Tropic Moon

by Georges Simenon

Other authorsMarc Romano, Norman Rush
Paperback, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

843.912

Collection

Publication

NYRB Classics (2005), Edition: Tra, Paperback, 152 pages

Description

Newly translated for this edition. A young Frenchman, Joseph Timar, travels to Gabon carrying a letter of introduction from an influential uncle. He wants work experience; he wants to see the world. But in the oppressive heat and glare of the equator, Timar doesn't know what to do with himself, and no one seems inclined to help except Adèle, the hotel owner's wife, who takes him to bed one day and rebuffs him the next, leaving him sick with desire. But then, in the course of a single night, Adèle's husband dies and a black servant is shot, and Timar is sure that Adèle is involved. He'll cover for the crime if she'll do what he wants. The fix is in. But Timar can't even begin to imagine how deep. In Tropic Moon, Simenon, the master of the psychological novel, offers an incomparable picture of degeneracy and corruption in a colonial outpost.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member stef7sa
A dark tale about the immorality of the inhabitants of a colonial city in Africa which has a devastating effect on a young innocent newcomer from France. The evocation of the tropical atmosphere is very intense. The description of the characters remains rather superficial however, a deliberate
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choice of the author (see the Introduction) it seems. I would think that a more empathic approach might have resulted in an even more gripping story.
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LibraryThing member jwhenderson
Tropic Moon, one of Georges Simenon's "Romans durs," or hard novels, is his first book set outside of Europe. The story of Tropic Moon is not only harsh on the protagonist but also on the French colonial system as a whole—that is, it is extremely harsh on the French colonialists who lived in
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Africa. This was a slightly different experience for me compared to Simenon's detective novels.
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Language

Original language

French

Original publication date

1933

Physical description

152 p.; 8.04 inches

ISBN

159017111X / 9781590171110

Local notes

French title: Coup de Lune
Page: 0.2694 seconds