I finished Simenon’s (first) Maigret detective novel: somehow I know that I read this one and many others about the inspector from Paris a long time ago. It’s a thrilling tale even though the writing seems often clumsy, take for example the shouting (rather than telling) which is inserted whenever the action is heating up: something like “MAIGRET GUNNED HIM DOWN!” … you can practically hear how every letter is capitalized. What can I learn from this book? For example how inspector Maigret’s physiognomy and nature lend a particular speed to all action so that whenever the plot is accelerating, an attractive gap appears, alongside the question: will this throw Maigret off-balance? At last he loses his cool when his much loved colleague is murdered: from then on the book runs its course like an avalanche. The last 30 pages however are filled with background story and appear like a documentary, oddly disconnected from the plot. Still, the book is most suspenseful and despite its age of 80 years in this somehow still sufficiently contemporary; this could be because we all dream of parents all the time and we’re grateful for every opportunity to teleport to the Seine. Simenon’s references to Paris are strewn in sparsely and smartly, not unlike Chandler’s references to Los Angeles: the city is but a setting, and it’s the reader’s job to discover the uniqueness of this setting. In fact, anything else would feel intrusive. But the true secret of the effectiveness of this novel is not Paris and it’s not the crime either: one could graft Maigret on to another genre (that might be fun in a postmodern way). The true secret, I think, is the corporeality, which spreads throughout the novel like the inspector’s massive figure. Powerful physicality glows throughout like Maigret’s pipe (which should never burn out) or the potbelly stove in his office (which burns out all the time):«Maigret slept, half of his body buried under the red eiderdown quilt, head pressed into the thick feather filled pillow, while all the familiar sounds buzzed around his tranquil face.»More than in the novels with with Marlowe, Marple or other detectives (not to mention Holmes/Watson), Simenon recruits the reader as a partner in crime in order to protect the firmly established world that turns around Maigret against all evil. In this regard the novels of this French also could also be called “noir” even though they are (politically) far more conservative than their American counterparts.From my Blog: http://marcusspeh.com/2012/10/01/alle... - enjoy and let me know what you think!
"Pietr the Latvian" introduces the world to Jules Maigret, Detective Chief Inspector of the Police Judiciaire in Paris for the very first time. The setting is a cool, rainy autumn afternoon in interwar Europe a little more than a decade after the end of the First World War. Simenon provides the reader with the following description of the Detective Chief Inspector: "He didn't have a moustache and he didn't wear heavy boots. His clothes were well cut and made of fairly light worsted. He shaved every day and looked after his hands."But his frame was proletarian. He was a big, bony man. Iron muscles shaped his jacket sleeves and quickly wore through new trousers."He had a way of imposing himself just by standing there. His assertive presence had often irked many of his own colleagues."Maigret is seated at his desk, warmed by the fire emanating from a coal stove near his desk, his beloved pipe perched in his mouth, reading a message from the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC), which informs him of the movements of Pietr the Latvian whose reputation precedes him as a master criminal extraordinaire involved in a variety of criminal syndicates throughout Europe from Warsaw, to Berlin, to Amsterdam. According to the latest information available, the Latvian boarded a train from Brussels and is headed to Paris. So, Maigret heads to the Gare du Nord train station in Paris. And that is where the story takes off, with a murder. Maigret is put through his paces, going from luxury Parisian hotels to grimy dives in a port city near the English Channel on a blustery day in search of his quarry. In sum, "Pietr the Latvian" is a short, rollicking novel with a number of twists and turns that'll keep any fan of detective fiction captivated and entertained.
What do You think about Pietr The Latvian (2014)?
This was ok in a gritty noirish way, but it lost a few points for me in the ambiBaltic/Slavic/Scandinavian mashup of the (mild spoiler) brother duo of Pietr and Hans Johannson. Born in Pskov (Estonian: Pihkva), Russia with a surname that seems Swedish, they attend Tartu University in Estonia where brother Pietr became the "Master" of the "Ugala Club" (presumably Korp! Ugala) student organization before he eventually turns to a life of crime. Latvia didn't seem to enter into it, except for being part of his criminal legend/cover. It probably seemed like an interesting assortment of exotic sounding place names that Simenon bunched together regardless of whether they made sense.This 1931 novel was book no. 1 of 76 in the Inspector Maigret series that the very prolific Georges Simenon wrote and which are currently being published in new English translations by Penguin since 2013. p.s. I read that Rowan Atkinson is due to play Inspector Maigret in a future series of TV films, which certainly sounds like casting against type, so we'll see what comes of that.
—Alan
La foto in copertina di Brassaï, soprannominato da Henry Miller “l’occhio di Parigi”, ci aiuta a calarci nelle atmosfere e nei luoghi che verranno puntigliosamente descritti da Simenon.In particolare si tratta del ben noto “Le Monocle” a Montmartre, il primo e certamente più famoso nightclub per lesbiche.Ciò che mi ha colpito in questa prima “avventura” di Maigret, oltre alla trama intricata che si risolve correttamente in ogni dettaglio dal punto di vista logico, è soprattutto la capacità di evocare ambientazioni e atmosfere con grande maestria. Esempio : “Fattorie dai contorni incerti nella luce livida dell’alba, mezzo cancellate dal tratteggio della pioggia “. Se pensiamo che lo scrittore aveva appena ventisei anni, possiamo ben comprendere la sua enorme maturità.Sorprende anche la perizia del commissario nel valutare ogni dettaglio così come la capacità di scandaglio psicologico dei personaggi. Esempio : “Maigret, avvertendo che anche la sua attenzione rischiava di contrariarla, assunse un’aria indifferente e guardò altrove”.Qua e là affiorano tracce di un sottile umorismo. Esempio : “La prima persona che apparve fu una cameriera in bianco e nero che alzò le braccia al cielo e fuggì terrorizzata. «Non si muova!» ordinò Maigret rivolgendosi non alla domestica ma alla donna che teneva prigioniera. Entrambe si immobilizzarono, e la cameriera gridò: “Pietà! ... Non ho fatto niente...”.”Una lettura piacevole, ma non banale.
—Peer
I love Maigret novels and have read them over the years as and when I could get them. I was therefore thrilled when penguin books announced they were going to release all of the inspector Maigret novels in the order they were originally published; releasing 1 of the 75 books each month.Pietr the Latvian was originally published in 1930. Although I had read this account I have decided to return to this series and read all the books in the chronology of their accepted writing/publication.This was never my favourite story but re-evaluating it now as the very beginning; the early reveal of who Maigret is and his methods of working it is quite fascinating. Consequently, it will be good as the series expands in order just how faithful Simenon sticks with this picture of the detective.This is a clever story with Maigret on the trail of a murderer and an international crime syndicate. It demonstrates the doggedness of Maigret and his methods of deduction and how he enables others to solve cases.The writing is engaging if not always as clearly expanded as more recent Police procedurals. It is interesting to see early forensic techniques and this in itself is a pleasant antidote to modern CSI style investigations. This is what I have always enjoyed about this series as well as the insights into the seedy criminal world of Paris. I am delighted to have the whole catalogue before me and this book has reminded me of what pleasures lies before me.
—Richard
