Customer Reviews

Maigret Travels South

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Published originally in 1940, and featuring translations by Geoffrey Sainsbury-- this volume contains Liberty Bar and The Madman of Bergerac. Both novels are set in the south of France-- Simenon does his trademark wonderful job of making a place and time quite real to the reader:

*Liberty Bar*

Liberty Bar was the 17th Maigret book, originally published in 1932. It didn't appear in English (trans. Geoffrey Sainsbury) until 1940.

It's one of the best Maigret books I have read so far. Definitely a favorite within the series. Maigret travels to Antibes for to investigate a very sensitive murder-- that of one William Brown. While the book contains many typical Maigret elements, the atmosphere sets it apart. Maigret is nearly lost in the unreal Antibes environment-- sun, bars and luxury. He nearly abandons attempts at normal detective method, and instead tries to feel his way through this strange world. It's as though in the south, the nature of justice itself is confused-- or perhaps not even relevant.

Recommended.


*The Madman of Bergerac*

If I hadn't read The Madman of Bergerac together with Liberty Bar, I probably would have liked it more. It's a clever idea-- Maigret manages to solve a murder from his bed after being injured from an incident on the train. It's a clever conceit, and it's a pleasure to watch Simenon manage to capture Bergerac with a stationary main character.

There's some extra interest for historians of 1930s Europe in the book, as aspects of the plot illustrate neatly how Jewish/Eastern European refugees were viewed by their Western European contemporaries.

The Madman of Bergerac was the 16th Maigret novel.