Mon 11 Jun 2018
THE NON-MAIGRET NOVELS OF GEORGES SIMENON, by Walker Martin.
Posted by Steve under Authors[21] Comments
by Walker Martin
In the comments following Steve Lewis’s review of Georges Simenon’s Inspector Maigret novel, The Bar on the Seine, he asked about my favorite non-Maigret novels. I see from my notes that I spent most of 2015 reading Simenon’s psychological crime novels. I read most of the hundred or so novels and even thought of writing an article for Mystery*File about my experience. But I couldn’t figure out how to discuss 75 or so novels in an article without making it into a long book.
But now that the question has come up again, here’s a short answer. For anyone interested in Simenon’s non-series crime novels, I recommend that you buy an omnibus of four novels titled A Simenon Omnibus (Hamish Hamilton, UK, 1965). Here are my notes on all four:
MR. HIRE’S ENGAGEMENT. This was one of the first of his serious non-Maigret novels. Told from the viewpoint of a very strange man, a peeping Tom. Made into two movies: Panique (1947, France) and Mr Hire (1989, France).
SUNDAY. Told from the viewpoint of a guy plotting to poison his wife. Looks autobiographical to me especially in regard to his relationship with the girlfriends. Simenon said more than once that he had thousands of sexual encounters.
THE LITTLE MAN FROM ARCHANGEL. Excellent tale of a second hand book store owner and stamp collector who makes the mistake of marrying a slut 16 years younger. He’s 40 and she is 24. Needless to say, this does not have a happy ending. The book and stamp details are fascinating.
THE PREMIER. Also known as The President. Not only a study of politics and the political life but also a look at old age and the impact it has not only on the famous but also every man. I was so impressed by this novel that I reread most of it immediately. Made into a 1961 movie starring Jean Gabin (Le President).
I consider all these novels excellent and there are many more titles that impressed me, too many to list here.
June 11th, 2018 at 11:32 pm
Whether I get the omnibus edition or decide to obtain it separately, I think I’ll read The Little Man from Archangel first. Books, stamp collecting and a young wife. Sounds like a great combination!
June 11th, 2018 at 11:39 pm
Yes, I’ve had all three at one time or another in my life! I’m still collecting books at least. I remember when just about all teenage boys were interested in stamp collecting for at least a short period. Now young men are completely obsessed by electronic gadgets. While driving I have to be careful to not run them over as they stare at their smart phones while walking.
One thing about Simenon’s non-Maigret novels. They all are short and not long winded like many books nowadays. And they are very unusual and not like your typical crime novels at all.
June 12th, 2018 at 6:00 am
Hamish Hamilton also published THE SECOND SIMENON OMNIBUS (1974), with THE WIDOWER, CHEZ KRULL, STRIPTEASE, and THE HEART OF A MAN.
One caveat: not all non-series Simenons were short, PEDIGREE being one example.
I can’t remember offhand if I read all four of the books reviewed, but I definitely read THE PREMIER and MR. HIRE’S ENGAGEMENT, and probably the others as well.
June 12th, 2018 at 7:16 am
I’ve read the SECOND SIMENON OMNIBUS also and my favorite novel in the collection is STRIPTEASE. My notes state:
“This gets my highest rating. Told from the viewpoint of a stripper and prostitute. Excellent portrait of sleazy Paris nightclub life, the business end of it and the desperate women who work in such clubs.”
I also can recommend the Penguin paperback series of Omnibus collections. Each paperback has 3 novels, both Maigret and non-Maigret novels. There were quite a few Omnibus books each titled FIRST SIMENON OMNIBUS, SECOND SIMENON OMNIBUS, THIRD, etc. I believe I have 14 of them.
June 12th, 2018 at 8:08 am
I adore the non-Maigret books. But I have never read the second two.
June 12th, 2018 at 8:54 am
Patti, you are in good company when you say you like the non-Maigret novels. So many writers and critics have praised these novels and in glowing terms. The Maigret series of 75 or so novels is very good but the over 100 non-Maigret novels goes to an even higher level.
They are being reprinted and many titles are easily available. Often when writers die, their work goes out of print and they are forgotten. Not Simenon.
June 12th, 2018 at 1:25 pm
I’ve read all of the Maigrets but less than half of the others, though I have all the translated titles. I used to have all the Penguin 3-in-1 volumes, but replaced about half with the individual books.
June 12th, 2018 at 3:10 pm
For many years all I read were the Maigrets but now I would have to say my favorites are the non-Maigret psychological crime novels. One thing about Simenon that many readers have found out, he is quite addictive. But addictive in a good way…
June 13th, 2018 at 5:25 pm
Currently Penguin is reprinting the Maigret books in a uniform edition, but I haven’t heard if they plan to do the same with the non-Maigret titles.
June 13th, 2018 at 6:10 pm
As Randy points out, Penguin is reprinting the entire Maigret series, with many and perhaps all, being new translations. There are some non-Maigret titles also.
June 13th, 2018 at 6:52 pm
I came upon the Penguin series in the local library as well as in a bookstore in town. I now have about a dozen of them.
June 13th, 2018 at 10:23 pm
Penguin has Simenon on an ambitious schedule and has now reprinted around 50 or so with new translations. Google Georges Simenon Penguin for links to the list of books available.
I also have several Simenon non-Maigrets that are published recently by New York Review of Books. They all have nice introductions.
June 15th, 2018 at 8:39 am
I’ve enjoyed the new Penguin Maigrets and the NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS non-Maigrets. As Walker Martin points out, they are short and unusual.
June 15th, 2018 at 10:55 am
Short and unusual indeed. I was able to read most of the Simenon novels within a day. Though fast reads, they are quite complex and full of interesting characters.
June 18th, 2018 at 1:13 pm
I am confident that I have read more books by Simenon than any other author. While I greatly enjoy the Maigret stories and their quality averages very high, I think the non-Maigret novels are on average superior. For many years I’ve ranked THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE TRAIN GO BY at the top. I was already a lover of Simenon when work took me to Brussels for an extended period where I had a lovely flat and I traveled often to Paris and, because of client work to Lausanne, Switzerland. In my imagination, I felt closer to Simenon as I read him there in Brussels and Lausanne than Paris, where the pace was so frenetic.
June 18th, 2018 at 6:43 pm
Richard, I think I’ve now read more books by Simenon than any other author also. I read most of the 75 or so Maigret novels but as you say, the non-Maigret fiction is even better and I’ve read most of them. There are a little over 100 non-Maigrets.
THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE TRAIN GO BY is often picked by Simenon readers as one of the better novels.
June 18th, 2018 at 7:21 pm
“The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By” is not just a great SImenon novel.
I would say it’s an excellent novel in general, offering a very gripping description of a man descending into madness.
June 19th, 2018 at 12:07 am
Good point, Christophe. Many of the non-Maigret novels transcend the crime genre and can definitely be considered outstanding literature, period.
More than one Simenon biography has mentioned the persistent rumour that Simenon was in consideration for the Nobel Prize in Literature during the forties and fifties.
It never happened because the Academy has always been prejudiced against genre fiction and they must have seen his work as part of the detective and mystery genre. But many critics and readers consider his non-Maigret fiction to be literature, not just crime fiction. In this respect he mirrors Hammett and Chandler, both of whom broke out of the genre boundaries.
June 24th, 2018 at 4:27 pm
So many great non-series books by Simenon. Those listed here, THE TRAIN, STAIN ON THE SNOW, MONSIEUR HIRE, THE BROTHERS RICO, BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE, TROPIC MOON, THE BLUE ROOM, STRANGER IN MY HOUSE …
Compact, concise, and yet incredibly rich prose and profound psychological insight are hallmarks of the non series books.
June 25th, 2018 at 6:58 am
David, you are absolutely right. The non-series novels are incredibly rich and profound. I guess that’s why I kept reading them. As soon as I finished one, I eagerly started another. Most are short enough to read in one or two days but they have several levels of meaning. All the titles you list I’ve read and all are excellent.
August 25th, 2020 at 7:48 am
Found The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By in a Charity Shop last year and became hooked on Simenon’s Romans Durs. Have read 16, have 7 more on the shelves to read and have a list of 109 non-maigret titles to see me well into the future. What an amazing insight into the mind of man (and woman too) had Simenon. Wonderful.