Maigret's Christmas

In the mid-eighteen hundreds Mr. Poe invented the genres of modern literature, never to be surpassed in most. He invented the detective story in The Murders in the Rue Morgue: The Dupin Tales (Modern Library Classics) long before Holmes and Watson stalked in poor imposture their apartment in Baker Street. Poe's Auguste Dupin of Paris is the original, and the best. One hundred years later Frenchman Georges Simenon created the long lived Inspector Maigret, whose brilliance, subtlety, insight and patience are unmatched in detective literature. Unfortunately in our fallen age all that many know of the French detective is the banal and tiresome Inspector Clouseau; nevertheless, the proud and fascinating characters of DuPin and Maigret will long outlast that forgetable farce. I admit I have long been a fan of Maigret, and of Simenon, whose long career embraced other novels of profound psychological interest, including Strangers in the house: Les inconnus dans la maison. I often grate at the unfortunate, traitorous and out-dated translations made into incompetent English (does anyone still use the word "vexed?"); yet I admit often enjoying the English cassette recordings, including recently the poorly mistitled (Errol Garner style) Inspector Maigret and the Strangled Stripper (Inspector Maigret Mysteries) or that series's compelling recording of None of Maigret's Business. As a devoted fan admiring all things Maigret I therefore noticed the extremely accessible price of this present item, and thought it might be some brief momento of the immortal Inspector. Imagine thereafter my astonishment and my joy open receiving by mail this substantial volume, about 5 x 8 inches and over 325 pages long, a collection of nine tales written around 1950, translated by Jean Stewart. Maigret here, after a very touching and telling and caring domestic scene, investigates a sighting of Santa; in another tale he employs a choirboy in the solving of a crime, and later follows a purposeful trail left by a child fleeing a criminal. We read here therefore another side of Maigret, as he works with and for children, always with the keenest psychological insight and subtlety of the author. Look not here for Clouseau; the true humour here is much more subtle, much deeper, more true and real. Look not here for Kojak nor for blazing gunfire and shoot outs with hoodlums. Here you find no Mickey Spillane, but a patient, quiet, profound reflection of the people and the city of Paris in the post-war years, with no direct mention of that devastating and divisive war. Here you will find nine excellent tales from this master storyteller. You will not be disappointed, but will find much to read and to reflect and to remember when life was like this, to rediscover our human nature. Truly the continual portraiture of the intimate, quiet and deeply caring domestic life of Inspector and Madame Maigret must be read now in this era in which literature and we ourselves have lost this. Re

for any Simenon fans. As always- Simenon is economical in expression- but still giving a full picture of the scene. I love this book because it allows- in one of the short stories- a closer look at Madame Maigret- and her personality. She is a shadowy character in the series, but always present. The Holiday themed cover that is curently being used, makes it a nice Holiday gift as well. I also like that it is a bit longer than the usual Maigret- maning that it makes a good gift for someone about to go on a long train/plane or automobile trip!

Typically, a Maigret novel is easy reading. Four or five hours of light reading is all it takes to read a very good crime story. This lightness allows one to go on a Maigret binge where in the course of a week, two or three novels can polished off.Miagret's Christmas is a collection of nine short stories. Some of the short stories are not so short, they are more like novellas. At 320 pages of small print, this book is by no means light reading. It took me a couple of weeks to finish the book.Of the nine stories, I found four of them to be classic Georges Simenon. They were world class in their cleverness. The other five were good but not great. However, Georges Simenon's good is most writers very best. All and all a great book but a bit of slog.

These stories are excellent. All nine pose intriguing puzzles for Maigret and his colleagues to solve. What makes them special is the quality of the writing (just enough words to convey the image and no more) and the subtlety of the author who always seems to add a little bit more to the reader's perception of Maigret. There are great scenes between Maigret and his wife, Madame Maigret. Anyone married for any length of time will enjoy these little domestic battles. There are also some well drawn child characters whose interaction with Maigret is skillfully depicted. The reader always ends up admiring Maigret for his thoughtfulness and his persistance. He asks great questions of the witnesses to draw out the story. This collection of stories is outstanding.

I was disappointed in this collection, and it really doesn't show Simenon at his best. In fact, I can't honestly say there is a single compelling story here, which is certainly not something one usually says about Simenon!