George simenon 1971 biography

The Disappearance of Odile

Novel by Georges Simenon

Cover of the 1st French edition

AuthorGeorges Simenon
Original&#;titleLa disparition d'Odile
TranslatorLyn Moir
LanguageFrench
Set&#;inLausanne, Paris
PublisherClub français du livre

Publication date

Published&#;in English

La disparition d'Odile (translated as The Disappearance of Odile, ) is a novel by Belgian writer Georges Simenon;[1] it is one of the author's self-described roman durs, or more literary "hard novels," to distinguish it from his romans populaires or "popular novels," which are primarily mysteries that usually feature his famous Inspector Maigret character.[2]

La disparition d'Odile was translated into English by Lyn Moir for Hamish Hamilton and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in [3][4]

Background and composition

The character of Odile was clearly inspired by Simenon's daughter, Marie-Jo, who suffered from manic depression, and was deeply affected by the violent quarrels that frequently flared up between her mother and father.

Despite the novel's optimistic ending—a definite rarity within the author's oeuvre—Marie-Jo committed suicide two years later after a number of other unsuccessful attempts.[5][6][7][8][9]

The book was completed in Epalinges on 4 October [9]

Before appearing in book form in editions by Club français du livre&#;[fr] and Presses de la Cité, the work was serialized in La Gazette de Lausanne&#;[fr] over the course of forty issues, from 5 December to 23 January [9]

Plot summary

Odile Pointet is an eighteen-year-old girl from Lausanne who feels uncomfortable in her own skin.

She has had many empty and meaningless love affairs, and is tired of living with her father, a successful writer who only thinks about his books, and her mother, who does nothing but drink and host bridge parties.

Odile decides to leave Lausanne for Paris, but is not merely running away: she takes with her her father's revolver and some sleeping pills, intending to commit suicide.

She leaves a letter for her brother Bob explaining her intentions, and after reading it he sets off in search of his sister.

In Paris, Odile stays in a number of hotel rooms of varying quality. She sleeps most of the day, and at night frequents the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district. Odile has an intense but short-lived affair, after which she decides the time has come for her to end her life.

She writes a second letter to Bob in which she explains her inability to form a lasting relationship with a man. She then slits her wrist in the bathtub.

George simenon 1971 biography wife Marnham, Patrick Cover of the 1st French edition. He excelled at French, but his marks in other subjects declined. Metuchen, N.

She is saved by a medical student named Albert Galabar, who hears Odile screaming as she is cutting her wrist. Comforted by the young man's tenderness and care, she regains a taste for life. Suspecting that her brother has been searching for her, Odile meets him at a hotel on the Rue Gay-Lussac&#;[fr], where her family used to stay.

Bob contacts his parents to let them know he has found his sister, and the two return to Lausanne.

But Odile still feels ill at ease at home. She finds the family atmosphere to be oppressive, and once again she leaves for Paris, where she returns to her hotel room and Albert Galabar, to whom she entrusts her father's revolver.

George simenon 1971 biography children: Alavoine Home Town. They were both drinking heavily [ 72 ] and Simenon admitted that he had hit her. The Flemish Shop.

Odile looks forward to finding a job and having a life of her own.[5][6][7][8][9]

Reception

In his biography of Simenon, Pierre Assouline writes: "La Disparition d’Odile is a frightful portrait of father and daughter, especially in view of the context in which it was written and its fictionalized self-criticism."[5]

An anonymous reviewer writing for Kirkus Reviews opines: "A very frugal psychological study, not lackadaisical so much as listless .

. . M. Simenon recites all this in a flatly declarative fashion as if his heart weren't in it and his very good mind were elsewhere."[10]

References

  1. ^Simenon, Georges (). La Disparition d'Odile, roman. Paris: Presses de la Cité.
  2. ^Simenon, Georges; Rush, Norman ().

    Tropic Moon. New York: NYRB. pp.&#;vii. ISBN&#;.

  3. ^Simenon, Georges ().

    George simenon 1971 biography New York: Doubleday. He produced no new fiction from that date, but he dictated 21 volumes of memoirs. Trask, Willard, R.. The Cat.

    The disappearance of Odile (in English and French). London: H. Hamilton.

  4. ^Simenon, Georges (). The disappearance of Odile (in English and French) (1st American&#;ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN&#;.
  5. ^ abcAssouline, Pierre ().

  6. Georges simenon books in english
  7. Georges simenon books in order
  8. Maigret books
  9. List of georges simenon books

    10. Simenon&#;: a biography. Internet Archive. London&#;: Chatto & Windus. ISBN&#;.

  10. ^ abLucille Frackman Becker (). Georges Simenon revisited.

    George simenon 1971 biography wikipedia Film adaptations [ edit ]. In the summer of , the Simenons took a holiday in Normandy where they met Henriette Liberge, the year-old daughter of a fisherman. The Ostenders. New York: Covici, Friede.

    Internet Archive. Twayne Publishers. ISBN&#;.

  11. ^ abCarter, David R. (). Georges Simenon.

  12. George simenon 1971 biography children
  13. George simenon 1971 biography images
  14. George simenon 1971 biography youtube

    15. Internet Archive. Harpenden&#;: Pocket Essentials. ISBN&#;.

  15. ^ abBecker, Lucille Frackman (). Georges Simenon&#;: 'Maigrets' and the 'romans durs'. Internet Archive. London&#;: Haus. ISBN&#;.
  16. ^ abcd"Notice bibliographique".

    .

    George simenon 1971 biography death Maigret and the Old People. Translated by Whiteside, Shaun. Biographer Patrick Marnham states that Simenon's earliest romans durs contain many of Simenon's typical themes: the street life of Paris, prostitution, the drudgery of domestic servants and shop assistants, police corruption and the hope of escape represented by railway stations. Second World War, — [ edit ].

    Retrieved

  17. ^"Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved

External links