I Maigret 11

by Georges Simenon

Maigret si mette in viaggio
«I casi più seccanti sono quelli che all’inizio sembrano così banali da non meritare interesse. Un po’ come certe malattie che cominciano in sordina, con malesseri vaghi. E alla fine, quando uno le prende sul serio, spesso è troppo tardi».

Gli scrupoli di Maigret
Succederà un paio di volte in un anno, al Quai des Orfèvres, e può durare talmente poco che non c'è il tempo di accorgersene: dopo un periodo frenetico durante il quale i casi si susseguono senza tregua, magari tre o quattro tutti insieme...

Maigret e i testimoni recalcitranti
«Non ti sei mica dimenticato l’ombrello?».
«No».
La porta stava per richiudersi e Maigret si era già voltato verso le scale.
«Faresti meglio a metterti la sciarpa».

Maigret si confida
La cameriera aveva appena posato il budino di riso in mezzo alla tavola rotonda, e Maigret si sforzò, per dovere, di assumere un’aria insieme stupita e deliziata, mentre la signora Pardon, arrossendo, gli lanciava un’occhiata maliziosa.

Maigret in Corte d’Assise
Quante volte lo avevano già convocato lì? Duecento? Trecento? Di più? Non aveva voglia di contarle, né di ripensare ai singoli casi, neppure ai più famosi, ormai entrati nella storia giudiziaria, perché quello era l’aspetto più sgradevole della sua professione. Eppure le inchieste che conduceva andavano a finire quasi tutte in Corte d’Assise, come oggi, o in tribunale...

733 pages, Paperback

Published October 29, 2015

About the author

Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (1903 – 1989) was a Belgian writer. A prolific author who published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, Simenon is best known as the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret.
Although he never resided in Belgium after 1922, he remained a Belgian citizen throughout his life.

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 novels and 28 short stories featuring Commissaire Maigret. The first novel in the series, Pietr-le-Letton, appeared in 1931; the last one, Maigret et M. Charles, was published in 1972. The Maigret novels were translated into all major languages and several of them were turned into films and radio plays. Two television series (1960-63 and 1992-93) have been made in Great Britain.

During his "American" period, Simenon reached the height of his creative powers, and several novels of those years were inspired by the context in which they were written (Trois chambres à Manhattan (1946), Maigret à New York (1947), Maigret se fâche (1947)).

Simenon also wrote a large number of "psychological novels", such as La neige était sale (1948) or Le fils (1957), as well as several autobiographical works, in particular Je me souviens (1945), Pedigree (1948), Mémoires intimes (1981).

In 1966, Simenon was given the MWA's highest honor, the Grand Master Award.

In 2005 he was nominated for the title of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian). In the Flemish version he ended 77th place. In the Walloon version he ended 10th place.