688 Georges Simenon

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Belgian-born French writer Georges Simenon (1903-1989) was astonishing for his literary ambition and output. The author of something like 400 novels, which he wrote in 7-10 day bursts (after checking with his physician beforehand to ensure that he could handle the strain), he's perhaps best known for his creation of Chief Inspector Jules Maigret, who appeared in 75 novels or so. In this episode, Jacke takes a look at Simenon's childhood and relationship with parents, his marriages and affairs (he once claimed to have slept with ten thousand women), and the approach to narrative and prose that continues to delight readers and critics alike. Additional listening: 350 Mystery! (with Jonah Lehrer) 140 Pulp Fiction and the Hardboiled Crime Novel (with Charles Ardai) 420 Honoré de Balzac The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at gabrielruizbernal.com. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglomerate Network and Lit Hub Radio.
0:09.5	Have you ever had the urge to sneak behind the cordoned off areas of a museum?
0:14.7	Or roam the halls after closing time?
0:17.7	The Smithsonian's flagship podcast, Side Door, will sneak you behind the scenes of the world's
0:23.6	largest museum and research complex. Come learn about the ghosts that supposedly walk the museum
0:29.7	halls after dark. How a train robbery gave rise to criminal forensics, why leeches are actually
0:35.8	the coolest thing ever, and how to get away with murder in the
0:39.1	Arctic. Maybe. You'll discover stories of history, science, art, and culture you won't find in a
0:45.6	display case. You can listen to Side Door wherever you get your podcasts, or find us online at sI.edu
0:52.6	slash siddoor.
1:05.1	As a small business owner, my favorite thing about posting a job on LinkedIn is that when I hit send, I clock out and LinkedIn clocks in.
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1:26.3	Go to LinkedIn.com slash agree to post your job for free.
1:27.6	Terms and conditions apply.
1:33.3	Hello, Belgian-born French writer Georges Semenon once said, quote, writing is not a profession, but a vocation of unhappiness. I don't think an artist can ever be
1:39.9	happy. End quote. And yet he embraced this vocation of unhappiness like a desperate man crossing
1:46.6	the Sahara might embrace a bottle of Evian. 200 books of pulp fiction under 16 different
1:52.8	pseudonyms, westerns and adventure books and racy romances or spicy stories, as he called them,
2:00.5	etc. There were also 136 psychological novels
2:04.3	and 83 books featuring the beloved Parisian police inspector Jules Maghre. All told,
	...

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