Series
Publication
Penguin (2006), 144 p.
Original publication date
1932 (original French)
1940
1940 (English: Sainsbury)
2003 (English: Watson)
Collections
Genres
Subjects
Description
'The father of contemporary European detective fiction' Ann Cleeves 'A radiant late afternoon. The sunshine almost as thick as syrup in the quiet streets of the Left Bank . . . there are days like this, when ordinary life seems heightened, when the people walking down the street, the trams and cars all seem to exist in a fairy tale.' A story told by a condemned man leads Maigret to a bar by the Seine and into the sleazy underside of respectable Parisian life. In the oppressive heat of summer, a forgotten crime comes to light. Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel is a revised translation, previously published as The Bar on the Seine. 'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray 'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories' Guardian 'A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness' Independent… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member dougwood57
(Previously published under the title Maigret and the Tavern by the Seine.)
Maigret delivers the bad news in person to an inmate that clemency has been denied. Before he leaves Maigret learns of a murder six years earlier that the condemned man and a pal had witnessed. The pair blackmailed the
This Maigret story needs a couple of implausible coincidences to make it get started, but then it flows. Why is James plying Maigret with Pernods every day in Paris? Mado, the alluring wife of one of the gang, sleeps around and her husband seems to know, but does that have anything to do with the murder(s)? The same cuckolded husband is in debt up to his eyeballs. Plausible suspects abound. This one kept me up late to get to the finish. Highly recommended.
Maigret delivers the bad news in person to an inmate that clemency has been denied. Before he leaves Maigret learns of a murder six years earlier that the condemned man and a pal had witnessed. The pair blackmailed the
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murderer until the pigeon flew the coop, the prisoner informers Inspector Maigret but then he clams up with only a vague hint of the location and none as to the identity of the killer. Maigret hangs about and figures out the location from some overheard words. He manages to ingratiate himself into an odd mix of city folk who take a weekly holiday at this village and its bar on the Seine. Inevitably Maigret puts it all together.This Maigret story needs a couple of implausible coincidences to make it get started, but then it flows. Why is James plying Maigret with Pernods every day in Paris? Mado, the alluring wife of one of the gang, sleeps around and her husband seems to know, but does that have anything to do with the murder(s)? The same cuckolded husband is in debt up to his eyeballs. Plausible suspects abound. This one kept me up late to get to the finish. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member jasonlf
A relatively short and enjoyable police procedural. Inspector Maigret is working on a six-year old murder when another death takes place. He unravels the hidden secrets of a bourgeois group of friends who all like to relax at the same rustic bar on the Seine outside Paris. FWIW, the Kindle edition
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is formatted terribly but the actual Penguin version is physically a nice volume -- almost enough to make you want to read more in the series regardless of the content. Show Less
LibraryThing member nosajeel
A relatively short and enjoyable police procedural. Inspector Maigret is working on a six-year old murder when another death takes place. He unravels the hidden secrets of a bourgeois group of friends who all like to relax at the same rustic bar on the Seine outside Paris. FWIW, the Kindle edition
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is formatted terribly but the actual Penguin version is physically a nice volume -- almost enough to make you want to read more in the series regardless of the content. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookczuk
Another Inspector Maigret by Simenon. Thank you Penguin for reissuing this series. I really enjoy the character of Maigret, his long-suffering but loving wife, and the various characters that come out in each story. Straightforward cases, and though the books are slim, they're full of character and
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characters. This one began with a confession of a condemned man, and set Maigret on the trail to solve a 6 year old murder. Show Less
LibraryThing member BooksForDinner
Another excellent entry. I love the leisurely pace of this one, it's seems to mirror the character James in his overall lack of concern about where he is or what he is doing most of the time.
LibraryThing member Coach_of_Alva
I can't discuss what makes this adventure of Inspector Maigret different from the others without dropping a spoiler. Suffice to say that it is another sad story of middle class life told with empathy, not contempt.
LibraryThing member juju2cat
It's always fun to find a Maigret book that I haven't read yet. I have a collection of about 40 of Simenon's Maigret books and I'll occasionally buy a new one to go back in time to read him. It's quite a shock to read a Tana French novel and go to a short novel like this; it seems so abrupt! As
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always Simenon does what he does best; sets the scene beautifully and leads us into a death investigation. Show Less
LibraryThing member BruderBane
"The Bar on the Seine" by Georges Simenon is very reminiscent of Chekhov both in his pacing and in his mellifluous descriptions of people and places. Taking us to a guinguette on the river Seine circa 1930, Mr. Simenon brings us the trivial and mundane life of people wiling away their free-time
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with laughter, drinks, trysts and murder. However Mr. Simenon's style did not seem to translate to the hard-boiled genre for me. I found that, at times, the plot meandered and it seemed I would take forever to finish such a minuscule volume. I understand that the Inspector Maigret Mysteries are quite an item in Europe and perhaps I picked up the wrong volume. My wife just finished "Dirty Snow" also by Mr. Simenon and enjoyed the novel thoroughly. Perhaps I should read that in the near future and see if my opinion changes. But as to the Maigret Mysteries, I'll pass for now. Show Less
LibraryThing member dknippling
This was not for me. Wow. The writing, even in translation, is very nice, insightful - but the themes of the book and the way that the detective gathered proof are so disconcerting that they left me briefly, but horribly depressed.
The murderer is glad to be caught, because he wants to get out of
The murderer is glad to be caught, because he wants to get out of
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his life, as has been destroyed between a pair of women. Meanwhile, the detective does things for no apparent reason at all, operating on apparently 100% intuition, which may be a valid method for solving crimes but is pretty unsatisfactory for yours truly. WHY do these people just welcome Maigret into their midst? Because. That's the only answer you get: oh, just because. Apparently, in Simenon's world, there's no order or logic, and life isn't worthwhile. Bleh. Some people may find this enchanting; it's not poorly written or anything, just not for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
A fast moving detective piece by the master of such writing. Perhaps one too many comfortable coincidences, but otherwise entertaining.
LibraryThing member thorold
Simenon seems to be trying to win back a bit of market share from Agatha Christie with this one: the central characters are a flashy, art-deco set of young professionals - one of them an English expat - who have made a run-down riverside café just outside Paris the centre of their weekends of
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bridge, adultery and boating. Maigret meets them whilst following up a lead in a "cold case" investigation (just to prove that there's nothing new under the sun in the crime-fiction business!). He thus happens to be on the spot when there's another violent death, which is lucky for him, as it gives him the perfect excuse to postpone joining Mme Maigret and her sister for the family summer holiday in Alsace. Rather unusually, he seeks the help of some forensic scientists during this investigation, but don't worry - as usual, the final identification of the guilty party comes from the Commissaire's psychological intuition. So everything is as it should be, but this one still doesn't really have anything to make it stand out from the crowd of Simenon novels... Show Less
LibraryThing member stillatim
3.5 stars, really. A delightful level of sleaze to wade through.
Language
Original language
French
ISBN
9780141025889
Physical description
4.45 inches
Other editions
La guinguette à deux sous by Georges Simenon (Paperback)