Georges Simenon webchat with his son John,post your question
Feb 25, 2020 12:07:00 GMT
nutsberryfarm 🏜 likes this
Post by Carl LaFong on Feb 25, 2020 12:07:00 GMT
www.theguardian.com/books/live/2020/feb/25/georges-simenon-webchat-with-his-son-john-post-your-questions-now
I’m very pleased to say that John Simenon, son of famous Belgian novelist Georges Simenon – the subject of the reading group this past month – will be joining us for a webchat on 28 February at 1pm GMT.
As well as working in the film industry since the 1970s, John has managed the literary estate of his father for more than 25 years. He is the moral rights director of the Georges Simenon estate and has been closely involved with the recent Penguin translation series, which has provided so much pleasure and fruitful discussion for us.
The work of managing such a huge and culturally vital estate sounds fascinating. Simenon’s hundreds of books have been translated into more than 50 languages. “Since I manage his estate and negotiate with publishers and film producers all over the world, I get weekly requests for translations and adaptations of Simenon titles I’d never even heard of,” John has said.
There are also dozens of film, TV and radio adaptations of his stories and John has worked on many of them, including the recent Rowan Atkinson Maigret series. John can also provide insights into his father as a person. He has said, for instance, that he would go for long walks with Georges every day when he was a teenager and that “they gave me a very intuitive knowledge of who he was”.
He has also stated:
My father was an obsédé of life and literature … He refused to camouflage his own weaknesses, magnifying them instead. If he was weak, his characters were weak. If he felt strong, he wrote strong characters. In short, he attempted to create the image of mankind. My father was himself his most compelling character.
John can also provide insight into his father’s most famous creation, Inspector Maigret. “There are two short ways to characterise the Maigret novels,” he has said. “One is to say Maigret does not solve crimes but solves people. And the other is to say his stories are not whodunnits but whydunnits. That is what I would say defines Maigret in a nutshell: his empathy, his interest for other people.”
We’re fortunate that such a unique authority will be able to speak to us. If you have a question you’d like to ask John Simenon, please post it in the comments below now. He will be with us answering from 1pm GMT on Friday 28 February but feel free to get yours in early.
I’m very pleased to say that John Simenon, son of famous Belgian novelist Georges Simenon – the subject of the reading group this past month – will be joining us for a webchat on 28 February at 1pm GMT.
As well as working in the film industry since the 1970s, John has managed the literary estate of his father for more than 25 years. He is the moral rights director of the Georges Simenon estate and has been closely involved with the recent Penguin translation series, which has provided so much pleasure and fruitful discussion for us.
The work of managing such a huge and culturally vital estate sounds fascinating. Simenon’s hundreds of books have been translated into more than 50 languages. “Since I manage his estate and negotiate with publishers and film producers all over the world, I get weekly requests for translations and adaptations of Simenon titles I’d never even heard of,” John has said.
There are also dozens of film, TV and radio adaptations of his stories and John has worked on many of them, including the recent Rowan Atkinson Maigret series. John can also provide insights into his father as a person. He has said, for instance, that he would go for long walks with Georges every day when he was a teenager and that “they gave me a very intuitive knowledge of who he was”.
He has also stated:
My father was an obsédé of life and literature … He refused to camouflage his own weaknesses, magnifying them instead. If he was weak, his characters were weak. If he felt strong, he wrote strong characters. In short, he attempted to create the image of mankind. My father was himself his most compelling character.
John can also provide insight into his father’s most famous creation, Inspector Maigret. “There are two short ways to characterise the Maigret novels,” he has said. “One is to say Maigret does not solve crimes but solves people. And the other is to say his stories are not whodunnits but whydunnits. That is what I would say defines Maigret in a nutshell: his empathy, his interest for other people.”
We’re fortunate that such a unique authority will be able to speak to us. If you have a question you’d like to ask John Simenon, please post it in the comments below now. He will be with us answering from 1pm GMT on Friday 28 February but feel free to get yours in early.
