mass in his own village and Marie Titin's inn, past which he used to run because he was afraid. (Jean Stewart translation)] This is another small memory of Maigret's youth. Simenon makes a small mistake as Marie's familly name is Tatin in L'affaire Saint-Fiacre. In "Maigret and l'altar boy" he uses the fact that as a boy Maigret wanted to get many things like the big missal with big red letters for the young altar boy at Saint-Fiacre. "Maigret and the altar boy" was writen in April 1946 when Simenon was in Canada. That is 14 years after l'Affaire Saint-Fiacre. Reagrds, Jerome

References to Maigret and Simenon in literature 1/11/05 – Paul Léautaud (1872-1956), dans son Journal littéraire (1893-1956) — 6 600 pages 11,5 × 17 cm ! -, ne cite qu'une seule fois (et encore...) Simenon (Tome III, p. 1727, année 1948) : Dimanche 12 Septembre. — Combat a entrepris auprès de ses lecteurs un référendum sur cette question : Quels sont les meilleurs écrivains français actuels ? Je découpe le passage des réponses : LES DIX PREMIERS Ont obtenu : Gide, 423 voix ; Camus, 342 ; Sartre, 324 ; Malraux, 298 ; Montherlant, 290 ; Claudel, 256 ; Mauriac, 243 ; Romains, 191 ; Martin du Gard, 180 ; Colette, 172. Viennent ensuite : Duhamel, 169 ; Anouilh, 141 ; Aymé, 128 ; Éluard, 107 ; Breton, 99 ; Giono, 97 ; Cocteau, 93 ; Prévert, 90 ; Aragon, 87 ; Maurois, 82 ; Michaux, 77 ; Alain, 71 ; Queneau, 58 ; Supervielle, 47 ; Céline, 46 ; Valery Larbaud, 29 ; Green, 28 ;Salacrou, 26 ; Léautaud, 25 ; Dorgelès, 25 ; Carco, 24 ; Gracq, 23 ; Maurras, 22 ; Lacretelle, 22 ; Daniel-Rops, 21 ; Herriot, 21 ; Maritain, 21 ; Simenon, 20 ; Peyrefitte, 20. Gide en premier avec 423 voix. Duhamel en onzième rang avec 169 voix. S'il voit cela, il en jaunira en cachette. Ailleurs (Tome III, p. 86, samedi 15 juin 1940), quoique un peu éloigné de notre sujet... : La première chose que les Allemands ont demandé en arrivant à Paris : le Quai d'Orsay. On les y a conduits. Ils sont venus aussi à la Police judiciaire, ils avaient un plan détaillé du bâtiment : escalier A, escalier B, escalier C... L'inspecteur de police dit qu'ils ont dû bien nous juger en voyant la saleté qui règne dans tous les bureaux. Paul Léautaud (1872-1956), in his Journal littéraire (1893-1956) - 6,600 pages 11.5 × 17 cm ! only mentions once (and again...) Simenon (Volume III, p. 1727, year 1948): Sunday, 12 September. — Combat has undertaken a poll of its readers on the question, "Who are the best current French writers?" I've extracted the passage of responses: THE TOP TEN Gide, 423 votes; Camus, 342; Sartre, 324; Malraux, 298; Montherlant, 290; Claudel, 256; Mauriac, 243; Romains, 191; Martin du Gard, 180; Colette, 172. Followed by: Duhamel, 169; Anouilh, 141; Aymé, 128; Éluard, 107; Breton, 99; Giono, 97; Cocteau, 93; Prévert, 90; Aragon, 87; Maurois, 82; Michaux, 77; Alain, 71; Queneau, 58; Supervielle, 47; Céline, 46; Valery Larbaud, 29; Green, 28;Salacrou, 26; Léautaud, 25; Dorgelès, 25; Carco, 24; Gracq, 23; Maurras, 22; Lacretelle, 22; Daniel-Rops, 21; Herriot, 21; Maritain, 21; Simenon, 20; Peyrefitte, 20. Gide in first with 423 votes. Duhamel in eleventh with 169 votes. If he sees this, he will secretly turn green. Elsewhere (Volume III, p. 86, Saturday 15 June 1940), although slightly removed from the subject...: The first thing the Germans asked for when arriving in Paris: the Quai d'Orsay. They were driven there. They also went to the Police judiciaire, where they had a detailed plan of the building: staircase A, staircase B, staircase C... A police inspector said that they should have been able to judge us well, seeing how dirty all the offices were. <ST> Richard Budelberger

Obtaining a copy of a '60s BBC Maigret episode? 1/12/05 – I have been browsing your excellent site. Do you happen to know if there is any way to acquire a copy of a particular episode of the Maiget series produced by the BBC in the 60's? The episode of my interest is: 21. Raise Your Right Hand (Maigret aux assises). BBC TV (English). 1961 (12/11/61). I have recently learned that my late uncle, Frank Ellement, played the role of Pierre Millard in that episode. Regards, John Mott

The value of francs in Maigret stories 1/11/05 – L'INSEE met en garde le public contre l'utilisation de son propre tableau d'équivalence du franc (Fichier PDF) : « L'INSEE tient à préciser aux utilisateurs de ces données qu'elles sont d'autant plus fragiles que les périodes utilisées sont éloignées, et qu'elles ne peuvent être l'objet d'une référence juridique. » Les Français le savent bien ; que depuis qu'il existe des indices de prix existe aussi une politique de l'indice mise en œuvre par les gouvernements successifs, les ministres des Finances, ayant pour seul but de trafiquer les chiffres, en modérant les prix dont l'INSEE tient compte, et en laissant les autres s'envoler. (Je suppose que ce phénomène est universel, et non propre à la France !) Les Français, bêtes au point de voter Maastricht et l'euro, ne sont pas dupes des chiffres en epsilon égrenés chaque mois par les commentateurs. Les deux dernières années (1971-1972) de production des Maigret, le prix de vente de l'édition courante (poche Presses de la Cité, du type « PC n NS ») était de 4,90 F. Aujourd'hui, leur réédition dans le « Livre de poche » est à 5 euros. Se basant sur cette seule donnée, on peut poser 1 F-1971 = 1,02 €-2004. En réalité, cette valeur (1,02) serait encore à majorer, puisqu'il s'agit de rééditions ayant déjà largement rapporté à l'auteur et à l'éditeur depuis trente ans ! Le tableau de l'INSEE indique : 1 F-1971 = 0,85199 €-2003, soit un écart (minimal) de 20 %. Le milliardaire suisse Simenon paraît peu au fait de la réalité française, au moins dans ses incohérents derniers romans - Maigret à Vichy, L'Ami d'enfance de Maigret... -, où les sommes mises en jeu défient toute vraisemblance (tant économique que fiscale, mais j'y reviendrai dans mes Carnets, si Steve m'en donne l'occasion). Les extraits mentionnés dans « francs in Maigret stories » pèchent par omission, au moins en ce qui concerne Maigret se fâche (1945) (1), où figure une indication intéressante (si elle est vérifiée). Extrait cité : Bernadette Amorelle came to M to have him take up her case. She offered him 50,000 francs if successful, 10,000 in any event. Soit, en bonne langue française : « Cinquante mille si vous réussissez. Et, si vous ne trouvez rien, mettons dix mille, plus vos frais... » (Ch. 1, p. 14) Plus loin (Ch. 3, p. 53-54) : [Ernest Malik] — [...] L'administration n'est pas très généreuse. Je ne sais pas combien elle te verse comme retraite. Et Maigret, toujours doux et humble : — Trois mille deux. . . [Ernest Malik] — [...] Voilà pourquoi je te dis... — Combien ? — Cent mille. Il ne broncha pas, hochant la tête avec hésitation : — Cent cinquante. J'irai jusqu'à deux cent mille. Ernest Malik - le Percepteur... - offre cinq années (62,5 mois) de revenus à Maigret - à la retraite depuis bientôt deux ans (Ch. 1, p. 14) - pour s'en débarrasser ! Sa mère, Bernadette Amorelle, proposait déjà 16 mois de pension (cf. supra). Un mot, probablement rédigé par son fils, veut solder l'affaire pour 6 mois (Ch. 5, p. 81-82) : « Lors de ma visite inconsidérée à Meung-sur-Loire, j'avais laissé sur votre table une liasse de dix mille francs, destinés à couvrir vos premiers frais. Veuillez trouver ci-joint un chèque de la même somme et considérer cette affaire comme terminée. » L'INSEE donne à 3 200 F-1945 comme équivalent 339,2 €-2003 ! Une retraite de commissaire de la Police judiciare (pressenti pour en être le directeur) ! La proposition de Malik - 200 000 F-1945 -, n'est pas plus réaliste (en plus d'être illégale) : 21 200 €-2003... Pourtant, Simenon était en France lors de la rédaction de Maigret se fâche. Alors ? De sa part, aucune notion de la valeur de l'argent (pour ce rapport 62,5) ? Délire de l'INSEE quant à l'équivalence ? Le manuscrit ayant été détruit par l'auteur... (Pourquoi, au fait, Simenon a-t-il détruit certains manuscrits, tout en vendant d'autres au profit des prisonniers de guerre ?) 1. Édition de référence : Presses de la Cité m 2 (1989) ; pagination : 7 ; 24 ; 41 ; 57 ; 73 ; 91 ; 109 ; 125-141. Richard Budelberger

Maigret Monday 17th on France 2 1/17/05 – Origine : Fra. (2004) Stéréo. Scénario : Steve Hawes. Musique : Laurent Petitgirard. Réalisation : Franck Apprederis. Distribution : Bruno Cremer (le commissaire Maigret), Vanessa Larré (Cécile Ledru), Vincent Winterhalter (Philippe Deligeard), Thierry Fortineau (le juge Monthiel). Date : 17/01/2005 Horaire : 20H55 - 22H50 Durée : 115 mn À Caen, où il est chargé de réorganiser la brigade mobile, Maigret reçoit la visite de Cécile Ledru, une jeune femme de 28 ans qui vient de perdre celle qui l'avait accueillie après la mort de ses parents et à qui elle doit tout. Âgée de 78 ans, cette bienfaitrice nommée Joséphine Croizier, de Bayeux, est décédée d'une crise cardiaque lors de son séjour chez son neveu Philippe Deligeard. Cécile est convaincue que madame Croizier a été assassinée par Deligeard qui, désargenté, ne pensait qu'à l'héritage de sa tante. Le commissaire Maigret entame son enquête sur cette affaire et commence à découvrir les petits et grands secrets des proches de la défunte. Notes : Une excellente enquête qui nous tient en haleine jusqu'au bout. Bruno Cremer est exemplaire, comme à son habitude. Jerome

Help with Pietre Le Letton? 1/17/05 – Hello. I was wondering whether somebody would be able to help me. I am currently a 4th year university student and I am studying Pietre Le Letton for my French detective fiction module. I have read the book but would like to clarify a couple of points. Why does Anna Gorskine murder Mortimer Levingston? Who is 'Openheim? is he another name Pietr uses? and who murdered Torrence? I would be really grateful for any suggestions on these. Thank you very much, Pippa Todd

Maigret in Slovak 1/20/05 – Steve et moi établissons les bibliographies tchèque et slovaque des Maigret. Pas facile quand on ne connaît ni le tchèque ni le slovaque. Nous en sommes à 57 textes pour le tchèque, et 18 pour le slovaque. Première demande (le slovaque) : quelqu'un peut-il confirmer les titres originaux des traductions citées ? et compléter le reste ? Merci. Steve and I are working on the title lists for Maigret in Czech and Slovak -- Not so easy when you know neither Czech nor Slovak! We have some 57 titles for Czech, and 18 for Slovak. To begin with Slovak... Can anyone confirm the original titles for the given translations? ...and complete the rest? Thank you. Liberty bar : « Liberty Bar » Maigret a neochotní svedkovia : Maigret et les Témoins récalcitrants Maigret a prípad Nahour : Maigret et l'Affaire Nahour Maigret a samotár : Maigret et l'Homme tout seul Maigret a telo bez hlavy : Maigret et le Corps sans tête Maigret a tulák : Maigret et le Clochard Maigret sa hnevá : Maigret se fâche Maigretov zlodej : Le Voleur de Maigret Maigretove pamäti : Les Mémoires de Maigret Môj priateľ Maigret : Mon ami Maigret Nocna križovatke : La Nuit du carrefour Prístav hmiel : Le Port des brumes Stavidlo č. 1 : L'Écluse n° 1 Žltý pes : Le Chien jaune Prípad z baru : Maigret váha : Maigretove starosti : Maigretovo rozprávanie : Note : On remarquera avec le plus grand intérêt que les titres français respectent l'orthotypographie française, à propos de laquelle nous nous exprimerons ultérieurement. Note: You may find it of particular interest that the French titles respect French orthotypography, with regard to which we will return later. Richard Budelberger Richard started this project with the Polish pages — thanks to his help, I can post the accurate lists in Polish orthography. ST

Can you read these characters? 1/23/05 – If the accented characters for the Slovak and French in Richard Budelberger's message above, look similar to those shown in the image below: then Unicode characters are displaying successfully on your screen. With Richard's help, I've been updating the character displays for the Eastern European languages in the multi-lingual Bibliography section. If you find a listing for which the characters are incorrect or missing (including non-Roman alphabets), please send me a file with the correct orthography, and I'll try to correct the on-line lists. (If the characters don't display correctly on your system, please let me know the details...) Thanks! ST

Maigret on French TV : Friday 4th February: Maigret et le Marchand de vin 1/30/05 – Origine : Fra. (2004) Stéréo. Scénario : Pierre Granier-Deferre et Dominique Garnier. Musique : Laurent Petitgirard. Réalisation : Christian de Chalonge. Distribution : Bruno Cremer (Jules Maigret), Alexandre Brasseur (Paul Lachenal), Bruno Abraham-Kremer (Lorenzi), Laurent Schilling (Lambert). Date : 04/02/2005 Horaire : 20H55 - 22H40 Durée : 105 mn En sortant d'une maison de rendez-vous, René Chabut est assassiné. Autodidacte plutôt timide mais obstiné, Chabut était à la tête d'une grosse entreprise solide et florissante, qu'il dirigeait d'une main de fer. Néanmoins, incapable de surmonter son complexe d'infériorité, cet homme mystérieux et sensible éprouvait le besoin de dominer, voire d'humilier autrui pour croire en lui. D'où ses multiples liaisons passagères et son cynisme à toute épreuve, notamment dans le domaine des affaires. Chargé du dossier, le commissaire Maigret décide assez logiquement de suivre ces deux pistes, la vengeance d'une ancienne conquête ou d'un client. Il abandonne assez rapidement la première. Jerome

Maigret y la Segunda Guerra Mundial 1/31/05 – When I sent my question (11/12/04) why there was no mention of WWII in Simenon's Maigrets, I had only read the Maigrets written through 1947. I have now read through 1959 (I am currently reading "Maigret in Society") and have seen numerous references to WWII in the Maigrets written between 1948 and 1959. My 11/12/04 message also questioned whether there might have been anything improper in Simenon allowing his Maigret books to be filmed during the Vichy government. Richard Budelberger's 1/3/05 message (Maigret et la Seconde Guerre mondiale [Maigret and World War II]) cites an allusion of economic collaboration with the Germans in "Maigret and the Bum". I don't know the context of that economic collaboration as have not yet read MATB. I have come to realize, though, that it was unfair of me to question Simenon's motives in wanting to make his books into film. I left my native Cuba in 1961when I was 17 years old. The 1959-1961 Cuban exodus was significant but still it was only about one or two percent of the Cuban population at the time; most Cubans stayed in Cuba and had to deal with Fidel Castro's communist government whether they liked it or not! Of the 1948-1949 Maigrets, I think "Maigret Has Scruples", "Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses", and "Maigret Has Doubts" are three of his best. Saludos, Juan

Maigret of the Month: Chez les Flamands (The Flemish Shop) 2/01/05 – At the request from one of the daughters of a Flemish family who visits him in his office at the Quai des Orfèvres, Maigret travels outside his jurisdiction in order to find out about the enquiry for himself. This request takes him to the town of Givet on the Franco-Belgium border in the département of Ardennes. (maps below) Simenon wrote this novel in January 1932, whilst living at the villa "Les Roches Grises" at Cap-d'Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes) on the French Riviera. In the spring of 1929, he had his newly acquired boat the "Ostrogoth" baptised by the curé of Notre-Dame when it was moored next to the Square du Vert-Galant on the Île de la Cité in Paris. Soon he was heading north along the rivers and canals reaching Givet on the river Meuse a few days later. There are three main researches tracing Georges Simenon's association with the towns of Givet and Namur in connection with his novel Chez les Flamands: 1) Articles in the booklet "La Grive", N° 157 Printemps (Spring edition) 2000, L'Association des Amis de la Grive, Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes), France. This publication contains a few small black and white period photographs related to Simenon's novel, plus the articles that contain some of the information now published in the next item. 2) Michel Lemoine and Michel Carly: Les Chemins belges de Simenon, Liège, Éditions du Céfal. 2003. In the article entitled Chez les Flamands, de Givet à Namur, pages 61 to 72, the two researchers describe Simenon's visit and the probable locations he uses in the novel, with black and white period photographs. 3) Guido De Croock. Chez les Flamands - 1 and 2. In 2003, Guido De Croock visited Givet, posting his findings onto his website — www.Maigret-in-france.net — with photographs and maps. A general map showing the position of the town of Givet (Ardennes) in France, in relation to the Belgian border, which is indicated by the meandering line of small black crosses. The "Flemish Shop" in Simenon's novel is most likely located next to the northern end of Route N51 between the two Customs posts indicated by the blue flag symbol (French) and the yellow one (Belgian). (From France: Motoring Atlas, London, Michelin / Hamlyn Publishing, 1990). In writing this novel, Simenon used two events from his personal experience and around these he created the theme of his novel. The centre of the town of Givet (Ardennes) in France showing certain locations — Gare (railway station), the place Méhul (from which the N51 runs north), the Place Carnot with the Hötel de Ville (town hall) indicated by the capital letter H, and the main road bridge across the river Meuse. (From France, Paris, Michelin, 1962). (click to enlarge) Firstly there are the locations, these being the towns of Givet (Ardennes) in France and Namur (province of Namur) in Belgium. As in much of his fiction, within the main locations, Simenon uses real establishments but usually with different names so as not to cause possible legal problems for himself. This is the case of those establishments in Givet whose real identity have been verified by the researchers, as well as what the town was like when Simenon reached it in the "Ostrogoth" in the spring of 1929. There was only a provisional footbridge across the river Meuse constructed of iron girders resting on wooden piles as the stone bridge had been destroyed during the First World War, and that the weather was fine and calm, but the transformations that the author made were to create the atmosphere that he wanted. Secondly, there is the structure of the family. When Maigret arrives by train at Givet he is met by Anna Peeters, who came to see him in Paris. She takes him to her family home, the Flemish family home, by the river Meuse close to the Belgian border. This is also a shop that gives the novel its title, supplying provisions of all kinds to the river trade. On this occasion Maigret meets some of the Peeters' family, which consists of five members. Apart from the 26 year old Anna, there is the older sister Maria, 28, who is an instructress / teacher at an Ursuline convent in Namur and their younger brother Joseph, 25, who is a law student in the town of Nancy and who is engaged to Marguerite Van de Weert, the daughter of a local doctor. Then there are their parents, Madame Peeters, aged about sixty, who runs the shop and her much older husband who is suffering from senility. Simenon based this family on that of one of his aunts. His mother Henriette was the youngest of thirteen children born to Wilhelm and Maria Brüll, but sadly, five died young. This made Marie Lambertine Joséphine Brüll (1865-1955) the eldest sister. In 1886 she married Gilles Croissant (1841-1918) and they had three children, Joséphine Croissant (1887-1946), Maria Croissant (1888-1975) and Joseph Croissant (1891-1973). This Croissant family and that of the Flemish family in the author's novel have definite similarities. When Georges Simenon's aunt Marie Brüll married the much older Gilles Croissant, his home was at 78 Quai de Coronmeuse, Liège, then next to the Liège-Maastricht canal (in recent years part of this canal has been filled in for road widening purposes) where he carried out his craft as a basket-maker. Soon after, they turned part of their home into a shop catering for the canal trade. A recent map of Liège showing part of the town centre, the Quai Saint-Léonard and the Quai de Coronmeuse along the left bank of the river Meuse, in relation to part of the district of Outremeuse (where the Simenon family lived) on the right bank. (From Liège, super plan N° 76, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, Geocart-Claus, 2003). (click to enlarge) In various works, Simenon refers to his aunt's shop: From Destinées (autobiography), Paris, Presses de la Cité, 1981, pages 149 and 150 (written in 1979). 'If the kitchen in the Rue Puits-en-Sock (his paternal grandparent's home and shop in Liège) was in a way the centre for the Simenons, my aunt's shop on the Quai de Coronmeuse, above the lock where the barges were lined up side by side, was more or less that of the Brülls. ... She had two grown up daughters and the lounge was only in use when one or other of them was practicing the piano... I had noticed, on my left, a dark and badly lit room where a man with a white beard, who made me think of Abraham, was working with willow making baskets.' From Je me souviens... (autobiography), Paris, Les Presses de la Cité, 1945, page 178 (written 1940-41). Here Simenon describes on a certain Sunday, with his parents and his younger brother Christian, of going to visit his aunt Marie: 'We pass our former house in the Rue Pasteur (now the Rue Georges Simenon). Then the Place du Congrès, the Rue de la Providence, the Maghin bridge (the Saint-Léonard bridge) which stretches across the Meuse. For me, the Quai Saint-Léonard, whose end you could not see, already is unfamiliar and I look at the people and things with a little anxious pleasure.' From Pedigree, Paris, Presses de la Cité, 1948, page 100 (a novel written between 1941 and 1943 based on and which describes the first fifteen years of Georges Simenon's life) 'The other quai began, the Quai de Coronmeuse, and with it the canal... an invigorating smell of tar and resin. Here was the shop window, an old fashioned window cluttered up with starch, candles, packets of chicory and bottles of vinegar. Here was the glazed door and its transparent advertisements: the white lion of Remy starch, the zebra of a grate polish, the other lion, the black one, of a brand of wax. And the doorbell, which you would recognize among a thousand others. Finally, the unique and wonderful smell of the house where there was nothing commonplace... was it the smell of gin that predominated? Or was it the more insipid smell of the groceries? For the shop sold everything, barrels oozing American lamp oil, rope, stable lanterns, whips, and tar for boats. There were jars containing sweets of a doubtful pink and glazed drawers stuffed with sticks of cinnamon and cloves. The end of the counter was covered with zinc, three round holes had been made in it, and out of these holes there protruded bottles crowned with curved tin spouts.' (Note: neither Je me Souviens... nor Destinées have been translated into English, but Pedigree has been published in the translation by Robert Baldick under the same title — London, Hamish Hamilton, 1962 / New York, London House, 1963 and by Penguin Books, UK, in a paperback, N° 2252, 1965). There are other similarities between the real Croissant family and the fictitious Peeters. Simenon uses the same first names for one of the sisters, Maria, and also for her brother Joseph. Like her fictitious counterpart, Maria Croissant was a teacher, but at the Filles de la Croix, Sainte-Véronique, in Liège. Both Josephs, Croissant and Peeters, fathered a child by a local girl. (I doubt that the personalities of the Peeters family bear any similarity to that of the author's relations. Simenon took the opportunity of creating his own characters' personalities for this novel on the structure of a family unit he knew well). It is Maigret who learns at the outset that it is Joseph's liaison with a local girl, Germaine Piedboeuf, which is the crux of the investigation. Germaine has disappeared without trace, and the Peeters' family are suspected of being involved, of abducting her, even of killing her. Maigret has no jurisdiction over the enquiry, but proceeds to wander about the town, visiting various establishments and meeting up with certain people who are involved in some way or other, including Inspector Machère from the town of Nancy who is in charge of the investigation. But practically everywhere he goes, Maigret is soon aware of the tension, an atmosphere of hostility, with the weather adding to it, the river Meuse is in flood and the rain and strong winds add to the discomfort of everyone. Maigret reflects that... 'The (Flemish) house reminded him of an investigation that he had made in Holland, yet with differences that he was unable to define. It was the same calm, the same heaviness of the air, the same sensation that the atmosphere was not fluid, but was made up of a solid substance that was broken in moving.' (This being a reference to the novel Une Crime en Hollande / Maigret in Holland). But then only a short while later... 'He was sullen. It was rare that at this point he had the sensation of the uselessness of his efforts.' With no official authority and with little progress, Maigret begins to wonder what he is doing in this town. The hostility and tension stems partly from a form of class structure and an undercurrent of the language divide. There is hostility towards the Flemish family partly because of them being accused, rightly or wrongly, of the disappearance of Germaine Piedboeuf, of being well off and for their Flemish background in a mainly French community. Maigret comes in for some hostility as he is seen by some as helping a wealthy family to evade a crime. Even when he visits the Piedboeuf house, and later meets up with Germaine's brother in a café near the Town Hall, he comes in for criticism, resulting in an altercation. But he persists, doggedly seeking out various people and being drawn back to the Flemish house, where on an earlier visit he listened to Anna Peeters singing to her own piano accompaniment. The music on that occasion was Solvejg's Song, one of the incidental pieces of music that Grieg composed for the play Peer Gynt by his compatriot Henrik Ibsen. This song becomes a leitmotiv throughout some of Maigret's visits to the Flemish house, with chapter X of the novel being entitled La chanson de Solveig (Solveig's Song). There is a parallel between the story of Peer Gynt and the Peeters' family, a story of hero worship. From his adventures, Peer Gynt is saved by the love of two women, his mother Åse and his long standing fiancée, the innocent Solvejg, in the same way the three women of the Peeters' household hero worship their brother Joseph, with his loyal fiancée Marguerite Van de Weert waiting patiently. Finally, Maigret travels to the Belgian town of Namur to meet the fifth member of the family, Maria Peeters, who is working at the Ursuline convent there, but is laid up with a sprained ankle. With some form of conclusion reached, Maigret is only too glad to return to his wife and home in Paris. To date, there is only one English translation of this novel, that by Geoffrey Sainsbury, which, as with this translator, is wayward in comparison with Simenon's French text. In 1938, Simenon wrote the novel Chez Krull. Although the author does not indicate a town or city, he does mention that the Krull family runs a shop, with a small bar, close to a Quai Saint-Léonard catering for the requirements of the canal trade. Once more Simenon must have been thinking of his aunt Croissant's shop, with the Quai Saint-Léonard, in Liège, preceding that of the Quai de Coronmeuse. The Krull family consists of five members — Cornélius, the father, who is a basket-maker, his wife Maria and their three children, Anna, aged 30, Elizabeth, 17, and Joseph, 25, who is a medical student. The body of the daughter of one of bargees in discovered in the canal and the German cousin of the Krulls, who is visiting them, comes under suspicion, followed by the whole family. Simenon conjures up the atmosphere of an alarming reaction, with the thoughts and feelings of the members of the family being seen through their own eyes rather than a central figure like Maigret. (This novel was first published in the English translation by Daphne Woodward, under the same title, in the two novel volume entitled A Sense of Guilt, London, Hamish Hamilton Ltd. 1955 and as the single novel paperback Chez Krull, London, Four Square Books, N° 24, 1958. It has not been published in the United States). Peter Foord, UK

Interviews with filmmakers (in French) 2/11/05 – You will find a few "entretiens" I have done of French directors on my site mapage.noos.fr/jtombeur So far, Serge Gainsbourg, Claude Autant-Lara & Bertrand Tarvenier's are available. Pierre Granier-Deferre's one is under progress. These are nearly identical to the ones published in Simenon Travelling in Oct. 1989. Jef Tombeur

Maigret In Hungarian 2/22/05 – Thanks to Varga Kalman of Hungary for doubling the size of the list of Maigret in Hungarian! ST

Maigret of the Month: Le Port des Brumes (Death of a Harbourmaster) 3/01/05 – Most of this Maigret novel is located in and around Ouistreham (département of Calvados) in Normandy, with a visit, later, to the town of Caen fifteen kilometres to the south west. Simenon was in Ouistreham during the latter part of August, then for September and October 1931 during the final part of his two and a half year journey on board his boat the "Ostrogoth". Early in November of the same year he took it to Caen where he sold it. During his stay in Ouistreham he wrote two Maigret novels, At the Gai-Moulin (La Danseuse du Gai-Moulin) and The Guinguette by the Seine (La Guinguette à deux sous), but Le Port des Brumes was written three months later in February 1932, the last of four more Maigret novels, whilst he was living in his rented villa "Les Roches Grises" at Cap-d'Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes) on the French Riviera. His reminiscence of his stay in Ouistreham is evoked near the beginning of Chapter IV of the novel (Le Port de Brumes, Paris, Arthème Fayard & Cie., Éditeurs, Mai 1932, page 68): 'Ouistreham, c'était un village quelconque, au bout d'un morceau de route plantée de petits arbres. Ce qui comptait seulement, c'était le port: un écluse, un phare, la maison de Joris, la Buvette de la Marine. Et le rythme de ce port, les deux marées quotidiennes, les pêcheurs passant avec leurs paniers, la poignée d'hommes ne s'occupant que du va-et-vient des bateaux....' Ouistreham was a very ordinary village, at the end of a bit of road lined with small trees. The only thing that counted was the harbour: a lock, a lighthouse, Joris's house, the Buvette de la Marine . And the rhythm of this harbour, the two daily tides, the fishermen going past with their baskets, the handful of men only occupying themselves with the comings and goings of the boats... (translation by Peter Foord). A recent map showing Ouistreham (Calvados) in Normandy in relation to Caen, with the canal running parallel to the river Orne. (303, Calvados, Manche, Michelin et Cie., Mai 2004). (click to enlarge) And as a 1920s guidebook put it... 'An old seaport at the mouth of the canal.' This canal, the construction of which was completed in 1850, made it possible for ships to reach Caen, where it ends. It runs parallel to the river Orne that frequently silts, especially as it nears the coast. When a middle-aged man, possibly suffering from amnesia, is found wandering about central Paris, the police take charge of him and Maigret becomes involved. The unknown man is finally identified, with the result that Maigret officially accompanies him back to his home in Ouistreham. Within a short time of arriving, Maigret is plunged into the atmosphere of the canal and in wandering about almost loses himself in the fog that envelops the whole area, which gives the novel its French title. Gradually finding his way around, Maigret becomes only too aware that the people with whom he has to deal constitutes a marine community very much closed in on itself with a well established strata from ship owner and mayor to deck hand. Unable to cover all aspects of his enquiries, Maigret sends for his colleague Sergeant Lucas who together endeavour to unravel and understand the complex relationships within the community, made all the more difficult by a wall of silence that seems to be in place. The web of intrigue seems to involve the same few people that finally Maigret discerns emanates from a long-standing family feud. Writing this novel in early 1932, Simenon describes the area around Ouistreham, the canal with its functions, and the beach, as it must have been, probably with little change, since the canal was constructed. But scarcely thirteen years after Simenon stayed there, the events of the Second World War were to change the area. The huge stretch of coast from Ouistreham (Calvados) westwards to Les Dunes de Varreville (Manche) on the Cotentin Peninsula was the location chosen for the D-Day landings made by the Allied Forces on the 6th of June 1944. Many maps since indicate the wartime code names given to the Beaches — Sword (Ouistreham), Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah. A recent and more detailed map showing the canal from the English Channel adjacent to Ouistreham and beyond towards Caen. Also to be seen is the lock with its bridges, lighthouse, and the harbour, which are similar to those that Simenon describes in the novel. (1612 OT, Caen, Ouistreham, Institut Geographique National, 2000). (click to enlarge) Translation To date there is only one English translation, that by Stuart Gilbert. As with some of the earliest translations of Simenon's work, it is much freer in comparison to the author's original French text. Some of the English expressions and phrases used are somewhat quaint and dated. Peter Foord, UK

Identify this Simenon quote? 3/5/05 – In what Simenon novel is the line "If the world made any sense, we would all die in graveyards" ? Rudy Franchi

Another Turkish Title for Bandes Dessinées 3/9/05 – Maigret et la danseuse du Gai Moulin is also translated into Turkish, with this title: "Maigret ve Gai Moulin Dansçisi". Maybe you'll update your site. And a question: Is that all the Maigret comics list? I mean, are there only 5 bd's including Maigret stories? Thanks in advance, Oquzeron

Maigret Checklist 3/13/05 – I salute your website devoted to Simenon and Maigret. I've read most of the books in the original (it's an excellent form of studying French; I discovered Maigret while in Paris supposedly studying at the Sorbonne, but learning much more out of class :-) One small point, for others who may be more familiar with the books in the original is that while your checklist page is very handy for referencing Simenon's work, I think another column is necessary, to include the *original title*. There seem to be so many variations in some of the book titles in English that the only real way to catalogue any particular book is, I think, to give it its original title first, then give its various translated titles. Anyway, thanks again for providing such a great website. Cheers, Richard Toronto Thanks, Richard - try clicking on the 3-letter link to the left of the titles on the checklist - it will bring you to the main list, with the original title and detailed bibilographic info... ST

Hard-To-Find Maigrets 3/16/05 – Could anyone tell me if Penguin or any other publishers are going to publish Maigret Sits It Out and Maigret on Holiday? I need copies of these titles to complete my collection. I have looked on Amazon and internet bookshops but the prices quoted are outrageous. Some people looking for £150 and one wanted £400 a copy. My collection is a ragbag of old Penguins, book club editions, and Harcourt paperback reissues. I am not looking for first editions, just readable copies. PS the site is a treasure. James McKevitt

Help with Hard-To-Find Maigrets 3/17/05 – James, Try searching for Maigret and the Fortuneteller & No Vacation for Maigret individually instead of Maigret on Holiday which has both and was only published once. There is $10 copy of Maigret Sits it Out posted at: Michelle The Old Book Company 4 Christopher Road, Leeds, LS6 2JX, UNITED KINGDOM Tel. 01132286112 sales@oldbook.co.uk www.oldbook.co.uk Juan

Maigret of the Month: Le Port des Brumes (Death of a Harbourmaster) - 2 3/17/05 – Present Tense I'm really enjoying Le Port des Brumes. I noticed that about halfway through the first chapter in the French version, Simenon switches to present tense. I seem to remember from my schooldays that this is not uncommon in French literature, but I can't say I've noticed it before in Simenon, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't occur in the earlier Maigrets. Any scholars out there who can add to this? Roddy

Saint-Fiacre 3/17/05 – Saint-Fiacre - The Patience of a Saint By Adrian Higgins On a day when we toast Ireland and its patron saint, Patrick, raise a glass to a lesser known Irish holy man who haunts our shrubberies, Saint Fiacre. Fiacre, who is the patron of gardeners, needs a bit more recognition, after all. There will never be a Saint Fiacre's Day Parade on Fifth Avenue. He is unlikely to get a cathedral named after him (though novelist Georges Simenon invented the village of Saint-Fiacre as the home town of his intrepid detective, Inspector Maigret). Even in the crassness of the modern marketplace, don't look for a Saint Fiacre's Day Blowout Sale ("Everything Must Grow!"). Fiacre has a couple of things against him. The first is his name. No one seems to know quite how to pronounce it, even members of his fan club. (The closest to a consensus is fee-ACK-ree). The second difficulty is that as a healer, his ailment specialties are somewhat unmentionable and include hemorrhoids. By contrast, Saint Patrick seems much more a swashbuckler, casting out demonic serpents and spreading the word throughout the land by confronting the tribal chieftains in Ireland's ancient provinces. Fiacre was a monk who fled Ireland in the seventh century in search of solitude and ended up in France, where the bishop of Meaux gave him a forested site at Breuil and said he could have as much land as he could encircle with a trench in one day, or so the story goes. His crook turned out to be a saintly version of a gas-powered mini-tiller, and turned the soil wherever it was placed. This was the start of a long career in the garden. Fiacre, like a lot of medieval monks, raised herbs for healing. He also established a shrine for pilgrims and, like Martha Stewart, a cell for himself... Read the whole article from the Washington Post here. Roddy

Maigret in Welsh 3/18/05 – Thanks, Roddy, for spotting a copy of a Maigret in Welsh on eBay - L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre - Maigret Yn Mynd Adre. The 28th language for our list! ST

Paris Buses 3/20/05 – Here in Leipzig we have a small fleet of Parisien Autobus which are used to show tourists the city. They are quite small by today's standards and suprisingly quiet. (click to enlarge) Carl Studt

Help with Hard-To-Find Maigrets 3/20/05 – I use www.abebooks.com. There is a copy of Maigret and the Fortuneteller in the US cost: €1.50 + postage of €7.13 Carl Studt

BBC Radio 7 Maigrets broadcasts featuring M Denham 3/20/05 – I missed the following broadcasts, Maigret in Monmartre; Maigret Has Scruples; and Liberty Bar, is there anyone out there who could loan me a copy, as the BBC dont seem to want to re-broadcast. As future broadcasts are likely to be the Nicholas Le Provost series, borrowing someone's old recording is my only option. Please help. Martin Cooke

Harlan Ellison and Simenon 3/20/05 – Extracted from the SignOnSanDiego.com article, Dangerous Visions by Arthur Salm (3/20/2005) "A long time ago," Ellison says, returning to an almost normal tone, "I was reading about (French mystery writer) Georges Simenon. He was incapable of writing a bad book, you know. I read, to my astonishment, to my awe, that for the 100th anniversary of his publisher, his publisher suggested that he sit in the front window of a pub and write a novel in one week. And that he did it. "I thought, 'Oh my god, that's great, I can do that.' I approached A Change of Hobbit (bookstore in Santa Monica). They set up a typing table in the window, and announced that 'Beginning Monday, Harlan Ellison will write a short story from beginning to end, every day for five days. We will post the stories in the window as he's writing them. He will talk to readers, sign autographs, eat.' " Ellison wrote the five stories; three later won awards. The bookstore did tremendous business. He took the show on the road, and over the years he has performed/written in bookstores in cities all over the world, including, he says, Boston, San Francisco, San Diego - even London, where "all day long foreign tourists would come up to me and ask me where they could find books in the store. I'm writing a story, and people are asking me in German for directions to 'Field Guide for Herons.' " Not long after he began this high-wire act, his credibility was questioned: It was suggested that he already knew what he was going to write. So he started having celebrities give him ideas upon which the story of the day had to be based. They were delivered in sealed envelopes. In San Francisco, his pal Robin Williams waded through the crowd at the bookstore and presented him with "Computer vampire: the byte that bites." "I screamed, 'You (blankety-blank)! You know I'm computer illiterate!' But I wrote the story ('Keyboard') using computer geeks, fans of mine who were sitting on the floor around me." (But his tale-telling is being interrupted: "A PHONE IS RINGING SOMEWHERE," he shouts, "AND NO ONE IS ANSWERING IT." When it is pointed out to him that that sounds like a Harlan Ellison short-story title, he grabs a pen and scribbles the words on a paper napkin.) Finally, he went to Paris. "Now I've come full circle. I'm going to do it in the town where Simenon did it. No one else can do it but Simenon and me." Ellison went to see Simenon's publisher - who hemmed and hawed in a French accent and finally admitted that, well, the idea was discussed, but Simenon never actually wrote a novel in a pub. "I thought it could be done, so I did it!" he roars. "If I'd known nobody could do it, I wouldn't have done it!" He wrote a story in a Paris bookstore, of course. "Footsteps" later won awards and "was done as part of a bad series called 'The Hunger' on HBO. (Director) Tony Scott messed it up something horrible." Roddy

Maigret of the Month: Le Port des Brumes (Death of a Harbourmaster) - 3 3/22/05 – At end of the third chapter, the last sentences bring a feeling of fear, uncertainty, like in "Maigret et le chien jaune". In chapter nine, there is a sentence that shows the way Maigret feels toward the victim "Mort, il n'a qu'un seul ami... C'est moi...." [Now that he's dead, he has just one friend... me.] He calls himself a friend of the victim. He behaves like he had known Joris for a long time; he tries to understand him , guesses how he behaved. In the small house, when Maigret finds the wife of the Mayor, Simenon writes "Or, soudains on eut froid." [Suddenly, everyone felt cold.] With only a small sentence, he manages to bring a real feeling to what is happening in the room. There is always an economy in the number of words that make his sentences very efficient: tell a lot with few words. Regards, Jerome

La Première enquête in Polish 3/22/05 – Thanks to Przemysław Charzyński and Jarosław Prokop of Poland for sending in notice of this new Polish translation of La Première enquête de Maigret, 1913.

Simenon's Desk 3/23/05 – A photograph of Simenon's desk, taken in 1960 by the photographer Izis, in Avec les écrivains du siècle, ©2000, Éditions Filipacchi -- Société Sonodip -- Paris Match. Roddy

Simenon in Writers at work 3/28/05 – In 1968 Penguin published a book called 'Writers at Work' containing interviews from the Paris Review selected by Kay Dick. Included is a 15-page interview with Georges Simenon, conducted in his house in Lakeville, Connecticut, when he lived in the States. Simenon is one of 15 authors — others include Hemingway, Pasternak, Pinter, Bellow — who discuss what they think of their own, and other people's work, their lives and the problems of writing in the contemporary world. Best wishes, Anthony Green PS: As I write, I notice that one copy is available to buy on the internet through Abe Books. You can read the original (1955) Paris Review interview here. ST

Maigret of the Month: Le Port des Brumes (Death of a Harbourmaster) - 4 3/29/05 – Back on May 6, 2002 (and May 10, 2002) there was a discussion in this Forum about the typo of Nantes for Mantes in the opening paragraph of Stuart Gilbert's English translation. The discussion was picked up by Le Courier de Mantes a few months later, and reported here. Here's a reprint: Maigret dans le train de Mantes : grand débat sur trussel.com Claude Cécile Le Courrier de Mantes Publié le 24 juillet 2002 C'est un débat certes microscopique, mais il a agité récemment quelques fervents de Georges Simenon, dans un forum anglophone dédié au commissaire Maigret. En voici résumé l'enjeu : dans Le Port des brumes (1932), le train du commissaire Maigret passe-t-il par Nantes ou par Mantes ? Dans le texte original de Simenon, on lit : "Quand on avait quitté Paris, vers trois heures, la foule s'agitait encore dans un frileux soleil d'arrière-saison. Puis, vers Mantes, les lampes du compartiment s'étaient allumées. Dès Evreux, tout était noir dehors". Mais une internaute, Patricia Clark, a lu la traduction de Stuart Gilbert : "When the Cherbourg train left Paris, just before three, the cool, clear sunlight of an October afternoon still bathed the busy streets. Thirty miles later, when it was nearing Nantes, the lights had been turned on in the compartments. Half an hour later, when the train reached Evreux, it was quite dark". Elle écrit : "Paris-Evreux via Nantes, ce serait assez pervers, ça n'a aucun sens. S'agit-il d'une erreur d'impression ? L'erreur vient-elle de Simenon ou bien du traducteur ?" Le modérateur du forum, Steve Trussel, se reporte au texte français, et suggère que l'erreur a été commise par un correcteur trop zélé, ignorant en géographie. Richard Thomas signale que l'erreur a été reproduite dans une édition anglaise de 1944, après l'originale de 1941, et John H. Dirckx confirme que dans l'édition Harcourt de New York (1942), c'était aussi Nantes à la place de Mantes. Steve Trussel : se peut-il que Stuart Gilbert ait été aussi nul en géographie ? Un nouvel examen de sa traduction dédouane Stuart Gilbert quelques jours plus tard. Traducteur pas toujours scrupuleux, Gilbert a pris quelque liberté avec le texte de Simenon, et il a ajouté cette précision kilométrique : "Thirty miles later...". Trussel : "Il apparaît donc que Gilbert a fait des recherches sur les temps de trajet et les distances, il ne fait pas de doute que sa traduction originale mentionnait bien Mantes". Le coupable est à chercher ailleurs... Voilà une enquête collective rondement menée qui fera que, peut-être, la prochaine traduction anglaise du Port des brumes ne sera pas fautive. and translation: Maigret on the Mantes train: big debate on trussel.com Claude Cécile Le Courrier de Mantes Published July 24, 2002 It's certainly a microscopic debate, but it recently agitated some fans of Georges Simenon on an English-speaking forum dedicated to Commissioner Maigret. At issue: In Death of a Harbourmaster (1932), does Maigret's train pass through Nantes or Mantes? In Simenon's original text, we read : "Quand on avait quitté Paris, vers trois heures, la foule s'agitait encore dans un frileux soleil d'arrière-saison. Puis, vers Mantes, les lampes du compartiment s'étaient allumées. Dès Evreux, tout était noir dehors." But one Internaut, Patricia Clark, noticed in Stuart Gilbert's translation: "When the Cherbourg train left Paris, just before three, the cool, clear sunlight of an October afternoon still bathed the busy streets. Thirty miles later, when it was nearing Nantes, the lights had been turned on in the compartments. Half an hour later, when the train reached Evreux, it was quite dark." She writes: "Paris-Evreux via Nantes would be perverse, it doesn't make any sense. Is it a typo? Does the mistake come from Simenon or the translator?" The moderator of the forum, Steve Trussel, refers to the French text, and suggests that the mistake may have been committed by an overzealous proofreader, weak in geography. Richard Thomas reports that the mistake had appeared in an English edition of 1944, after the original of 1941, and John H. Dirckx confirms that in the Harcourt edition (New York, 1942), it was written as Nantes instead Mantes. Steve Trussel: Can it be that Stuart Gilbert himself was hopeless in geography? A further examination of Stuart Gilbert's translation some days later showed him to be not always scrupulous, for Gilbert took some liberty with Simenon's text, even to adding precisely: "Thirty miles later... ." Trussel: "So since Gilbert investigated the times and distances, his original translation must have been Mantes." The guilty party must be sought elsewhere... It was a concise collective investigation that will perhaps make the next English translation of Port de brumes more accurate. ST

Rupert Davies as Maigret 3/29/05 – This is being offered now on eBay UK. Here's the description: In 1962 Rupert Davies received a BAFTA for his work in the TV series "Maigret". Tony Hart had already been a freelance TV artist for 10 years at that time. Tony's wife, Jean, was working on the Maigret series, in Paris, and - as a tribute - Tony created this stunning pen and wash impression of Rupert Davies as Maigret, on paper 25cm x 35cm, leaning against a wall, striking a match on his BAFTA award to light his pipe. There are impressions of Paris, such as the Eiffel Tower, in the background. The drawing is mounted on black card 32cm x 42cm. At the end of the day's shooting, Jean Hart took the drawing up to the bar and gave it to Rupert Davies, who wrote: "Bien Accord, Sincierment, Rupert Davies, Maigret", and promptly knocked his glass of red wine all over the tribute! There were frantic efforts to mop up the red liquid, and in the course of which some areas of the drawing were removed, fortunately not the most vital areas, and the drawing still contains some faint red wine marks. This damage can all be seen in the illustration provided. The story behind this picture provides a wonderful talking point, and makes it a unique feature to embellish any wall. The picture is signed by Tony Hart with the year "62", and on the back of the black mount Tony has written: "Rupert Davies - 'Maigret' 1962, BAFTA Award". The picture is offered for auction from Tony Hart's own collection, by his agent. Roddy

Maigret of the Month: Le Fou de Bergerac (The Madman of Bergerac) 4/01/05 – At the request of the Director of the Police Judiciaire in Paris, Maigret decides to travel to Bordeaux in order to clear up a certain problem as well as taking the opportunity to visit a friend from the police force who has retired to that region of France. Travelling by train from the Gare d'Orsay (now redesigned as the Musée d'Orsay — the large art gallery), Maigret opts to sleep in a couchette, but any idea of sleep is interrupted by the restlessness of the person in the couchette above him. As well as being annoyed, Maigret is intrigued and when this passenger suddenly leaves the compartment and jumps from the train as it slows down, on a whim, Maigret follows him into the dark of the countryside, only to receive a bullet in his right shoulder. Discovered, Maigret is transported in a farm cart to hospital in the town of Bergerac in the département of Dordogne where at first he is mistaken for the serial killer known as the 'Madman of Bergerac'. When his real identity is established, and having received surgery, Maigret insists of recuperating in a hotel room. Confined to his hotel bed, Maigret sends for his wife to look after him and for the first time Madame Maigret plays more of an important role in an investigation. Unable in his usual way to visit certain locations, to take in the atmosphere and to interview people in their normal environment, he instructs his wife to do some of this work for him. Also he asks his friend Leduc, the retired police officer who lives in the area, to carry out other errands. But after a while, even with the information that he receives and talking to people who visit him, Maigret is puzzled and feels that he is at an impasse, so much so that when he falls asleep it manifests itself in a nightmare that Simenon describes both vividly and succinctly, reflecting Maigret's lack of progress. Although strictly not his investigation, and despite being urged to rest and to give up probing, stubbornly Maigret decides to continue. It is suggested to him that it is no more than a simple case in this provincial town, but not convinced, gradually, Maigret unravels a much more complex and wider situation involving a family with tragic consequences, including a form of blackmail. Translation Simenon wrote this novel in March 1932 at the Hôtel de France et d'Angleterre in La Rochelle (Charente-Inférieure, now Charente-Maritime), whilst he was waiting for some renovation work to be carried out on the house he was renting in Marsilly a few miles to the north. The English translation by Geoffrey Sainsbury was first published under the title of "The Madman of Bergerac" in the two novel volume with the overall title of "Maigret Travels South" (in the UK by Routledge, and in the USA by Harcourt, both in 1940). As part of the centenary commemoration of Simenon's birth in 2003, Penguin Books (UK) and Harvest (USA) reissued in paperback a number of, mainly, Maigret novels. Penguin reprinted "The Madman of Bergerac" and although the translation is credited to Geoffrey Sainsbury, certain passages have been retranslated which are closer to Simenon's French text. A map of the centre of the town of Bergerac (Dordogne). Guide Michelin, France, 1934. (click to enlarge)On the map the Place du Marché is indicated by the number 11 and in the novel Maigret looks down on this Place from his first floor hotel window. Although certain hotels are marked on the map, Maigret's Hôtel d'Angleterre is not one of them, nor is its rival on the other side of the Place, the Hôtel de France. It is possible that the author utilised and split the name of his hotel in La Rochelle where he wrote this novel in order to give Maigret a base from which to operate. Other places mentioned in the novel are the railway station (la gare), the Palais de Justice (marked with the letter J) and the River Dordogne. The location of the public prosecutor's house could be in the Place des Carmes (marked 1). For the record, on the map, C is the Caserne (Barracks), G the Gendarmerie (Police Station), H the Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall), P the Préfecture, S.I. the Syndicat d'Initiative (Tourist Office) and T the Théâtre. Peter Foord, UK

Three more Polish Maigrets 4/05/05 – Thanks to Przemysław Charzyński for spotting these three Polish Maigrets published in a newspaper... Maigret w pensjonacie   Maigret takes a room Sąd przysięgłych   Maigret in court Maigret i starcy   Maigret in Society

Maigret of the Month: Le Fou de Bergerac (The Madman of Bergerac) - 2 4/05/05 – In his summary of The Madman of Bergerac, Peter Foord wrote that Maigret was hurt in his right shoulder. In French the text where Simenon wrote about this is "Que Maigret, debout, qui tient son épaule de la main droite. Au fait, c'est l'épaule gauche! Il essaye de bouger le bras gauche .... mais le bras retombe, trop lourd." From that, in French, it is clear that Maigret was hurt in the left shoulder. What is the English translation of this text? Regards, Jerome In the "ever dependable" Geoffrey Sainsbury translation: "There all by himself, holding his right shoulder with his left hand. Yes, it was the right shoulder that was wounded. He tried to move the arm, but it was too heavy; he could only raise it a few inches." ST