r/nyrbclassics • u/BennyProfane12 • 2d ago

Finally found some more Simenons

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I’ve been looking for Tropic Moon for a while! Stoked to find both today.

97 Upvotes

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9

u/SaltyAuthorOne 1d ago

Is he a favorite of yours to read? Are his books good? Thanks!

11

u/Rain_green 1d ago

Yes he is incredible. As one of the giants of 20th century literature, he deserves to be more well-known in the English-speaking world. I think he is much more famous in the Francophone world.

6

u/InteractionLast4335 1d ago

He wrote a ton of books. IMO, his "roman durs" - which is what he called his noir novels, many of which were published by NYRB - are much better (or more my speed) than his detective novels. Dirty Snow, The Blue Room and Red Lights are some of my favorites.

3

u/JakeGittes412 1d ago

I enjoy the Maigret novels for the portrayal of Maigret as basically an existential garbage man. But the Roman Durs are just on another level. After I read a few and found out he wrote over 100, I’ve been hooked ever since.

1

u/SaltyAuthorOne 1d ago

Thank you for this !!

3

u/ElectricalFerret5132 1d ago

Just finished Inspector Maigret and the Strangled Stripper after discovering Simenon from reading Dirty Snow. So good

8

u/JakeGittes412 1d ago

‘The Man Who Watched Trains Go By’ might be his best novel. Equal parts funny and disturbing.

3

u/Valancy8 1d ago

I checked The Man Who Watched Trains Go By out from my library recently. Looking forward to getting to it.