|
Showing 1 - 25 of
161 matches in All Departments
When Maigret's prized gun goes missing, he must travel to London on
the trail of a troubled young man on the run. Maigret's Revolver is
a wonderful picture of both London and Paris and one of Simenon's
most ingenious and satisfying stories. 'One of the greatest writers
of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us
look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at
absorbing us obsessively in his stories' Guardian 'A supreme writer
. . . unforgettable vividness' Independent
'The new crime and espionage series from Penguin Classics makes for
a mouth-watering prospect' Daily Telegraph A baffling case. A
mysterious inheritance. It starts when a man's arm is fished out of
Paris's Canal Saint-Martin. Then the rest of the body is retrieved
- apart from the head. Inspector Maigret is determined to unearth
the truth behind this disturbing murder. When he meets the
strangely taciturn owner of a shabby local bistro, Madame Calas,
who says her husband is away, the pieces start to fall into place.
But, as the dogged, laconic detective discovers, nothing in this
tangled case is as it seems.
Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions
of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest
writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith
Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take
us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England
to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on
the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and
printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile
cloth and stamped with foil. Georges Simenon's brilliant
pipe-smoking detective, Jules Maigret, is one of the most beloved
literary creations of the twentieth century. In this adventure, an
officer from Scotland Yard is studying Maigret's methods when a
call from an island off the Cote d'Azure sends the two men off to
an isolated community to investigate its eccentric inhabitants.
|
Betty (Paperback)
Georges Simenon; Translated by Ros Schwartz
|
R245
R192
Discovery Miles 1 920
Save R53 (22%)
|
Ships in 5 - 10 working days
|
'A brilliant portrait of betrayal, hypocrisy, love and loss'
Chicago Tribune 'She tried to laugh, but was sobbing at the same
time. She attempted to stand up and fell over, but she didn't
shatter like the glass' Alone and adrift after losing everything in
a divorce, Betty finds her life sliding dangerously out of control.
When an older woman, Laure, discovers her drunk in a Paris
restaurant and nurses her back to health, she is given another
chance. But Betty is damaged, consumed by darkness. As the truth
about her past, and her nature, emerges, it threatens to consume
Laure too. Originally published in 1961, this gripping
psychological thriller caused a sensation and inspired a film
adaptation by Claude Chabrol. 'Dark, disturbing ... Simenon
discovered something fundamental about the soul' Guardian
The first annual omnibus edition in the new Penguin Inspector
Maigret series, comprising four titles from the series so far:
Pietr the Latvian, The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien, The Carter of
La Providence and The Grand Banks Cafe. Additional material
includes the original French first edition covers, art directed by
Georges Simenon himself. Penguin is publishing the entire series of
Maigret novels. 'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray 'One
of the greatest writers of the twentieth century ...Simenon was
unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked
by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories'
Guardian 'A supreme writer ...unforgettable vividness' Independent
'Quite simply a masterpiece' John Banville 'I've just found a
stranger in my house. In a bed on the second floor. He was dying
when I got there. You're going to have to deal with it' Hector
Loursat has been a drunken recluse since his wife left him eighteen
years ago. Shut away in his dilapidated mansion in the small town
of Moulins, he barely speaks to his daughter. But when the sound of
a gunshot penetrates the padded walls of his study one night, and
he discovers a body, Loursat is forced to act. No longer able to
ignore the world, he determines to get to the truth of what
happened, and save an innocent life.
'A unique teller of tales ... What interested Simenon was the
average man losing control of his own fate' Observer 'She was
beautiful, full of vitality, and he was sixteen years older, a
dusty, lonely bookseller whose only passion in life was collecting
stamps.' Jonas is used to his young wife disappearing. Everyone in
the town knows that she goes off with other men. This time,
however, he tells a small lie to protect her, saying she is
visiting a school friend. It is a lie, however, that eats into him
like an illness, provoking hostility and resentment of this timid
little Russian-Jewish bookseller, who always thought he had been
accepted. As suspicion mounts, his true, terrifying isolation is
revealed.
A gripping new translation of the iconic short story collection
featuring Simenon's celebrated literary detective 'The truth was,
Maigret knew nothing! Maigret felt. Maigret was sure he was right,
would have bet his life on it. But in vain he'd turned the problem
over a hundred times in his head, in vain he'd had every taxi
driver in Paris questioned' Written and published in journals
during the Second World War, these seventeen short stories distil
the atmosphere, themes and psychological intensity that make
Simenon's famous detective series so compelling. Translated by
Howard Curtis and Ros Schwartz 'Not just the world's bestselling
detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he
exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the
melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor' Boyd Tonkin,
Times
The first novel which appeared in Georges Simenon's famous Maigret
series, in a gripping new translation by David Bellos. Not that he
looked like a cartoon policeman. He didn't have a moustache and he
didn't wear heavy boots. His clothes were well cut and made of
fairly light worsted. He shaved every day and looked after his
hands. But his frame was proletarian. He was a big, bony man. His
firm muscles filled out his jacket and quickly pulled all his
trousers out of shape. He had a way of imposing himself just by
standing there. His assertive presence had often irked many of his
own colleagues. In Simenon's first novel featuring Maigret, the
laconic detective is taken from grimy bars to luxury hotels as he
traces the true identity of Pietr the Latvian. This novel has been
published in previous translations as The Case of Peter the Lett
and Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett. 'Compelling, remorseless,
brilliant' John Gray 'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth
century' Guardian
|
The Venice Train (Paperback)
Georges Simenon; Translated by Ros Schwartz
|
R275
R222
Discovery Miles 2 220
Save R53 (19%)
|
Ships in 9 - 15 working days
|
'There were some weeks that were painful, nerve-racking. At the
office or at home, in the middle of a meal, he would suddenly find
his forehead bathed in sweat, a tightness in his chest, and at
those times, feeling everyone's eyes on him was unbearable.' During
a chance meeting on the train from Venice to Paris, a stranger asks
Justin Calmar to deliver a briefcase for him to an address in
Switzerland. Soon this ordinary family man will become hopelessly,
fatally, ensnared in a world of guilt, lies and paranoia.
Originally published in 1965, shortly after Simenon moved into the
new home he had built in Epalinges, Switzerland, this chilling
novel is a powerful exploration of the fragility of the human
psyche.
This new selection of stories featuring Inspector Maigret - three
of which are published in English for the first time - takes the
detective from a mysterious death in a Cannes hotel to a love
triangle in the Loire countryside and a bitter rivalry within a
Parisian family. Written during the Second World War, just a few
years after Simenon had published what was intended to be his last
novel featuring Inspector Maigret, these tales of human frailty and
deceit distil the atmosphere, themes and psychological intensity
that make Simenon's famous detective series so compelling.
Translated by Ros Schwartz 'Not just the world's bestselling
detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he
exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the
melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor' Boyd Tonkin,
Times
'The father of contemporary European detective fiction' Ann Cleeves
'You see, I mainly work at night. I've ended up getting to know
everybody. They're used to me in Pigalle, I exchange a few words
with this person or that person. I go into the bars and cabarets
where they give me a quarter bottle of Vichy without waiting for me
to order anything.' An anonymous tip-off regarding the death of a
restaurant owner sends Maigret into the world of Parisian
nightlife, a notorious criminal gang and a man known as 'the Flea'.
This novel has been pubished in a previous translation as Maigret
and the Flea. 'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth
century' Guardian
'The father of contemporary European detective fiction' Ann Cleeves
'Maigret had never been comfortable in certain circles, among the
wealthy bourgeoisie where he felt clumsy and awkward ... Built like
a labourer, Oscar Chabut had hauled himself up into this little
world through sheer hard work and, to convince himself that he was
accepted, he felt the need to sleep with most of the women.' When a
wealthy wine merchant is shot in a Paris street, Maigret must
investigate a long list of the ruthless businessman's enemies
before he can get to the sad truth of the affair. 'One of the
greatest writers of the twentieth century' Guardian
'One of Simenon's darkest novels' Le Monde On a foggy winter's
evening in Dieppe, after the arrival of the daily ferry from
England, a railway signalman habitually scrutinizes the port from
his tiny, isolated cabin. When a scuffle on the quayside catches
his eye, he is drawn to the scene of a brutal murder and his once
quiet life changes forever. A mere observer at first, he soon finds
himself fishing a briefcase from the water and in doing so he
enters a feverish and secret chase. As the murderer and witness
stalk and spy on each other, they gain an increasingly profound yet
tacit understanding of each other until the witness becomes an
accomplice. Written in 1933, soon after the successful launch of
the Inspector Maigret novels, this haunting, atmospheric novel soon
became a classic and the inspiration for several film and TV
adaptations.
'The father of contemporary European detective fiction' Ann Cleeves
A man picked up for wandering in obvious distress among the cars
and buses on the Grands Boulevards. Questioned in French, he
remains mute . . . A madman? In Maigret's office, he is searched.
His suit is new, his underwear is new, his shoes are new. All
identifying labels have been removed. No identification papers. No
wallet. Five crisp thousand-franc bills have been slipped into one
of his pockets. A distressed man is found wandering the streets of
Paris, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. The answers
lead Maigret to a small harbour town, whose quiet citizens conceal
a poisonous malice. Penguin is publishing the entire series of
Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published
in a previous translation as Death of a Harbour Master.
'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray 'A supreme writer .
. . unforgettable vividness' Independent
'The father of contemporary European detective fiction' Ann Cleeves
'He hadn't seen her arrive. She had stopped on the pavement a few
steps away from him and was peering into the courtyard of the
Police Judiciaire, where the small staff cars were parked. She
ventured as far as the entrance, looked the officer up and down,
then turned round and walked away towards the Pont-Neuf' When an
old lady tells Maigret someone has been moving things in her
apartment, she is dismissed as a fantasist - until a schocking
event proves otherwise. 'One of the greatest writers of the
twentieth century' Guardian
'As you are well aware, we never loved each other in your lifetime.
Both of us pretended.' Simenon explores the complexity of parent
child relationships and the bitterness of things left unsaid in
this stark, confessional piece. Penguin Modern: fifty new books
celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern
Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its
contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from
Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and
George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring;
poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking
us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground
scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.
'The father of contemporary European detective fiction' Ann Cleeves
'A radiant late afternoon. The sunshine almost as thick as syrup in
the quiet streets of the Left Bank . . . there are days like this,
when ordinary life seems heightened, when the people walking down
the street, the trams and cars all seem to exist in a fairy tale.'
A story told by a condemned man leads Maigret to a bar by the Seine
and into the sleazy underside of respectable Parisian life. In the
oppressive heat of summer, a forgotten crime comes to light.
Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new
translations. This novel is a revised translation, previously
published as The Bar on the Seine. 'Compelling, remorseless,
brilliant' John Gray 'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth
century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside,
though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us
obsessively in his stories' Guardian 'A supreme writer . . .
unforgettable vividness' Independent
'The father of contemporary European detective fiction' Ann Cleeves
'Maigret would have found it difficult to formulate an opinion of
him. Intelligent, yes, certainly, and highly so, as far as one
could tell from what lay beneath some of his utterances. Yet
alongside that, there was a naive, rather childish side to him.'
Maigret is savouring a beautiful spring morning in Paris when an
aspiring film-maker draws his attention to a much less inspiring
scene, one where ever-changing loyalties can have tragic
consequences. Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret
novels in new translations. 'His artistry is supreme' John Banville
'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century' Guardian
A new translation of this gripping domestic tragedy, set in
Simenon's very own neighbourhood. One by one the lighted windows
went dark. The silhouette of the dead man could still be seen
through the frosted glass like a Chinese shadow puppet. A taxi
pulled up. It wasn't the public prosecutor yet. A young woman
crossed the courtyard with hurried steps, leaving a whiff of
perfume in her wake. Summoned to the dimly-lit Place des Vosges one
night, where he sees shadowy figures at apartment windows, Maigret
uncovers a tragic story of desperate lives, unhappy families,
addiction and a terrible, fatal greed. Penguin is publishing the
entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has
been published in previous translations as Maigret Mystified and
The Shadow in the Courtyard. 'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant'
John Gray 'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . .
. Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the
ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in
his stories' Guardian
|
|