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MYSTERY/Simenon, Georges
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Subjects
Published
New York : New York Review Books 2007.
Language
English
French
Main Author
Georges Simenon, 1903-1989 (-)
Other Authors
Anna Moschovakis (-)
Item Description
First published in French as Le fiançailles de Mr. Hire in 1933. First published in the United States in 1956.
Physical Description
135 p.
ISBN
9781590172285
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

This is an early Simenon, originally published in 1933. It has never appeared in the U.S., probably because it lacks the charm and comfort of the author's celebrated Maigret series. Simenon wrote many non-Maigrets, most of which fell in the category of roman durs, the psychological crime novel. This one fits there, too, but its bleakness and excruciatingly slow pace may make it tough going. The antihero, the tubby Mr. Hire, is almost as slow moving as the novel's pace. Hire doesn't attract sympathy, which would be fine if the lack of sympathy was a bit more interesting. Unfortunately, the accounts of his sitting in his rented rooms are more dull than poignant, and the story of how he tries to spice up his life through Peeping Tomism is dispiriting. But did he kill a prostitute whose body was found near his apartment? Police are convinced he did, but the reader doesn't know for sure. Simenon fans will be thrilled that a new novel has been unearthed, but less-committed readers should give this one a pass. --Connie Fletcher Copyright 2007 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

First published in 1933, this new English translation of a short, bleak psychological drama from Simenon (1903-1989), creator of Inspector Maigret (Lock 14, etc.), dispassionately describes the fate of the odd Mr. Hire, a reclusive middle-aged man whose life of dull routine begins an inevitable slide into disaster when a prostitute is brutally murdered near his apartment in a Paris suburb. Guilty only of a slightly disreputable occupation, a voyeuristic fascination and an unusual physical appearance, Hire inadvertently seals his fate with mundane, unremarkable observations and suggestions. His concierge brings him to the attention of the police. Though Hire is aware of the net being spread for him and tries to escape it, eventually, like a swimmer struggling against an undertow, he's gradually exhausted and sucked further away from the safety of the shore. This is a quietly compelling story with no hero, no villain and no justice-just the inevitability of fate. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved