Part of Series
La casa del giudice «Cinquantasei, cinquantasette, cinquantotto...» contava Maigret. Non che volesse contare. Gli veniva automatico. Aveva la testa vuota, le palpebre pesanti. «Sessantuno, sessantadue...». Gettò un’occhiata fuori. I vetri del Café Français erano smerigliati... Cécile è morta La pipa che Maigret accese uscendo di casa, in boulevard Richard-Lenoir, gli parve più gustosa del solito. La prima nebbia era una sorpresa piacevole, come la prima neve per i bambini, specialmente perché non era la brutta nebbia giallastra di certe giornate invernali... Firmato Picpus Tre minuti alle cinque. Sull'enorme pianta di Parigi che ricopre buona parte del muro si accende una spia bianca. L'impiegato posa il sandwich che stava mangiando e infila una spina in uno dei mille fori del centralino. Félicie Fu un attimo assolutamente straordinario, e con ogni probabilità tutto durò davvero solo un attimo, come pare accada in quei sogni che ci sembrano invece lunghissimi. A distanza di anni Maigret avrebbe potuto ancora indicare il luogo preciso in cui era successo... L’ispettore Cadavre Maigret si guardava attorno con l’aria ingrugnita e involontariamente sussiegosa di chi è rimasto chiuso per ore e ore senza far niente in uno scompartimento ferroviario. Come sempre accade, assai prima che il treno rallentasse per entrare in stazione, i viaggiatori uscivano ciascuno dalla sua nicchia infagottati nei loro cappotti...
Author
Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (1903 – 1989) was a Belgian writer. A prolific author who published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, Simenon is best known as the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret. Although he never resided in Belgium after 1922, he remained a Belgian citizen throughout his life. Simenon was one of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century, capable of writing 60 to 80 pages per day. His oeuvre includes nearly 200 novels, over 150 novellas, several autobiographical works, numerous articles, and scores of pulp novels written under more than two dozen pseudonyms. Altogether, about 550 million copies of his works have been printed. He is best known, however, for his 75 novels and 28 short stories featuring Commissaire Maigret. The first novel in the series, Pietr-le-Letton, appeared in 1931; the last one, Maigret et M. Charles, was published in 1972. The Maigret novels were translated into all major languages and several of them were turned into films and radio plays. Two television series (1960-63 and 1992-93) have been made in Great Britain. During his "American" period, Simenon reached the height of his creative powers, and several novels of those years were inspired by the context in which they were written (Trois chambres à Manhattan (1946), Maigret à New York (1947), Maigret se fâche (1947)). Simenon also wrote a large number of "psychological novels", such as La neige était sale (1948) or Le fils (1957), as well as several autobiographical works, in particular Je me souviens (1945), Pedigree (1948), Mémoires intimes (1981). In 1966, Simenon was given the MWA's highest honor, the Grand Master Award. In 2005 he was nominated for the title of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian). In the Flemish version he ended 77th place. In the Walloon version he ended 10th place.
