Reading with Style discussion
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Georges Simenon
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I have read several of Simenon's Inspector Maigret novels. I think it isn't necessary to read them in order. It doesn't seem as if Simenon tells you any more (or less) about Maigret than you need to know for that episode. You will learn soon enough that Maigret is patient and has greater brain power and intuition than those around him. I think most are fewer than 200 pages. Of the few I've read, I think my favorite is The Night at the Crossroads. I have others on my shelves I hope to get to before too much time has passed.
Simenon also has what he called his roman durs, or hard novels. I don't know if all of them are shelves as mysteries, but a fair amount are. These are definitely darker and more psychological. While I rarely give mysteries more than 4-stars, saving the fifth for literature, I find myself rating some of these roman durs 5-stars. I see they are shelved as mysteries and would qualify for our challenge - but double check always!
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.
(GR author profile, and it continues.)