SIMENON SIMENON. IL Y A 90 ANS

En 1930, première apparition de Maigret dans la presse

SIMENON SIMENON. 90 ANNI FA

Nel 1930, la prima apparizione di Maigret sulla stampa
SIMENON SIMENON. 90 YEARS AGO

In 1930, Maigret's first appearance in the press

L’année 2019 vient de se terminer, avec son cortège de manifestations simenoniennes. Les 30 ans de la disparition du romancier, les 90 ans de la naissance de Maigret, il y a eu de quoi faire : rééditions, événements divers, émissions radio et articles dans les journaux, et plusieurs rubriques de ce blog consacrées à ces anniversaires.

Mais l’année 1930 a aussi eu son importance pour la création du commissaire, et on pourrait continuer à fêter Maigret 90 ans plus tard, c’est-à-dire en cette année 2020. D’abord, parce que selon certains simenoniens, le premier roman de la saga, Pietr le Letton, n’aurait pas été écrit en 1929 à Delfzijl, mais à Morsang au cours du printemps 1930. Ensuite, parce que Pietr le Letton a d’abord paru en feuilleton, dans le journal Ric et Rac, entre juillet et octobre 1930. Et enfin, parce que la première apparition de Maigret a eu lieu dans la presse en 1930.

C’est en effet entre le 1er mars et le 4 avril que paraît, dans le journal L’Œuvre, le feuilleton de La Maison de l’inquiétude. Ce texte, le quatrième des « proto-Maigret », est probablement celui que Simenon a proposé en premier à Fayard pour lancer la collection Maigret. L’éditeur l’a refusé. Selon Francis Lacassin, la raison en serait que Fayard ne possédait alors aucune collection policière qui aurait pu accueillir le roman. C’est possible, mais on peut aussi penser que c’est justement avec ce roman que Simenon aurait pu convaincre Fayard de lancer une collection policière, et que l’éditeur n’était pas forcément opposé à cette idée ; au contraire, il devait sûrement se rendre compte des potentialités du roman policier, qui commençait à être en vogue (la célèbre collection Le Masque avait été créée en 1927, et avait rapidement trouvé son public). Ce qui l’a peut-être fait refuser La Maison de l’inquiétude, c’est plutôt le fait qu’il n’était pas convaincu par le personnage de Maigret, trop éloigné des modèles du genre.

Et c’est sans doute aussi cette raison qui l’a fait accepter plus tard Pietr le Letton de façon conditionnelle, c’est-à-dire avec une publication en feuilleton dans Ric et Rac, et la rédaction par Simenon de plusieurs autres romans de la même veine avant que Fayard soit suffisamment rassuré pour lancer la collection.

La Maison de l’inquiétude est donc annoncé en parution dès le 26 février 1930 dans le journal L’Œuvre, et le feuilleton débute le 1er mars. Il est signé Georges Sim. Nous en avons déjà parlé à plusieurs reprises sur ce blog, et on se contentera de rappeler ici que ce roman comporte déjà presque tous les ingrédients d’un roman de la saga maigretienne. C’est aussi, comme l’écrit Lacassin, le « proto-Maigret » qui est le plus proche d’un roman policier ; à la différence de Train de nuit et La Figurante, que Fayard acceptera de publier dans la collection « Les maîtres du roman populaire » ; le premier des deux paraîtra en octobre 1930 (ce qui donnerait encore une raison supplémentaire pour fêter en 2020 les 90 ans de la première apparition de Maigret dans un roman publié…) et le second en février 1932. A la même date paraîtra aussi La Maison de l’inquiétude en volume chez Tallandier, dans la collection « Criminels et policiers », dans laquelle sera publié aussi le quatrième « proto-Maigret », La Femme rousse, en avril 1933.

Un dernier mot sur Pietr le Letton. Comme nous l’avons vu, ce roman parut d’abord en feuilleton, du 19 juillet au 11 octobre 1930, dans le journal Ric et Rac, un hebdomadaire fondé en 1929 par Fayard. On peut donc dire que si 1929 fut l’année de la création définitive de Maigret, 1930 fut celle de son apparition sur papier, en particulier dans la presse. Une bonne raison pour faire de 2020 une autre année anniversaire, et de proposer encore quelques événements maigretiens ?...

N.B. En février 1931 eut lieu l’inauguration officielle de la collection Maigret chez Fayard, avec le Bal anthropométrique. Ce qui signifie qu’en 2021, on aura encore l’occasion de fêter un 90ème anniversaire. On n’a pas fini de célébrer notre commissaire à la pipe…

Murielle Wenger 

SIMENON SIMENON "REPORT" - PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE: WHY THE MAIGRET NOVELS ARE STILL WORTH SAVOURING

As a six-year reissue project of the series reaches completion, Scottish author Graeme Macrae Burnet explains why Simenon’s Parisian sleuth still matters, 90 years after his first case

Photograph: Stuart Heydinger/The Observer

The Observer - 04/01/2020 - Graeme Macrae Burnet - At the beginning of Maigret and Monsieur Charles, the 75th novel in Georges Simenon’s detective series, the celebrated inspector lines up his pipes on his desk. He plays with them for a while, arranging them into amusing shapes, before selecting one that suits his mood. He has just reached a decision on the future of his career. “He had no regrets, but even so he felt a certain sadness.”

Simenon also began his writing day by lining up his pipes on his desk, and one cannot help but wonder if, as he wrote these lines, he too felt a certain sadness. It was February 1972 and, after four decades of writing up to half a dozen novels a year, Maigret and Monsieur Charles would be his last.

Its publication by Penguin Books later this month also marks the culmination of a six-year undertaking by the publishing house to reissue the series in its entirety, all in crisp new translations...>>>

SIMENON SIMENON. 28 NUANCES DE MAIGRET - 28 SFUMATURE DI MAIGRET - 28 SHADES OF MAIGRET

25. Maigret et le printemps parisien
« Paris fut favorisé […] d’une de ces journées […] qu’il faudrait savourer sans rien faire d’autre […], une vraie journée de souvenirs d’enfant. […] Maigret garda toute sa vie un délicieux souvenir du carrefour du boulevard Saint-Germain et de la rue des Saints-Pères, c’est pourquoi, aussi, plus tard, il devait lui arriver souvent de faire halte dans certain café pour y boire, à l’ombre, un verre de bière » (Le Client le plus obstiné du monde)


25. Maigret e la primavera parigina
« Parigi fu favorita […] da una di quelle giornate […] che bisognerebbe assaporare senza fare null’altro […], una vera giornata di ricordi d’infanzia. […] Maigret conservò per tutta la vita un delizioso ricordo dell’incrocio di boulevard Saint-Germain con rue des Saints-Pères, motivo per cui, anche in seguito, gli capitò di fermarsi spesso in alcuni caffè per bere lì, all'ombra, un bicchiere di birra "(Il cliente più ostinato al mondo)

25. Maigret and Paris springtime
“Paris was favored […] with one of those days […] you should enjoy without doing anything else […], a true day like in childhood memories […]. Maigret kept all his life a delightful memory of the crossroads between boulevard Saint-Germain and rue des Saints-Pères, that’s also why, later on, he often happened to stop in a certain cafe to drink, in the shade, a glass of beer” (The Most Obstinate Customer in the World)

Murielle Wenger

SIMENON SIMENON "REPORT" - MAIGRET AND MONSIEUR CHARLES BY GEORGES SIMENON REVIEW - AU REVOIR MAIGRET

The final mystery completes a dazzling set of crime novels, says Boyd Tonkin

The Times - 01/01/2020 - Boyd Tonkin - Inspector Maigret’s last case ends not with guilt and remorse, but with a murderer who “appeared to be very much at ease”. And why not? For this killer who slew a philandering high-society lawyer has finally had the privilege of encountering the clumsy provincial detective who looks into the souls of the wrongdoers he hunts and grants them a kind of absolution.

Maigret and Monsieur Charles, which Georges Simenon finished in February 1972, ends the series of 75 Maigret novels that began, in 1931, with Pietr the Latvian. Simenon had no deep-laid plans to do away with his fictional chief of the Paris crime squad. On September 18, 1972 he sat down to plan a new non-Maigret novel — Victor — with his usual ritual of sketching… >>>

SIMENON SIMENON. IL PICCOLO SIM DIVENTA GIORNALISTA

Il 6 gennaio 1919, Simenon a quasi sedici anni inizia a lavorare a "La Gazette de Liège"

SIMENON SIMENON. LE PETIT SIM DEVIENT JOURNALISTE

Le 6 janvier 1919, Simenon, à presque 16 ans, commence à travailler à la Gazette de Liège

SIMENON SIMENON. LITTLE SIM BECOMES A JOURNALIST

On January 6, 1919, Simenon, at almost 16, began to work for the Gazette de Liège

Allora mancavano ancora dodici anni all’arrivo di Maigret. Siamo a Liegi e non a Parigi. Simenon inizia a scrivere, ma non si tratta di romanzi, bensì di articoli. E’ il 1919 e Georges ha appena sedici anni. Era un periodo difficile per i Simenon che, da quando il capofamiglia Desiré aveva dovuto smettere di lavorare per una malattia, versavano in precarie condizioni economiche. Il piccolo Georges dovette quindi smettere gli studi e cercarsi un lavoro per contribuire a mantenere la famiglia. Dopo un paio di esperienze fallite, prima in una pasticceria e poi in una libreria, grazie all’interessamento di un conoscente altolocato, riuscì a proporsi e a convincere Joseph Demarteau, direttore de “La Gazette de Liège” a prenderlo al giornale. Ed eccolo là, il piccolo Sim ora diventato redattore…

“…negli anni che ho passato a la “Gazzette” lavorando per cronaca locale, nelle strade, nei mercati della città, mi riempivo gli occhi d’immagini che mi tornano spesso in mente – scrive un Simenon ultrasessantenne in una lettera del’’64 allo stesso giornale, in occasione di un’edizione speciale.

Durate i quattro anni a rue de l’Official Sim fa carriera, anche se è un po’ indisciplinato (rischiando addirittura più volte il licenziamento). Lavora sodo, ma è gratificato, alla fine avrà scritto 789 rubriche, 193 tra articoli e reportage, 18 racconti su 1.300 numeri de la “Gazette” tra il 1919 e il 1922, come testimoniano le ricerche di Pierre Deligny.

E i primi passi di Simenon nel mondo della scrittura, sono anche gli anni in cui impara la scrittura a macchina, a comporre un articolo… il tutto, all’inizio, per 45 franchi al mese. Ma l’apprezzamento del direttore per il suo talento, per la sua velocità di scrittura, ma anche per la sua frenetico ritmo lavorativo, fecero aumentare il suo stipendio. Dopo un anno guadagnava già 180 franchi e non si fermò qui.

Quelli furono gli anni in cui alcuni scritti e alcune rubriche sembrano far scoprire un Simenon anti-semita. Se ne è parlato moltissimo. Soprattutto per quella sua rubrica “Hors de poulailler” in cui non di rado si trovavano prese in giro e accuse nei confronti degli ebrei (mai firmate Simenon, né Sim, né G.S., bensì Monsieur Le Coq). Meno si è parlato di quei pezzi sui “Protocolli dei Savi di Sion” nell’ambito di una campagna anti-semita di livello europeo. Le rivelazioni erano state pubblicate dall’austero ed autorevole quotidiano britannico “The Times” nell’estate del ’21. Questo documento doveva provare un complotto mondiale dei sionisti per acquisire il potere assoluto. E, da quotidiano ultra conservatore e cattolico integralista qual era, “La Gazette di Liège” si accodò a confermare la veridicità del documento affidando il compito alla già brillante penna di Simenon. 

Chissà se già allora in Gran Bretagna le chiamavano “fake-news”? 

Sta di fatto che il quotidiano inglese dopo un po’ fece una clamorosa smentita, ammettendo di aver preso una incredibile abbaglio con un documento fasullo e scusandosi con tutti.

Ogni volta che gli vennero rinfacciati quegli scritti, Simenon si difese sempre affermando che quelli erano ordini del direttore e lui non poteva sottrarsi, pena il licenziamento. “Io non sono affatto antisemita - replicava Simenon - come quegli scritti commissionati potrebbero lasciar pensare”.

Come diremmo oggi, era la policy aziendale e contraddirla sarebbe costata al dipendente la perdita del proprio posto di lavoro.

E in più, aggiungiamo noi, è vero che Simenon era sveglio e, quando voleva, anche molto testardo, ma va valutato che era ancora un ragazzino di 17/18 anni e di fronte alle perentorie richieste del direttore non poteva rifiutarsi di scriverle.

Insomma quattro anni intensi, trascorsi proprio negli anni della sua formazione e che lasceranno un segno nell’animo di Georges, al punto tale che molte di quelle situazioni le ritroveremo poi trasposte nei romanzi dell’età matura. (m.t)

SIMENON SIMENON "SOUVENIR". A TOUR IN DIEPPE WITH SIMENON AND MAIGRET

Which are the novels where the city of Dieppe appears? 

SIMENON SIMENON. UN GIRO A DIEPPE CON SIMENON E MAIGRET 

Quali sono i romanzi in cui appare la città di Dieppe ? 

SIMENON SIMENON. UN TOUR A DIEPPE AVEC SIMENON ET MAIGRET 

Quels sont les romans dans lesquels apparaît la ville de Dieppe ? 

 

Although Simenon only made three short visits to the Normandy port of Dieppe, the town is nevertheless present in a number of romans durs and Maigret inquiries. The totality of the action in L’Homme de Londres/The Man from London (1934) and the Maigret short story ‘Tempête sur la Manche’/’Storm in the Channel’ (1938) unfolds in the town, an important scene in Les Rescapés du Télémaque/The Survivors (1938) is played out in a Dieppe café and although the investigation of Maigret et la vieille dame/Maigret and the Old Lady (1950) takes place further along the coast in Etretat, the deputy Charles Besson’s in-laws, who ‘built half the houses in Dieppe and numerous public buildings’ and from whom he inherits a significant fortune, are from Dieppe.  

Historically a commercial and fishing port, Dieppe underwent a transformation during the second half of the nineteenth century. As the closest point on the coast to Paris, it became the focus for the new fashion for seaside holidays, particularly after the inauguration of a direct rail link in 1848. An infrastructure of hotels, a casino, a race course and golf links followed, along with a regular steamship ferry service to England. At the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, Dieppe was considered France’s leading seaside resort, was the main French port for the import of bananas and employed 4000 workers in its fishing fleet. Following the war, Dieppe lost ground as a prestigious resort to Deauville and Cabourg although the introduction of paid holidays by the Front Populaire government in 1936 gave it a new impetus with the influx of a more petit-bourgeois clientele like the guests in Mademoiselle Otard’s pension where Maigret and Madame Maigret stay waiting for the storm to abate in ‘Tempête sur la Manche’. Moreover, despite, this relative decline in its fortunes, Dieppe remained a step ahead of other Normandy port-resorts such as Fécamp, as is recognised by the rail worker Charles Canut in Les Rescapés du Télémaque where he marvels at the café to which he tracks a suspected killer, ‘a real brasserie, like in Paris […] with a record player with speakers in the main room and another out in the street’. This, then, was the Dieppe known by Simenon on his three visits to the town in 1933, 1935 and 1938.  

In 1874, a railway station, the gare maritime, was constructed alongside the ferry quay and it is here that Maloin, the central character of L’Homme de Londres, works as a night signalman in an elevated cabin overlooking the rail tracks on one side and the harbour on the other. It is from this vantage point that Maloin witnesses an argument between two men who have disembarked from the ferry. In the course of the struggle, one man falls into the water with a suitcase in his hands. Maloin recovers the suitcase which contains a fortune in British banknotes but suspects that he has been seen by the other man, a certain Brown. An unspoken bond develops between the two men who begin to spy on each other. Brown is forced to go to ground by the arrival of a British police inspector and Maloin begins spending the money but his secret weighs heavily on his conscience. Brown takes refuge in Maloin’s cabin at the foot of the cliff; he is spotted by Maloin’s daughter who, unaware of his identity locks him in. Moved by sympathy for the man from London, Maloin takes food to the cabin but Brown does not understand what is happening, a fight ensues and Maloin kills the other. He then informs the police, returns the remainder of the money and admits to the killing.  

In the more than eighty years since the composition of L’Homme de Londres, Dieppe has undergone significant changes, including, in 1994, the relocation of the ferry port to the outskirts of town and the demolition of the gare maritime. The modern visitor can, however, still see the building on the boulevard de Verdun which housed the Hôtel du Rhin et de Newhaven, where Simenon stayed in 1933 and where Brown initially took refuge, and follow the path taken by Maloin from the site of his signalman’s cabin on quai Henri IV, stopping like Maloin for a drink in the Café Suisse, before crossing the two bridges to climb the steps to the cliff top where the signalman lived and descending again to the foot of the cliff face where his cabin was located and where he reluctantly killed the man from London.  

While Dieppe may have less by way of attractions to the Simenon enthusiast than the more obvious locations in Paris and Liège, it is, at only two hours by train from the Gare Saint-Lazare, nevertheless, a destination of considerable interest.  

William Alder