The Book Depository The Blue Room by Georges Simenon
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Price: £8.99
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Description: The Blue Room : Paperback : Penguin Books Ltd : 9780141399041 : 014139904X : 16 Feb 2016 : It was all real: himself, the room, Andree still lying on the ravaged bed. For Tony and Andree, there are no rules when they meet in the blue room at the Hotel des Voyageurs. Their adulterous affair is intoxicating, passionate - and dangerous. Soon it turns into a nightmare from which there can be no escape. The Book Depository The Blue Room by Georges Simenon - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: The Book Depository
Product ID: 9780141399041
MPN: 014139904X
GTIN: 9780141399041
Author: M. Dowden
Rating: 5
Review: When we think of Georges Simenon it is impossible not to immediately think of Maigret, but these were not the only stories he wrote, this being one of the others. In this, one of his romans durs of course we have the stark and minimalistic writing that conveys more than is actually written on the page, and of course that dark noir world that becomes all too real. As this starts off we see that Antonio ‘Tony’ Falcone is having a liaison with Andrée Despierre at Tony’s brother’s hotel. We then read next of Antonio locked up and answering questions to a psychiatrist and an examining magistrate, as well as his lawyer. Taken back through flashbacks we see what has happened since the affair between these two began and progressed, and what the outcome has been when two married people come together to have an adulterous liaison. With murder and madness we also see lies and manipulation, but how far did Tony really go by the prompting of his mistress? And indeed is he guilty apart from lying about receiving some letters? This takes us thus on a journey that starts off with an affair but goes so much further, ending up with a court case due to the heinous crimes committed. It also shows how lust can become love in some people’s eyes, which can then lead to obsession and madness, and that those words that we sometimes utter without thinking can come back and bite us. If you are looking for a really dark and engrossing read, one that is also rather short, then you can’t go wrong with this, which is a real nasty joy to read.
Author: jvp
Rating: 3
Review: I think I should make it clear that this book does not feature Inspector Maigret, and it is not a detective story. I would describe it as very French - I don't think it could have been written by an author of any other nationality - and very much of its era (the 1960's). It reminded me a lot of Camus' Outsider which I studied for A level French. Actually it had a lot in common with a couple of the other texts I studied then - Le Grand Meaulnes by Alain Fournier and The Knot of Vipers by Francois Mauriac. All of the books feature a main (male) character whose actions lead to horrible consequences, for themselves and those around them, and all take the view that it is not his fault, he couldn't possibly have avoided it, that is just how life is. Existentialist, in other words. Very fashionable in the 1960's, as was the assumption that women are either helpless and a bit wet (the wife in The Blue Room) or vicious, nasty and scheming (the mistress). Add in the mistress's weak and pathetic cuckold of a husband and her suspicious domineering mother in law and you've got the full set of clichés. Yes, it's well written but frankly dated in its attitudes.
