Georges Simenon

A Belgian-born French detective writer. He is not limited to detective stories, but is active in a wide range of fields, including psychological novels, pure literature, and popular literature. He is the creator of the famous detective, Inspector Maigret. He started writing at the age of six, and even after immigrating to Paris in 1922, he was an astonishingly prolific writer who quickly wrote 300 long novels at a pace of 80 pages a day. After publishing "Hôtel de la Loire," in which Inspector Maigret first appears, in 1931, he wrote 18 Maigret novels in succession, at a rate of about one per month. This includes "The Head of a Certain Man" (1931, also known as "A Night in Montparnasse"), which is considered his early masterpiece. After that, the author grew tired of the Maigret novels and wrote other crime novels and psychological novels for a while, but during that time the Maigret novels gained a worldwide reputation, so he started writing them again in the 1940s, and by 1972 he had written 112 novels.

Simenon's works are not full-scale detective stories, but are heavily influenced by psychology, focusing on crime and punishment and conscience, and many consider him a writer of psychological crime novels. "The Snow Was Dirty" (1948) is one of his fine works in this respect. It is also important to note that the Maigret stories, by depicting the development of the investigation from the police's perspective, have influenced the police investigation novels that developed later. Since around 1973, Simenon has hardly been writing due to illness.

[Kaji Tatsuo]

"Simenon and Inspector Maigret" by G. Henry, translated by Shigeo Okeya (1980, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)" ▽ "The Snow Was Dirty" translated by Hidehiko Miwa (Hayakawa Bunko) ▽ "The Inspector Maigret series, translated by Ryozo Nagashima et al., all 50 volumes (1976-80, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ベルギー生まれのフランスの推理作家。推理ものに限らず、心理小説、純文学、大衆文学など、活躍の幅は広い。名探偵メグレMaigret警部の創作者。6歳のころから創作を始め、1922年にパリに移民してからのちも、1日80ページのテンポで、たちまちのうちに300編の長編を書き上げたという驚異的多作家である。31年、メグレ警部が最初に現れた『ロアール館』を発表後、ほぼ1か月に1冊の割合で立て続けに18冊のメグレものを書いた。このなかには、彼の初期の傑作とされる『或(あ)る男の首』（1931。別名『モンパルナスの夜』）も含まれる。その後、作者はメグレものに飽きて、しばらくは他の犯罪小説や心理小説などを書いたが、この間にメグレものが世界的評判を得るに至り、40年代からはふたたびこの執筆を始め、72年までに112編にも達している。

　シムノンの作品は本格推理ではなく、罪と罰や、良心などを中心に据えた心理ものの色が濃いので、彼を犯罪心理小説作家だとする意見も多い。『雪は汚れていた』（1948）はそういった面での佳作の一つである。メグレものは、警察側からの捜査展開を描くことによって、その後発達した警察捜査小説に影響を与えていることも見逃せない。73年ごろから、シムノンは病気を理由にほとんど創作活動を行っていない。

［梶　龍雄］

『G・アンリ著、桶谷繁雄訳『シムノンとメグレ警視』（1980・河出書房新社）』▽『三輪秀彦訳『雪は汚れていた』（ハヤカワ文庫）』▽『長島良三他訳『メグレ警視シリーズ』全50冊（1976～80・河出書房新社）』

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