Pietr the Latvian: Inspector Maigret #1

Pietr the Latvian: Inspector Maigret #1

by Georges Simenon (Author), David Bellos (Translator), David Bellos (Translator), Georges Simenon (Author)

Synopsis

The first novel which appeared in Georges Simenon's famous Maigret series, in a gripping new translation by David Bellos. Inevitably Maigret was a hostile presence in the Majestic. He constituted a kind of foreign body that the hotel's atmosphere could not assimilate. 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. Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. 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 . . . 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

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 176
Edition: First British Edition
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Published: 07 Nov 2013

ISBN 10: 0141392738
ISBN 13: 9780141392738

Media Reviews
Praise for Georges Simenon

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. --The Guardian

These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself. --The Washington Post

Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals. --People

I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov. --William Faulkner

The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature. --Andr Gide

A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness. --The Independent (London)

Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales. --The Observer (London)

Compelling, remorseless, brilliant. --John Gray

A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable--lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates. --Muriel Spark

A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it. --Peter Ackroyd

Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century. --John Banville

Author Bio
Georges Simenon was born in Liege, Belgium, in 1903. Best known in Britain as the author of the Maigret books, his prolific output of over 400 novels and short stories have made him a household name in continental Europe. He died in 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he had lived for the latter part of his life. David Bellos is Director of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication at Princeton University and has won many awards for his translations including the Man Booker International Translator's Award (2005). He is the author of Is that a Fish in your Ear: The Amazing Adventure of Translation.