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Maigret Et Le Clochard
(Inspector Maigret #60)
by
Georges Simenon, writing autobiographically, once confessed his desire to drop out of society, to sever family ties and disassociate himself from his friends. His empathy with misfits is reflected in Simenon's police superintendent Jules Maigret.
When Maigret learns that a bum's murder is in reality an assassination, he becomes deeply involved in what without him would have
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Paperback, 145 pages
Published
March 1st 2000
by Livre de Poche
(first published 1963)
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This may be my favorite Maigret so far! (Although I usually feel that way about all of them right after I finish one.) A man who lives under one of the bridges along the Seine River (the "tramp" of the title--which used to be "bum", which is even worse) is hit on the head and thrown into the river. As usual, Maigret is more interested in character than clues (he finds his clues in the characters and their relationships).
The man who was hurt has a complicated background. Maigret is as interested ...more
The man who was hurt has a complicated background. Maigret is as interested ...more
Nov 23, 2018
Richard
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
previously-read,
own
I find this a very interesting book and title.
The original book was published in France in 1963 as Maigret and the Dosser, and later Maigret and the Bum.
the term Dosser was quite correct. Collins English Dictionary states: A dosser is a city person who does not have a permanent home and sleeps in the streets or in very cheap hotels. It fits Maigret's assumptions and involvement with this type of person, which is one of understanding and concern. The plot goes on to demonstrate that the great det ...more
The original book was published in France in 1963 as Maigret and the Dosser, and later Maigret and the Bum.
the term Dosser was quite correct. Collins English Dictionary states: A dosser is a city person who does not have a permanent home and sleeps in the streets or in very cheap hotels. It fits Maigret's assumptions and involvement with this type of person, which is one of understanding and concern. The plot goes on to demonstrate that the great det ...more
A good 'Maigret' novel, one of the best in fact. It has a plot that some other readers have described as implausible or even absurd, but I thought it was ingenious and satisfying. 'Maigret' novels aren't really about plots but about other things. Very few of them have a surprising plot (The Late Monsieur Gallet is a notable exception) but this one does. My problem was that four pages were missing from the penultimate chapter and I didn't notice until I reached that point. I don't think they were
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Enjoyed this short mystery of a murder attempt on a tramp. Simenon’s Maigret is an interesting detective character ( as most of them in this genre). I liked reading about his exploits as the stories are set in and around France - I always wanted to visit these places.
Maigret works more with his intuition and uses some psychological approaches on suspects to make them confess.
In this period of lockdown this story was a great way to escape the gloom and doom news by diving into this virtual worl ...more
Maigret works more with his intuition and uses some psychological approaches on suspects to make them confess.
In this period of lockdown this story was a great way to escape the gloom and doom news by diving into this virtual worl ...more
It's been years since I finished a French novel. This one is small and light, fairly easy as well.
Though the novel is relatively short, the ending is quite powerful. I didn't expect the story to take this turn, (view spoiler)
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Though the novel is relatively short, the ending is quite powerful. I didn't expect the story to take this turn, (view spoiler)
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Inspector Maigret's success, it seems, comes partially from his ability to see past the surface of people. He tends to sense someone's character rather than judge their social status. People who live outside the norms are not viewed with suspicion so much as being true to their own nature. Maigret and the Tramp is typical in this. The inspector treats a marginalized man with the respect he shows to anyone who chooses to live life on their own terms, without hurting others. The actual solving of
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Jan 27, 2015
Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
roman-policier,
not-up-to-standard
Who hit a homeless man over the head while he was asleep and chucked him in the Seine in midwinter, and why? What could anyone possibly stand to gain? Is his social-climber wife trying to get rid of him, or does he know too much about something? And just exactly what is the Belgian bargee's problem?
This installment is more of a psychological study of Inspector Maigret himself, showing how he goes about investigating, getting a handle on a case and the people involved. He breaks precedent by disc ...more
Maigret and the Dosser was first published as Maigret et le Clochard in 1963, and translated into English by Jean Stewart. This is a lesser Maigret, which depends on an incredible coincidence for its plot structure. The “dosser” of the title is the chief character, a witness to a crime of which he won’t speak and now the victim of an attempted murder. Simenon is mainly interested in this character, but is unable to develop his story except in a perfunctory way. Yet it still takes the focus of th
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I thoroughly enjoyed this one and upon re-reading have upgraded my earlier rating from three to four stars. Maigret's humanity shines out as does Simenon's genius. I don't know of any other writer who can say so much in a short book.
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Started out interesting but bit bland by the end.
In this story, a Flemish boatman on the Seine pulls a drowning man from the canal. It turns out he has been coshed before being dumped. The man is in a coma but M finds he is a vagrant, living under a nearby bridge, who in his former life was a physician from Lorraine. The victim cannot speak, but M is fascinated by the hidden story and tries to work out the details of a life gone off the rails. In the end, he constructs a plausible solution to who dunnit and why, but there is not enough evidenc
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Committed to avoiding divulging spoilers, I will go so far as to say that Georges Simenon, a supreme master of the mystery genre, manages in Maigret and the bum. Translated from the French by Jean Stewart - Uniform Title: Maigret et le clochard. English to upset our expectations in this tale of a bum who comes close to being killed. How he does it, I will not say. But as one who has read a whole raft of Simenon mysteries, I was gratified at seeing the master have a little fun at his task.
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All books written by a great master of the literary word in the genre of crime fiction, George Simenon, and which I read, are very bright, humane, and I remember them forever. Here this novella I read too long ago but I remember it well.
In this book, commissaire Maigret is investigating the attempt to kill the tramp living under the bridge. It is not clear to whom he could hurt so much that he was killed by a blow to his head and threw the river? And it is very logical and quite expected that de ...more
In this book, commissaire Maigret is investigating the attempt to kill the tramp living under the bridge. It is not clear to whom he could hurt so much that he was killed by a blow to his head and threw the river? And it is very logical and quite expected that de ...more
Enjoyed this one a lot, a great two-evening read. Many of the Maigrets are either set near canals & concern canal and shipping culture or are set in a Paris arrondissement. This one combines both, with the Seine doubling as a canal. It also involves "tramp" (homeless) culture. Simenon is so smart and discerning about social class. And he's a writer's writer--so great to watch the choices he makes.
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Thoroughly enjoyed this book.
A tramp or dosser is pulled out of the river by two barge men. He has been attacked and his skull fractured before being thrown into the river to drown. Maigret has to piece together what happened when others wouldn’t have bothered. He is hampered by the tramp’s reluctance to tell him who he is and what happened to him.
I do enjoy Maigret’s worrying and thinking; his pessimistic view of the human condition.
A tramp or dosser is pulled out of the river by two barge men. He has been attacked and his skull fractured before being thrown into the river to drown. Maigret has to piece together what happened when others wouldn’t have bothered. He is hampered by the tramp’s reluctance to tell him who he is and what happened to him.
I do enjoy Maigret’s worrying and thinking; his pessimistic view of the human condition.
Slim little detective novel with some light and easy prose. This is an excellent fit for my AP students, and was a nice break for me as well. I enjoyed seeing the use of silence to "speak" volumes.
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Among the Simenon books I've read, this was the most easily flowing and a rather intriguing one. Although I did not like the way he arrived at the solution, overall it was quite a good read.
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Excellent little crime story with warm, human message.
Delightful short novel. Classic police procedural with Maigret sucking on his pipe as he solves an uncomplicated mystery.
MAIGRET AND THE BUM/MAIGRET AND THE WINE MERCHANT by Georges Simenon are very much two of a kind. Reading either of these classic Maigret titles takes us back to 1963 and 1970 Paris and what seems a much simpler time. I read these just before and after the attacks of Friday the 13th and have considered what to write for almost two months.
These books are a snapshot look into a past that never really existed. In both Maigret and the Paris police seem part of a sleepy little village where the hom ...more
These books are a snapshot look into a past that never really existed. In both Maigret and the Paris police seem part of a sleepy little village where the hom ...more
A little too realistic to be entertaining: a mute incapacitated witness and A suspect who is smart and steady and not willing to get duped. It’s a book that’s theoretically interesting as an unsuccessful chapter in maigret’s career, but it didn’t translate into a fulfilling reading experience for me As a standalone. Also, I have yet to enjoy a maigret book that prominently features a canal drowning.
Maigret is trying to get to the bottom of a seemingly pointless attack on a tramp living under a bridge in Paris, alongside the Seine. In doing so he discovers a set of inter-weaved tales of a doctor fallen on (self inflicted) hard times, a bar-gee that only wants to protect his family, and the lifestyle of the subset of the population of Paris who live in squalor alongside the lights and sophistication of the city. Very cleverly constructed story, with a clever "bringing together of the threads
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Mar 12, 2020
John Frankham
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-detective
A marvellous Maigret as he tries to discover who attacked and threw into the Seine a tramp while asleep in his ‘nest’ under one of the Paris bridges. Rescued by a Belgian bargee, he is unconscious for days as Maigret tries to discover his intriguing back-story and any reason for the attack. Was it to do with his past or to do with something he might have seen on the Seine. A fine character study of the morality of a detective, of the unfairness of life to someone born without the advantages of h
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A lovely little gem of a story in which Maigret encounters a mysterious tramp who provokes him into an investigation.
One of the more psychological Maigrets consisting mostly of two long conversations/interrogations that go no where. A tramp with a mysterious past is attacked and thrown in the Seine where he is rescued by two barge skippers, one of whose stories is suspect. Maigret figures it out but the tramp, who is seriously injured, refuses to cooperate, remaining basically mute, for reasons to do with his mysterious past and his decision to opt out of society. An odd little story in which M comes to identi
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Cet nouvelle policier m'a vraiment amusé. De la même façon que Columbo à la télé ou Agatha Christie, Simenon a décrit une investigation ou la persévérance et la perspicacité de Maigret son la clé de la résolution d'un assassinat.
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I've enjoyed reading this police story. As the detective Columbo or the Agatha Christie's novels, the patience and the perceptiveness of Maigret are the keys for arriving to solve a crime. ...more
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I've enjoyed reading this police story. As the detective Columbo or the Agatha Christie's novels, the patience and the perceptiveness of Maigret are the keys for arriving to solve a crime. ...more
Maigret investigates the case of a homeless man who is assaulted and almost killed, wondering who could want to hurt a person like that? He digs into the back-story of the man, which is quite interesting, and then when he gets on the track of the perpetrator, an ending arrives that is both unexpected and perfectly appropriate.
Read this in French III. I think I would have enjoyed it more except for the teacher our class had to endure. She made this book drag because she spent FOREVER on it. We could have read it in a week. I think we spent well over a month. But I was at least able to get the idea that I liked the character of Maigret and I became more familiar with some of the rivers and streets of Paris.
This is a short and unusual tale. It is a murder investigation in which the victim has survived, but will not cooperate. The social and psychological aspects of the various characters are the primary clues as to what really happened. MAIGRET AND THE BUM definitely doesn’t follow the standard detective mystery format and that is what makes it enjoyable.
The victim of murder is a once-successful (doctor? scientist? I forget) who has actually chosen homelessness. Interesting social commentary as well as the mystery of the killing of this apparently harmless drop-out from life.
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Simenon was one of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century, capable of writing 60 to 80 pages per day. His oeuvre includes nearly 200 novels, over 150 novellas, several autobiographical works, numerous articles, and scores of pulp novels written under more than two dozen pseudonyms. Altogether, about 550 million copies of his works have been printed.
He is best known, however, for his 75 ...more
He is best known, however, for his 75 ...more
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