Product Description
Monsieur Monde is a successful middle-aged businessman in Paris. One morning he walks out on his life, leaving his wife asleep in bed, leaving everything. Not long after, he surfaces on the Riviera, keeping company with drunks, whores and pimps, with thieves and their marks. A whole new world, where he feels surprisingly at home—at least for a while.

Georges Simenon knew how obsession, buried for years, can come to life, and about the wreckage it leaves behind. He had a remarkable understanding of how bizarrely unaccountable people can be. And he had an almost uncanny ability to capture the look and feel of a given place and time. Monsieur Monde Vanishes is a subtle and profoundly disturbing triumph by the most popular of the twentieth century's great writers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Existential crisis for an haut bourgeois
As author Larry McMurtry points out in his introduction to "Monsieur Monde Vanishes," Georges Simenon wrote this Maigretless short novel at about the same time Albert Camus had published "The Stranger."There are some parallels, certainly in the moods of the two books.That the French had recently experienced a traumatic military defeat at the hands of the Germans and were under Nazi occupation for more than four years could certainly have had something to do with the sense of alienation and detachment that are the central themes underlying both tales.

In "Monsieur Monde Vanishes," the story's protagonist, Norbert Monde, a man with a comfortable, upper-middle class life suddenly bolts from his marriage and professional responsibilities at the end of one ordinary workday and takes another identity and eventually begins to lead another life.Unfortunately for M. Monde, he is a magnet for others who are less fortunate or whose lives are less orderly.Through a series of encounters, his innate sense of responsibility (not shed with the old identity) pulls him back toward the accountabiity that he had hoped to be rid of forever.When he comes across the woman who was his first wife and his first great disappointment with life, in a state of crisis, the die is cast and Norbert Monde's vanishing act will soon be history.

The story speaks to virtually everyone's inevitable dissatisfactions with life, but makes no attempt to provide answers or comfort.Perhaps there are none to be had.

Interesting short novel.I have to admit that I prefer to have Inspector Maigret along for these crises de vie that are manifest in Simenon's writing.

A Stranger No More
MONSIEUR MONDE VANISHES is one of Simenon's roman durs, in which the author applies a darker and more noir edge to the foibles of everyday existence.The story is simple.Norbert Monde has lived a life noted by others for its upscale opportunities, but noted by Monsieur Monde himself for its straightjacket constriction.Living in the same house all his life, working in the business handed down to him, he longs to escape, existentially as well as physically, to the darker side.Out of the mansion and into the alleyway.He has had a glimpse of this in the past.His first wife had the hobby, before tucking her children into bed and kissing her husband good night, of posing for lurid pornography, sold on the back streets of Paris to whatever rogue wanted it.

It becomes clear that others really do not see him as a man.He is instead a provider - of money, of position, of status.His 48th birthday is so inconsequential that it goes unnoticed.

And so, on one day like any other, Monsieur Monde vanishes.Strikingly, he made no decision to leave his comfortable life.It was merely the normal, natural extension of that particular day.No more thought or decision went into it than on all the previous days when he returned home after work.This time, the natural progression was to just keep walking.

Trading in his fine clothes for a cheap suit, Monsieur Monde arrives first in Marseille where he meets Julie, the type of common girl whose company would be consistent with his new life.Traveling further to Nice, the two create their new lives of striking simplicity.Working at the illicit casino, consorting with rogues and vagrants, Monsieur Monde is so determined to shed his old self that he is actually glad when someone rips off the money he had brought with him.It was a betrayal of himself for taking the money along to begin with.

A novel as much about inner exploration, Monsieur Monde comes face to face with his former life, discovering along the way that real change (and I know this sounds wincingly like some new age mumbo jumbo) comes from within.The trip to the back alley, the gambling halls, and associating with loose women and morphine addicts, allows our good Monsieur Monde to find that, although his family had taken him for granted, he did in fact exist.He is substantial.And others, you better believe, will look into his eyes and know it, too.

Psycological novel
This is a great book but one would never read it if one merely read the back cover copy which is totally inaccurate -- so inaccurate that one suspects the writer of the copy has never read the book.I have read M. Monde Vanishes many times in French (La Fuite de M. Monde) and given dozens copies of this excellent English translation to friends and acquaintances.M. Monde learns, in the course of his adventures after he flees his unhappy existence, that true freedom comes from inside -- one does not have to tear one's life apart, one can to change one's perspective.In Simenon's usual concise, brilliant style.

"Let's take a boat to Bermuda
Let's take a plane to Saint Paul.
Let's take a kayak to Quincy or Nyack,
Let's get away from it all."

I have to admit that Frank Sinatra version of "Let's Get Away From it All" kept entering my consciousness as I read George Simenon's "Monsieur Monde Vanishes".The upbeat nature of the song is not remotely like the dark, reflective tone of Simenon's story but if you have ever sat in your office on a dreary day or sat in your home on a humdrum evening and just wondered what it would be like to just walk away from your life and start fresh somewhere else then you will have some understanding and, perhaps, sympathy for a man who wakes up one morning and decides to get away from it all.

Simenon was nothing if not prolific in both his literary and public life. Born in Belgium in 1903, Simenon turned out hundreds of novels. Simenon's obsession with writing caused him to break off an affair (he was prolific in this area of his life as well) with the celebrated Josephine Baker in Paris when he could only write twelve novels in the twelve month period in which they were involved. Although perhaps best known for his Inspector Maigret detective novels, Simenon also wrote over a hundred novels that he referred to as `romans durs' (literally "hard novels"). As with many of his contemporaries such as Chandler and Hammett, Simenon's books were marketed and sold as popular, almost pulp fiction. Also like Chandler and Hammett, Simenon's books have stood up well over time. The New York Review of Books publishing division has reissued much of Simenon's books. They are well worth reading and "Monsieur Monde Vanishes" is an excellent place to start.

As with virtually all his protagonists in these hard stories, Monde is a stolid, middle-class member of the establishment.Based in Paris, Monde runs the family export/import business. His is a life of regular habits, from the time he wakes up, through his work day and then through the evening.He is married (a second wife) and has children.Beneath this surface regularity lies a yearning to get away, to just leave everything behind and as the book opens Monde does just that. The rest of the novel explores Monde's journey, his new identity, the places he goes (the French coast) and the people he meets.He sheds his stolid identity like someone sheds their clothing at night and finds himself in a world entirely different from the one he leaves behind.The reader witnesses this transformation in what can be best described as something of a voyeuristic fashion.

Simenon's hard novels are often referred to as psychological novels but I find that term a bit misleading. Simenon does not analyze. He does not delve deep into his protagonists' minds. He presents the reader with a slice of the human condition and lets the reader deal with the implications, the psychoanalysis if you like. They do offer glimpses into his protagonists' lives even though (or perhaps because) he does not fill in the blanks for you. His character's actions speak for themselves and what they have to say is not always pleasant. In "Monsieur Monde" we are not presented with an explanation for Monde's acts. They are simply provided to the reader.It is up to us to judge them or analyze them if we so choose.In a world of fiction filled with happiness and redemption and the ultimate triumph of good against evil, Simenon is a breath of fresh (if pessimistic) air. "Monsieur Monde" does break away from this mold a bit as I found there was a bit more `closure' (a hackneyed word to be sure but it seems suitable for use here) in "Monsieur Monde" than in some of his other works.Unlike some of his other books we see someone reclaim some of the responsibility he walked away from.However, the question that Simenon poses is a critical one, is the Monde that reenters the world left behind the same man?

"Let's take a trip in a trailer
No need to come back at all.
Let's take a powder to Boston for chowder,
Let's get away from it all."

"Monsieur Monde Vanishes" was an enjoyable book to read. Highly recommended.L. Fleisig

Businessman's Vacation
One of the values of Amazon's recommendation software is that you are directed to authors with whose work you may not be familiar and who are not carried on the shelves of most bookstores.This is how I found Monsieur Monde Vanishes.It is an economical and very visual book even though the visuals are of mostly unremarkable venues: cheap hotel rooms, the back office of a nightclub, train stations, etc.The narrative value, however, lies partly in bringing such sites to life.

The largely passive Monde exits his successful life in Paris to allow another life in Nice to happen to him.In the end, this change enables him to return to his prior existence possessed of enhanced stature with his business, his wife and his son.The breaking of his life pattern, even though he is compelled to return to it, seems to give Monde additional power over his environment.

Read this book and get swept up in the rhythm of an unspectacular life that is likely different than your own in detail but not in method. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Discreet Harm to the Bourgeoisie
Georges Simenon was nothing if not prolific in both his literary and public life. Born in Belgium in 1903, Simenon turned out hundreds of novels. Simenon's obsession with writing caused him to break off an affair (he was prolific in this area of his life as well) with the celebrated Josephine Baker in Paris when he could only write twelve novels in the twelve month period in which they were involved.Simenon's novels were immensely popular in the 1930s through the 1970s and many of his novels (particularly the Inspector Maigret stories) appeared in film and TV versions. Simenon also authored dozens of books that he described as "romans durs", roughly translated as`hard stories' that had a darker tone than his Maigret novels. Simenon seems to have fallen under the radar in recent decades but in recent years he seems to have been rediscovered by a new generation of mystery/detective story fans. Penguin Books has begun to reissue some of those Maigret mysteries and the New York Review of Books Press has reissued some of his `hard stories'.However, my appetite for Simenon has caused me to look beyond the recent reissues. A recent trip to my public library brought me to "The Rules of the Game".

"The Rules of the Game" was written in 1955 and translated and published in the United States in 1988.It is set in suburban Connecticut.(After World War II, for reasons related to accusations that he was sympathetic to the occupying forces and the Vichy Regime, Simenon moved to the United States and spent a few years in Connecticut.) Walter Higgins is a supermarket manager.He is a stolid, predictable, married father of four living in a house that stretches his economic resources to the fullest.He is also enormously (and understandably) proud of the fact that he has lifted himself through diligence and hard work from a less than happy and economically depressed childhood.He plays by the rules. He goes to church and volunteers in any number of community organizations.He seeks affirmation of his status by applying for membership in the local country club. He is told his membership is a sure-thing and is devastated when he is told that he has been blackballed, denied entry by means of a secret vote of the club's membership committee.Each member of that committee was known to Higgins and he thought of each as a friend and colleague in the community.The rejection turns Higgins's life upside down and the rest of the story takes us on the journey Higgins takes as the trauma of rejection hits him.

"Rules of the Game" provides a fascinating, contemporary look at life in the U.S. of the 1950s.Since it was written in 1955, Simenon's examination of the hidden cracks in the life-style of suburban America in the age of Ozzie and Harriet seems a bit ahead of its time.In a way, Simenon's look at the unraveling of Higgins life after the jolt of rejection is mildly reminiscent to the unraveling of Willy Loman's life in Miller's "Death of a Salesman".Higgins' reaction to `failure' (in his eyes) is not nearly as dramatic as Loman's but it does provide some warning that the American Dream does have cracks that even the most stolid members of its society can fall through.

"Rules of the Game" is a good example of the craft of Simenon.It is certainly worth reading if you can find a copy online or in your local library. My library has a nice collection of out-of-print Simenon's and I'll be back there soon for another Simenon.L. Fleisig
... Read more

Product Description
Inspector Maigret, after ruling out the possibility of professional murder and having his spotless reputation called into question, solves the perplexing murder of a nightclub owner who at first glance seems to have no enemies. Translated by Robert Eglesfield.

Maigret is a registered trademark of the Estate of Georges Simenon.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Beautifully crafted story
This classic Chief Inspector Maigret story dates from 1963 when Georges Simenon has turning out one small mystery masterpiece after another.Like many, "Maigret Loses His Temper" has the Chief Inspector dealing with a murder of a respectable Parisian businessman in an unrespectable business, that seems not to have a motive or any real suspects.Author Simeon builds a refined police procedural for Maigret to follow which features, as always, the Chief Inspector's own uncanny interior dialogue.Maigret always looks for greed and/or passion to resolve his cases, and in this particular story, he is not surprised to find that one of these elements leads him to resolution of the case.

The plot is engaging and the focus on the Paris neighborhood of Montmartre and its nightclub life is a great context.A very well-done, neat little reading package that any reader of the genre will thoroughly enjoy.

Maigret shows no mercy
For the first time in years Maigret ventures into Montmartre. He's not at home on this gangster-rich turf.

Yet the victim was anything but a gangster, and his murder doesn't look like the work of a gang.

Even though Emile Boulay owned several clubs, he was an unassuming family man who didn't drink, gamble, play around, drive fancy cars or cheat on his taxes. Yes, he made his living showcasing naked women, but he was eminently respectable. And he valued his reputation highly.

Maigret is not his usual merciful self in this book, for his own reputation is threatened as well.

Throughout the investigation the Chief Superintendent is trying to cut down on his drinking (doctor's orders). This doesn't help his temper either!

Maigret in Montmartre
By the time of this novel, Maigret has risen high in the police ranks and does not have much opportunity to get involved in the dirty little crimes of the minor-league underworld of the Montmartre district. Due to an unusual series of events he gets his chance in this case of the disappearance of the owner of a chain of strip-tease clubs.

"Maigret Loses His Temper" is an excellent example of the Maigret technique (Maigret himself denies he has a technique) where he just goes about, seemingly at random, talking to people and gathering bits and pieces of information, and never theorizing until he sees a "pattern".

Plot is good, but not outstanding.Characters are, as usual for Simenon, excellent with even the lesser ones having well-defined personalities. The description of Montmartre its businesses, and its inhabitants is superb.This book is right up there with the best of the Maigrets.

Maigret Pokes around the Montmarte Neighborhood
The owner of a Montmarte strip club is found murdered.He has been strangled and his body has been dumped on a distant street.Jules Maigret knows that this is not a typical gangland killing.Mobsters do not strangle their victims and then carry them to another neighborhood.

This is a typical Maigret mystery.There is no gun play or fancy forensic work.Just the venerable Chief Inspector Maigret walking around the streets of Montmarte using his considerable mental skills to solve a murder.

Goerges Simenon wrote over 200 novels.Over 500 million copies of his novels have been published.Inspector Jules Maigret is one of the all time greatest characters of detective fiction."Maigret Loses his Temper" is a good example of Georges Simenon's craft. ... Read more

Product Description
Inspector Maigret, after ruling out the possibility of professional murder and having his spotless reputation called into question, solves the perplexing murder of a nightclub owner who at first glance seems to have no enemies. Translated by Robert Eglesfield.

Maigret is a registered trademark of the Estate of Georges Simenon.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Beautifully crafted story
This classic Chief Inspector Maigret story dates from 1963 when Georges Simenon has turning out one small mystery masterpiece after another.Like many, "Maigret Loses His Temper" has the Chief Inspector dealing with a murder of a respectable Parisian businessman in an unrespectable business, that seems not to have a motive or any real suspects.Author Simeon builds a refined police procedural for Maigret to follow which features, as always, the Chief Inspector's own uncanny interior dialogue.Maigret always looks for greed and/or passion to resolve his cases, and in this particular story, he is not surprised to find that one of these elements leads him to resolution of the case.

The plot is engaging and the focus on the Paris neighborhood of Montmartre and its nightclub life is a great context.A very well-done, neat little reading package that any reader of the genre will thoroughly enjoy.

Maigret shows no mercy
For the first time in years Maigret ventures into Montmartre. He's not at home on this gangster-rich turf.

Yet the victim was anything but a gangster, and his murder doesn't look like the work of a gang.

Even though Emile Boulay owned several clubs, he was an unassuming family man who didn't drink, gamble, play around, drive fancy cars or cheat on his taxes. Yes, he made his living showcasing naked women, but he was eminently respectable. And he valued his reputation highly.

Maigret is not his usual merciful self in this book, for his own reputation is threatened as well.

Throughout the investigation the Chief Superintendent is trying to cut down on his drinking (doctor's orders). This doesn't help his temper either!

Maigret in Montmartre
By the time of this novel, Maigret has risen high in the police ranks and does not have much opportunity to get involved in the dirty little crimes of the minor-league underworld of the Montmartre district. Due to an unusual series of events he gets his chance in this case of the disappearance of the owner of a chain of strip-tease clubs.

"Maigret Loses His Temper" is an excellent example of the Maigret technique (Maigret himself denies he has a technique) where he just goes about, seemingly at random, talking to people and gathering bits and pieces of information, and never theorizing until he sees a "pattern".

Plot is good, but not outstanding.Characters are, as usual for Simenon, excellent with even the lesser ones having well-defined personalities. The description of Montmartre its businesses, and its inhabitants is superb.This book is right up there with the best of the Maigrets.

Maigret Pokes around the Montmarte Neighborhood
The owner of a Montmarte strip club is found murdered.He has been strangled and his body has been dumped on a distant street.Jules Maigret knows that this is not a typical gangland killing.Mobsters do not strangle their victims and then carry them to another neighborhood.

This is a typical Maigret mystery.There is no gun play or fancy forensic work.Just the venerable Chief Inspector Maigret walking around the streets of Montmarte using his considerable mental skills to solve a murder.

Goerges Simenon wrote over 200 novels.Over 500 million copies of his novels have been published.Inspector Jules Maigret is one of the all time greatest characters of detective fiction."Maigret Loses his Temper" is a good example of Georges Simenon's craft. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Dense and Delicious
We are unlikely to see many detective novels like this again. On the second page, the detective is in a cafe drinking a geuze lambic. This is surely one of the oddest flavors ever to appear in whodunitry. Sam Spade couldn't choke one down. Even less likely is the plot which hinges not so much on a story as on an incident.
Simenon is remarkably stingy in giving up the details of what's behind the incident at the start of the book and it's the slow unraveling of an ancient crime and its bitter consequences that make the story.
This is a book you'll read in an afternoon and think about forever.

It's not who did it, but what did they do?
While on a visit to Brussels, as a lark Inspector Maigret follows a seedy looking character whom he found mailing large amounts of money to himself.It's a puzzle that intrigues Maigret, and to bring the situation to a head, he switches suitcases with the unfortunate and follows him to his flop-house hotel.Maigret takes an adjoining room, peeks through the keyhole as the stranger opens the case.Shocked by what he finds there, he kills himself.Maigret, to assuage his guilt, tries to get to the bottom of the mystery, which introduces him to four middle-aged, successful businessmen who are acting very suspiciously, even to the point of attempting to kill Maigret; not once, but twice.We know they are guilty of something, but what? And that's the mystery that keeps the inspector, and us, enthralled.But wait, we're not done yet.Once Maigret solves the riddle, we have one more huge surprise in store for us.It's a taut story that keeps us involved to the very last paragraphs.It's a quick, satisfying read filled with interesting characters and a thought-provoking solution.It's another fine story in the Maigret series.

Early Maigret - a delightful psychological thriller
IN the first year of publication of Maigret novels almost a dozen were published.The rapidity with which Simenon produced the books in that first year did not detrimentally effect the quality.Having read Maigret novels from throughout the series I am of the view that those novels in the first years are as good as any Simenon produced: Lock 14, The Yellow Dog, A Man's Head,The Bar on the Seine (each of which has recently been reprinted in the UK), are each of the highest quality.But for me The Hundred Gibbets tops these and is on a par with the best of Simenon's fiction (such as The Blue Room).

Through his curiosity as to why a man was packaging 30,000 francs in Brussels posting the money on Maigret resolves to follow Louis Jeunet.His trailing of Jeunet and switch of Jeunet's suitcase leads Jenuet to commit suicide in Bremen and places in Maigret's possession of a blood stained suit.The wonderful opening chapter sets in motion a densely plotted well characterised thriller based around Simenon's birthplace of Liege in Belgium.

Maigret has a depth here that some of the later novels lack, and the sense of place is palpable.The plot involves uncovering an incident from many years before.The Belgian characters involved in the incident are well drawn, most memorable being the businessman van Damme.His confrontation with Maigret and continual appearances around peculiar incidents are delightfully done.

Highly recommended I would suggest that this is an excelletn strating place in reading Maigret and if you enjoy this would recommend any of the Maigret volumes referred to previously, or the Zen novels of Michael Dibdin.

One of Simenon's best
This is one of the best novels of a superb series. For anyone who is only fleetingly acquainted with Maigret or who does not know him at all, you are in for a great surprise. Maigret is a Paris police detective whose storiesspan from his humble beginnings as a constable's secretary to his rise tosuccess, fame and retirement as the Chief Superintendent of the crime Squadat the Quaise des Ofevres.

Maiget novels are intensely psychological andthe distinction between heroes and villains is not comparable to the onebetween the police and criminals. One senses that Maigret empathizes with the criminals he pursues and even respects them to a considerable degree.Each novel is essentially a study of character and an exploration of howindividuals react to their environment. Often it is not solving the crimethat is important--indeed Maigret sometimes fails in this endeavor--as muchas understanding the people and circumstances the crime entails.

Maigretnovels are also wonderful because they take you through the Paris ofSimenon's time. You go to the neighborhoods, hear the various dialects andeat the food of France from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Many Americanwriters hardly pay attention to the environment. They describe an item ordetail, here or there, but it is often rough craftsmanship. Simenon usesthe environment as a painter uses colors. He experiments and absorbs withcompellingresults.

I have been reading Maigret novel since high schooland I think that "Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets" is one of themost fascinating and certainly the most haunting one. In this novel,Maigret stumbles upon what he thinks is a black mailer or thief. Heattempts to flush him out by stealing his money only to be surprised by theman's sudden resolve to kill himself. Further investigation reveals thatthe man is involved in an elaborate revenge plan against himself and hisformer classmates for a crime they committed years ago. The passion andfanaticism in this novel are extreme yet highly believable. It is alsobased on real events in Simenon's youth which are described in his mostrecent biography.

I recommend most if not all Maigret novels for anyoneinterested in psychology, well crafted mystery, and travelogues. ... Read more

Product Description
Simenon spins a masterful tale of aristocrats fallen on hard times and of a profligate son who in the final hour finds unexpected strength of character, regaining the dignity and the nobility of his ancestors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A crime outside the law
The Moulin police receive an anonymous note that "a crime will be committed in the church at Saint-Fiacre during the first mass on All Souls Day." They forward the note to Paris, assuming it's a practical joke.

But Saint Fiacre is Maigret's hometown, and he decides to attend that mass.

Sure enough, the Countess of Saint-Fiacre drops dead in church. The doctor diagnoses heart failure, but how to explain the note that foretold this natural death? Was the failure of her heart somehow induced? And by whom?

Wonderful complications ensue. The young heir is a good-for-nothing playboy in need of money. The secretary was actually the lover of the aging countess. Even the village priest is behaving strangely.

Curiously, it's the suspects themselves who solve the mystery more than Maigret, whose presence alone is somehow enough to bring out the truth.

An excellent Maigret subtly enriched by the Chief Inspector's nostalgic flashbacks.

Quite Good - Among the Best of the Maigret Mysteries
Maigret Goes Home (published in 1932, first published in English in 1940) is among the best stories by Simenon that I have encountered. It takes place in 1928, early in Maigret's career, and involves a unique visit to Maigret's childhood home, the village of Saint-Fiacre. Maigret Goes Home is a compelling story, one in which the mystery puzzle, the characters themselves, their psychology, and the intriguing locale all share front stage.

Maigret is investigating an anonymous note warning that a death will occur during the first Mass on All Soul's Day at Saint-Fiacre. With Maigret in attendance, Countess de Saint-Fiacre dies during the mass from heart failure. Maigret is convinced of foul play, but evidence is lacking.

The aristocratic family of de Saint-Fiacre has suffered financial and moral decline since the death of Count some years ago. As Maigret's investigation proceeds, his disappointment with his childhood home grows. Nonetheless, Maigret's remains influenced by vestiges of his childhood admiration for the imposing Count de Saint-Fiacre, now dead for many years.The suspects are many, and the ending is less predictable than some Maigret stories.

My copy of Maigret Goes Home is a good quality, standard size paperback published by Harvest Books in 1990. Translated by Robert Baldick. The inside cover lists about forty Maigret titles available from Harvest Books. For those new to Georges Simenon, he wrote 75 novels and 28 short stories involving the highly popular Maigret from 1931 to 1972.

Note: Simenon did not adhere to a strict chronological sequence. That is, later stories often returned to a younger Maigret. Furthermore, many Maigret stories were not translated to English until many years after their release in France. Consequently, the English publication date is not a reliable indication to the time period of a particular Maigret story. ... Read more