Volume 25, Number 15 · October 12, 1978
Compulsion
By Julian Symons
The Iron Staircase
by Georges Simenon, translated by Eileen Ellenbogen
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 176 pp., $7.95
The Girl with the Squint
by Georges Simenon, translated by Helen Thomson
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 163 pp., $7.95
The Family Lie
by Georges Simenon, translated by Isabel Quigly
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 146 pp., $7.95
Maigret's Pipe
by Georges Simenon, translated by Jean Stewart
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 320 pp., $8.95
Maigret and the Hotel Majestic
by Georges Simenon, translated by Caroline Hillier
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 174 pp., $7.95
His life is obsessional, far beyond that of most people or most writers. Everything is arranged in advance and happens on time. He is bothered by a pencil out of place in his study, looks for the known reflection of light in a particular place on a piece of furniture, and is disturbed if it has moved. And he withdraws from the outside world into his house and his family, just as within the house he withdraws into his study. His wife D, the three children living at home, what more does one want? The nurse, maids, secretaries in the house are necessary, but they are also an irritant if they intrude at the wrong times. The children are loved, but still he is disturbed 'if they burst in when I'm alone with my wife,…for instance when we're having coffee after lunch.' Food is taken at exact hours, give or take five minutes. D, his wife, has her occupations too, or perhaps they should be called her duties. 'The least slip-up, the least whim, spoils everybody's schedule.'
Review, 3317 words
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