Language and word inventors should have been told: »Does the term already exist in the dictionary? Then make an effort and come up with a new term!« Without the rule, laziness reigned and the same term was used for completely different situations. To be honest, this only leads to confusion. Especially with translations.
What the concierge had to say about Antoinette Le Cloaguen was interesting for Maigret. She and her daughter bought the worst cuts for themselves from the butcher. They didn't have a maid, »only« a cleaning lady came every morning. But the Le Cloaguens were rich, said the good soul of the house. The receptions every Monday were an indication of this.
As I read, the letters, words and sentences fly past me, creating movies in my mind's eye. Maigret and his colleagues, I have a face for each of them. It's the same for me with the conversations that take place and the actions that the author describes to us in a story. It's stupid when this movie is suddenly disrupted by a mistake in the script. That's when it gets weird.
In the popular series »Look, there used to be something like this«, this time we are presenting a device whose usefulness has been questioned since the late 18th century at the latest - but which held its own well into the 20th century. Anyone who would think of wearing this accessory - the lorgnette - in public today would probably want to cause a fashionable stir.
The frequent mention of a location in the Maigret universe is no indication that it actually existed - the »Brasserie Dauphine« can be seen as proof of this. Sometimes Simenon sprinkled in true local color, often a restaurant or bistro sprang from his imagination. The passage of time does not make it any easier to find out what is true. This time: the »Manière«
»Wait, where am I right now?« That's what came to mind during this little affair and inevitably the question of whether I'm wrong, Simenon or the translator. Due to an innate quirk, I hate being wrong, but that doesn't mean that when I'm vindicated I necessarily throw my hands up in victory. This time it's about rivers.
So many loose threads - but which one do you start to pull? The novel »The Crimes of My Friends« doesn't make it easy. Starting with the question of why Georges Simenon used the word »friends« in the title, through »Nanesse « to the central character Hyacinthe Danse. Then there is the comparison of reality and fantasy.
An - admittedly - silly thought: although I was busy with Simenon all week, there was no »output«. That makes me feel like I've been lazy. I'm grateful that this doesn't creep up on me when I'm really NOT working on Simenon and Maigret. Simenon hadn't worked on the detective for some time. Then he wrote a letter.
The Louvre in Paris is the largest art museum in the world. So if you fancy a cultural visit to the museum, you shouldn't waste too much time getting there and back. One address you could consider is the »Hôtel du Louvre« - which is aptly named. This choice of accommodation will not save you any money on your travel budget - on the contrary.
It has not quite been a year since we reported on Peter Kaiser's work guide at this spot. The article at the time had only a minor flaw: The discussed novel guide was already out of print and at best only available as an antique. This time we are definitely earlier. The second edition has just been released and is available in every bookstore.
One might exclaim, they found each other, upon hearing the story. On one side, an American who had ended up stranded in Paris, keeping afloat with swindles. On the other, the spoiled offspring of a bourgeois family from the French capital on the Seine, who had chosen the same path. One of them would not survive the encounter.
As Simenon fans, we don't get to see quite as much as we would like. You don't even stand at the fence, you stand in front of a wall and have to rely on birds to carry little breadcrumbs over this barrier. LINE-UP CINÉMA has revealed on its website what the movie »Belle«, which is currently being filmed with Charlotte Gainsbourg, is about.