A Genre Classic.
To battle that old shut-in feeling caused by staying and working at home, I’ve been reading
books set in places far away in place and time. For instance, I’ve been reading
mysteries set in England in the Fifties,
France in the Sixties,
Egypt
in the early 1900s, and now France again in the late Sixties. This novel was
finished by Simenon in 1969 and published as Maigret et le marchand de vin in 1970. It was translated by Eileen
Ellenbogen and published in Anglophonia in 1970 too.
Maigret and the
Wine Merchant – Georges Simenon
Woe to the detestable guy with regular habits. Anybody
plotting revenge could determine that every Wednesday evening rich wine
merchant Oscar Chabut took his skinny secretary, The Grasshopper, to a love
hotel for a couple hours of sexually exploiting the very young help. So it was
easy for an avenger to just wait for Chabut to leave in order to put two rounds
in his stomach, one his shoulder, and one in his chest, which the autopsy
proves to be, as the French say, the coup de grâce.
Investigating the murder, series
hero Chief Inspector Maigret scrutinizes the background and personality
of the victim. Starting at the bottom as a door-to-door salesman, Chabut,
through hard work and ruthless determination, succeeded in creating and
managing a flourishing business enterprise with a wine-like product at which
genuine wine lovers turn up their noses.
And what a glorious child of Heaven Chabut turned out to
be. Despite his success, he still felt an imposter among the old-rich crowd he
found himself hanging out with. So in order to bolster his confidence, he lived
in fancy digs with opulent furnishings, hung out the best places, and drove the
flashiest cars. He hired only non-entities and yes-men he could despise and
dominate. He relentlessly bullied and stiffed suppliers and contractors. To
make himself feel like a man, he crushed clients and competitors and humiliated
people incautious enough to ask for loans or favors.
As for the endless parade of mistresses, he cynically bedded women – employees
and other men’s wives - debasing them without remorse.
Sound like any Sadistic Narcissist we know? Frickin’
uncanny, but as Ezra Pound said, Literature is news that stays news
The investigation therefore must focus on two targets: jealous
husbands and business rivals who wanted revenge. Maigret soon realizes,
however, that since the beginning of his investigation, somebody is following
him, anticipating his actions, sometimes even guessing his destination, without
Maigret or his team being able to lay hands on him. This man - whom Maigret
guesses is the killer - goes so far as to telephone him and write to him to
denounce Chabut as “a lousy swine.”
This 1970 outing was a late career Maigret - Simenon ended
the series in 1972. The mystery side of the story seems not to be the writer’s
main interest. What fascinates him is the momentum that pushes a fairly
ordinary guy to kill somebody. A lot of darkness and despair is the impetus
to an impulsive, irrevocable act - and in the center of the story is our stolid hero,
wondering what he’ll eat for lunch, having a drink and a smoke, suffering from
the flu or quinsy, the object of Madam Maigret’s concern, a figure inspiring
awe and loyalty from his subordinates Janvier and Lucas.
It’s a gem, one worth suggesting to novices who wonder
what might be a good Maigret to read.
No comments:
Post a Comment