4 ms·

I read mostly non fiction but mystery novels are the one fiction genre I never mind reading. I read it like a (roundabout) lesson on the character of a time and

I read mostly non fiction but mystery novels are the one fiction genre I never mind reading. I read it like a (roundabout) lesson on the character of a time and place. I'd previously read London's Sherlock, Belgium's Poirot (written by the English Agatha Christie), LA's Philip Marlowe and France's Lupin (good reads, but the translations are poor quality). I picked up Pietr the Latvian recently in a search for more Continental novels in the 18th and 19th century. I've started another Maigret novel since. Georges Simenon is a pretty incredible author given his serial output. Likewise the translators mentioned in the article did excellent work. I highly recommend these translated Maigret novels for both the plot and the wordsmithing.

pvaldes 7y ago
I would recommend you the yellow dog, the first part specially is pretty good creating an atmosphere of mistery and danger. They aren't horror stories in any case. Is more about building characters and creating a good sense of inmersion in the landscape and history.
- eatonphil 7y ago
  This one [0]? Thanks! [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Dog_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Dog_(novel)
  - bloak 7y ago
    I assumed they meant https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Chien_jaune https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Chien_jaune, one of the best Maigret stories. (Why is it a capital C in the Wikipedia article?)
    - eatonphil 7y ago
      Ah, that makes much more sense. Thank you.
    - ernesth 7y ago
      > Why is it a capital C in the Wikipedia article? That is the way book titles are capitilized in french: the first word excluding articles gets a capital letter. It is also according to this word that the book will be sorted. Same for "La Tête d'un homme", previous book in the series.
      - bloak 7y ago
        Interesting. I didn't know that. The Oxford Style Manual confirms what you say. (I'm not sure whether it's telling you to do that when quoting a French title in English; it might just be talking about what to do when a book title appears in a passage in French.) Apparently the rule doesn't apply to the actual title page: the 1968 copy, which I happen to have and was able, somewhat surprisingly, to find in less than 60 seconds, has "Le chien jaune" on the title page, page 3.
atombender 7y ago
Have you read Léo Malet [1]? His Nestor Burma novels, set around WW2, are great. Dark and somewhat cynical, they go deep into pre- and post-war France. "120 Rue de la Gare" is one of my favourites. The great illustrator Jacques Tardi has also adapted many of his novels. The adaptations are great, with Tardi's famous expressionist style bringing something completely new to the stories. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9o_Malet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9o_Malet
- eatonphil 7y ago
  I haven't. Thanks for the rec!
atombender 7y ago
Also great, and in my opinion, quite Simenonesque: Missing Person [1] by Patrick Modiano (the French winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in literature). [1] https://www.amazon.com/Missing-Person-Verba-Mundi-Book/dp/1567922813/ https://www.amazon.com/Missing-Person-Verba-Mundi-Book/dp/15...
toyg 7y ago
Can I humbly suggest a few more “detectives with literary ambitions” you may or may not know already? Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s Pepe Carvalho is a survivor of Franco’s purges, solving crimes and describing recipes in late-1980s Barcelona. (Spanish) Andrea Camilleri’s Salvo Montalbano brings justice to the decadent and complicated Sicilian society of today. (Italian) Both spawned several books, and have been translated to most languages at some point or another. Both draw a lot from Simenon, but have their distinctive styles (Camilleri in the Italian original uses a pidgin dialect that calls to Gadda and Joyce; and MVM is obsessed with food and politics).
- eatonphil 7y ago
  Both are on my list. :) But thank you for the confirmation! I've seen a few episodes of a Pepe Carvalho TV show in Spanish (no subs I could find) but haven't yet gotten around to reading it yet.
- JBlue42 7y ago
  Thank for the suggestions. I also keep my eye on NYRB Classics Suspense/Crime offerings as they have a pretty good international selection (some Simenon included): https://www.nyrb.com/collections/classics/suspense-crime https://www.nyrb.com/collections/classics/suspense-crime

pvaldes 7y ago

I would recommend you the yellow dog, the first part specially is pretty good creating an atmosphere of mistery and danger. They aren't horror stories in any case. Is more about building characters and creating a good sense of inmersion in the landscape and history.

eatonphil 7y ago
This one [0]? Thanks! [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Dog_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Dog_(novel)
- bloak 7y ago
  I assumed they meant https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Chien_jaune https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Chien_jaune, one of the best Maigret stories. (Why is it a capital C in the Wikipedia article?)
  - eatonphil 7y ago
    Ah, that makes much more sense. Thank you.
  - ernesth 7y ago
    > Why is it a capital C in the Wikipedia article? That is the way book titles are capitilized in french: the first word excluding articles gets a capital letter. It is also according to this word that the book will be sorted. Same for "La Tête d'un homme", previous book in the series.
    - bloak 7y ago
      Interesting. I didn't know that. The Oxford Style Manual confirms what you say. (I'm not sure whether it's telling you to do that when quoting a French title in English; it might just be talking about what to do when a book title appears in a passage in French.) Apparently the rule doesn't apply to the actual title page: the 1968 copy, which I happen to have and was able, somewhat surprisingly, to find in less than 60 seconds, has "Le chien jaune" on the title page, page 3.

atombender 7y ago

Have you read Léo Malet [1]? His Nestor Burma novels, set around WW2, are great. Dark and somewhat cynical, they go deep into pre- and post-war France. "120 Rue de la Gare" is one of my favourites. The great illustrator Jacques Tardi has also adapted many of his novels. The adaptations are great, with Tardi's famous expressionist style bringing something completely new to the stories. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9o_Malet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9o_Malet

eatonphil 7y ago
I haven't. Thanks for the rec!

atombender 7y ago

Also great, and in my opinion, quite Simenonesque: Missing Person [1] by Patrick Modiano (the French winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in literature). [1] https://www.amazon.com/Missing-Person-Verba-Mundi-Book/dp/1567922813/ https://www.amazon.com/Missing-Person-Verba-Mundi-Book/dp/15...

toyg 7y ago

Can I humbly suggest a few more “detectives with literary ambitions” you may or may not know already? Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s Pepe Carvalho is a survivor of Franco’s purges, solving crimes and describing recipes in late-1980s Barcelona. (Spanish) Andrea Camilleri’s Salvo Montalbano brings justice to the decadent and complicated Sicilian society of today. (Italian) Both spawned several books, and have been translated to most languages at some point or another. Both draw a lot from Simenon, but have their distinctive styles (Camilleri in the Italian original uses a pidgin dialect that calls to Gadda and Joyce; and MVM is obsessed with food and politics).

eatonphil 7y ago
Both are on my list. :) But thank you for the confirmation! I've seen a few episodes of a Pepe Carvalho TV show in Spanish (no subs I could find) but haven't yet gotten around to reading it yet.
JBlue42 7y ago
Thank for the suggestions. I also keep my eye on NYRB Classics Suspense/Crime offerings as they have a pretty good international selection (some Simenon included): https://www.nyrb.com/collections/classics/suspense-crime https://www.nyrb.com/collections/classics/suspense-crime