Wed 14 Jan 2015
Reviewed by Jonathan Lewis: GEORGES SIMENON – My Friend Maigret.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[4] Comments
GEORGES SIMENON – My Friend Maigret. H. Hamilton, UK, hardcover, 1966. Published in the US as Methods of Maigret: Doubleday, hardcover, 1957. Translation of Mon Ami Maigret (France, 1949). Reprinted several times in both hardcover and paperback, including Penguin, 2007 (shown).
I had pretty high expectations going into My Friend Maigret. I generally like Georges Simenon’s prose, his characters, and the general bleak, world-weary atmospherics he is able to convey in a sparse amount of words.
But I have to admit that I was fairly disappointed by this particular installment of the author’s Inspector Maigret novels. The suspects are not particularly well-developed as characters, and there’s really not all that much of a mystery. And it’s just difficult to feel much sympathy for the victim.
In My Friend Maigret, our eponymous pipe-smoking policeman travels to an island off the French coast. His mission: to discover who killed a man who, not too soon before his death, publicly declared Maigret to be one of his friends. And not merely any man, no. A former rough sort criminal, one of the many men caught up in Maigret’s nets over the years. The trail ultimately leads him to a forgery ring hiding in plain sight.
Joining the Parisian inspector on his journey is an Englishman, one Mr. Pyke from Scotland Yard. The contrast between these two investigators, separated culturally by the stormy English Channel, makes My Friend Maigret worth a look. But I doubt many readers would consider it one of best Inspector Maigret stories.
January 14th, 2015 at 1:52 pm
I haven’t read this novel yet, but I just finished reading 6 other Maigret novels and I enjoyed them all. All 6 were adapted for the French TV series titled MAIGRET and starring Bruno Cremer. English subtitles and very well done adaptations. They managed to adapt 54 of the Maigret novels before Cremer became ill. He eventually died of cancer in 2010. All 54 of the series are available in 9 dvd box sets.
Most critics say that Simenon’s so called “hard novels” are better than the Maigret series but so far I’ve enjoyed the Maigret series more.
January 14th, 2015 at 2:06 pm
I have known about and have been intrigued by the Cremer series of Maigret films, but I haven’t yet purchased any of them. I think it is about time to start.
Like you I prefer Simenon’s Maigret novels far more than I do the straight crime ones, even though noir fans tout them quite highly. The Maigret books to me are as comfortable as an old pair of slippers.
January 14th, 2015 at 2:50 pm
This one in particular fits that ‘old pair of slippers’ category since it gives more insight into Maigret than most. It is not the best of the mysteries, but I enjoyed it simply for Maigret, who always seems to reveal a bit more of himself outside of his usual Paris background.
Some of the Cremar episodes in French are on YouTube if you want a glimpse before you buy, as well as several of the British Michael Gambon series and even one of the Jean Gabin films (in French). After Gabin I think Cremar best captured that worldly wise, weary, and yet tough side of Maigret. Too often adaptations seem to leave off the character’s tough side, not afraid to slap down some one he is interrogating if it will get them to talk.
Maigret’s great strength was always that he is a very human yet very real policeman, who gets to the answer through careful police work and an uncanny understanding of human nature.
This isn’t on my list of favorite Maigret’s, but then most of my favorites come from the pre war era.
I don’t know that I prefer Maigret to Simenon’s other work, in many ways I segregate them in my mind as if two different people were writing. If I’m in one mood I know to choose Maigret, and another one of the novels. Despite stylistic and thematic similarities it often feels like two different writers at work, just as the novels written in the US seem to stand apart from the ones written in France.
January 14th, 2015 at 4:25 pm
Since the Maigret novels are only about 100 pages, I’ve been reading one each night and then watching the Bruno Cremer TV adaptation at dinner the next day. The TV series ranges from 82 to 96 minutes and is very well done capturing the flavor and atmosphere of the dark, damp, Paris settings. I like Jean Gabin a lot and have seen all three of his Maigret movies but Bruno Cremer is even better. Gambon is good also but Cremer is the real thing.