SIMENON SIMENON. SOME SYMBOLS OF ORDER IN HIS LIFE

On the role of timepieces and bells in keeping Simenon “on time” 

SIMENON SIMENON. QUELQUES SYMBOLES DE L’ORDRE DANS SA VIE 

Sur le rôle des garde-temps et des cloches pour maintenir Simenon “à l’heure”

SIMENON SIMENON ALCUNI SIMBOLI DELL'ORDINE NELLA SUA VITA

Il ruolo di  orologi e delle sveglie per mantenere Simenon "in orario"

Despite omitting a chapter from Pierre Assouline’s biography Simenon, the English translator did see fit to condense a six-page presentation on the importance of time to Simenon from it and incorporate it into his final chapter. Some discussion of this subject might interest Anglophones. 

According to the biographer, Simenon’s “fear of not being on time” explains his lifetime “maniacal control of his time” and, thus, “the watch is one of the keys to Simenon’s personality. It is the external manifestation of his permanent need to put himself in order.” As a result, “there is no shortage of examples” of this symbolism in his works, and, in proof, Assouline lists 14 novels that include timepieces (9 watches, 2 chronometers, 2 clocks, and 1 wristwatch) and discusses their role within the stories. For instance, in The Pitards, the biographer points out that “the ship captain’s watch is a metaphor for life. It has ‘palpitations’ like a human heart.” 

My reading of the novel, however, does not support the idea of this particular watch being important or a prominent symbol at all. It is certainly true that aboard ship—and this novel is all about life aboard ship—time is crucial to sequencing the daily 24-hour ship’s watch activity and its navigational tracking. Yet, this captain’s watch rarely appears. Oh yes, “the tic tac of the watch was always accompanying him” and it did have “palpitations” and “from time to time Lannec used to pull his watch out of his pocket,” but that’s about all Simenon has to say about this watch. Thus, all by itself, it hardly seems symbolic. 

On the other hand, if one is willing to extend the word ‘watch’ on to all sorts of timepieces, then The Pitards becomes pertinent in displaying Simenon’s fixation on time and order. Traditionally, bells rang and do ring out all through the day and night on ships. These soundings—invariably determined by timepieces—repeatedly regulate functional activity and more aboard ship. From them, the crew in The Pitards could tell the beginning, duration, and end of their watches and those watches made up their shipboard ‘life.’ For example, Simenon states that “the bell ultimately called” characters for “comings and goings,” that is, what they did in ‘life.’ Similarly “when the dinner bell rang out,” the crew knew it was time to eat, another essential moment in ‘life.’ As well, when “the bell struck midnight,” that told the protagonist Laennec the precise timing of a significant event at that instant in his ‘life’ and the novel’s action. Finally, once the ship reaches Iceland, after all the tragedies have played out, Simenon plays up the way the town’s bells regularly rang out, stating that ‘life’ goes on: “do you hear the bells?” and “two, three, five bell towers sent out the songs of bells” and “the bells were ringing for the Sunday services.” 

In summation, Assouline asks: “Pendulum clocks, watches, timepieces… what better symbol of that order to which Simenon aspired so strongly?” Adding bells to this listing further underlines how timepieces were important ‘life’ symbols for Simenon. What’s more, at least to my eye, they also symbolize his affliction with what might be labeled Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in modern medical lingo. 

David P Simmons  

SIMENON SIMENON. LE TIERCE DE MAIGRET 

Un choix de trois romans de la saga, sur un thème particulier 

Trois enquêtes belges 

La Belgique, pays d'origine de Simenon, apparaît peu dans les enquêtes de Maigret, ou alors en filigrane, lorsque certains paysages évoqués par le romancier rappellent des souvenirs de son enfance. Pour le policier, la Belgique, c'est surtout le lieu de fuite de ceux qui veulent échapper à la justice française. Le commissaire s'est néanmoins rendu à quelques reprises en Belgique, souvent pour des enquêtes semi-officielles. Voici deux exemples d'enquêtes menées, au moins en partie, à Liège, et une troisième enquête sur la frontière franco-belge.

"Et il y avait une cacophonie savoureuse, des cris en patois wallon, la sonnerie aigre des tramways jaune et rouge, le quadruple jet d'une fontaine monumentale surmontée du perron liégeois qui tentait de dominer la rumeur du marché proche." (Le pendu de Saint-Pholien) 

"Dehors, comme dans toutes les rues de Liège à ce moment, on voyait des ménagères qui lavaient le trottoir à grande eau, des charrettes de légumes et de charbon arrêtées devant les portes, et les cris des marchands s'entendaient de loin, se répondaient d'un bout du quartier à l'autre." (La danseuse du Gai-Moulin) 

"Mais à quoi exactement sentait-on la frontière ? Aux maisons de briques d'un vilain brun qui étaient déjà des maisons belges, avec leur seuil de pierre de taille et leurs fenêtres ornées de pots de cuivre ? Aux traits plus durs, plus burinés des Wallons ?" (Chez les Flamands) 

SIMENON SIMENON. LA TRIPLETTA DI MAIGRET 

Una scelta di tre romanzi della serie, su un tema particolare 

Tre inchieste in Belgio 

Il Belgio, paese d’origine di Simenon, compare di rado nelle inchieste, o tra le righe, quando certi paesaggi evocati dal romanziere richiamano i suoi ricordi d’infanzia. Per il poliziotto il Belgio é soprattutto il luogo di fuga di coloro che vogliono sfuggire alla giustizia francese. Il commissario si è però recato a più riprese in Belgio, spesso per delle inchieste semi-ufficiali. Ecco due esempi di indagini condotte, almeno in parte, a Liegi, e una terza sulla frontiera franco-belga.

«E si sentiva una accentuata cacofonia nelle grida del linguaggio wallone, la suoneria dei tram gialli e rossi, il quadruplo getto di una fontana monumentale, sovrastata da una scalinata liegina che tentava di dominare il rumore del vicino mercato» (L’impiccato di Saint-Pholien) 

«Fuori, come in tutte le strade di Liegi in quel momento, si vedevano casalinghe che lavavano i marciapiede con molta lena, dei carretti di legumi e di carbone fermi davanti alle porte, e le grida dei commerrcianti si sentivano da lontano, si rispondevano da un lato all’altro del quartiere.» (La ballerina del Gai-Moulin) 

«Ma come esattamente si percepiva la frontiera? Dalle case di mattoni di un marrone sgradevole, che erano già delle case belga, con il loro pavimento di grosse pietre e le loro finestre ornate con dei vasi di rame? Dai tratti più duri e più marcati dei Walloni?» (La casa dei Fiamminghi) 

SIMENON SIMENON. MAIGRET'S TRIFECTA 

A choice of three novels of the saga, on a particular theme  

Three Belgian investigations 

Belgium, Simenon's native country, seldom appears in Maigret's investigations, or maybe as watermark, when some landscapes evoked by the novelist remind of his childhood memories. For the policeman, Belgium is mainly a fleeing place for those who want to escape French justice. However, the Chief Inspector went to Belgium a few times, often for semi-official inquiries. Here are two examples of investigations led, at least in part, in Liege, and a third investigation on the French-Belgian border.

"And there was a tasty cacophony, shouts in Walloon dialect, the sour ringtone of the yellow and red streetcars, the quadruple water jet of a monumental fountain topped by the Liege stoop, that attempted to overcome the noise of the near market." (The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien) 

"Outside, as in all the Liege streets at that moment, you could see housewives flushing the sidewalks, vegetable and coal carts stopped in front of doors, and the merchants' shouts were heard from afar, echoing from one end of the district to the other." (The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin) 

"But how exactly did you feel this was border? Because of the brownish brick houses that already were Belgian houses, with their stone threshold and their windows adorned with cupper pots? Because of the Walloon people's harsher and more weathered features?" (The Flemish House) 

by Simenon Simenon