the twilight of a superstar

It's in Carmel, California, that Simenon wrote this novel, in January 1950, one of the few that was preceded by a small preface. Not for fear of a possible trial but for the sake of the truth, our dear George warns there indeed the reader that the main character of this book is a product of his imagination and not a romantic transposition Raimu, Michel Simon, WC Fields or Charlie Chaplin. It must be said that the portrait we brush this novel a star approaching their sixties is not always the most flattering! Said preface was therefore necessary, otherwise some would not have failed to see in these "green shutters" a key to the novel, it is not.

Here we are in Paris after the war. Emile Maugin is a sacred monster of cinema and theater. At 59, he was at the height of his glory. Three times married his third wife, Alice, is a former stand-in which he endorsed the child. Fortune, fame consideration: Maugin has the appearance of social success. Yet he is not happy. Tyrannical and splenetic, he drinks like a fish and turning around in his life like a wild beast in its cage. For some time, he also feels tired. As a precaution, he visits his doctor. The verdict is final. The heart is about to let go. Maugin not last much longer ...

Simenon was an absolute master of intrigue. Some of his novels are pure wonders in this regard. Yet he also wrote many books where the plot is minimal, even minimalist. In fact, I tend to think that his work has continued to strive for ever greater refinement, not only in form but also in substance. With this novel one, it is still in the blueprint that will reach in the late 60s and early 70s with novels like "glass cage", "November", "Train Venice "or" The rich man, "but we feel already the least expensive Georges wants to tell us a story here that we paint a picture, we chew character and somehow we psychoanalyze. No need, therefore, to hope this book breathless adventures or any police mechanical ...

Alcoholism has provided Simenon the subject of numerous novels as the unsung "Antoine and Julie" or the beautiful "Betty". We find this theme here, watermark, but it is only one theme among others -the old age, death, social contrast, marital relationships, money, the lack of communication, the desire to escape -; suddenly, it is as if, through the pangs Maugin, Simenon realized a synthesis of his romantic obsessions and my faith is a synthesis quite successful. For me, anyway, Emile Maugin fits into the small club of the great Simenon characters. Throughout the book, page after page, we see the tremendous personality crack this big mouth and appear under the corporate shell that cracks, "naked man" (to use the expression dear to Simenon), a " naked man "whose heart begins to fail, and seeth his death approaching, turns on his life, contemplate the path he has traveled and wonders about himself ...