The Shadow in the Courtyard
1932 novel by Georges Simenon
| Author | Georges Simenon |
|---|---|
| Original title | French: L'Ombre chinoise |
| Language | French |
| Series | Inspector Jules Maigret |
| Genre | Detective fiction, Crime fiction |
| Publisher | Fayard |
Publication date | 1932 |
| Publication place | Belgium |
Published in English | 1934 |
| Media type | |
| Preceded by | Guinguette by the Seine |
| Followed by | Maigret Goes Home |
The Shadow in the Courtyard (other English-language titles are Maigret Mystified and The Shadow Puppet; French: L'Ombre chinoise) is a detective novel by Belgian writer Georges Simenon, featuring his character inspector Jules Maigret. The novel was written in Antibes in December 1931 and was published a month later, in January 1932, by the Parisian publishing house Fayard.[1]
Translations
The book has been translated three times into English: in 1934 by Anthony Abbot as The Shadow in the Courtyard , in 1964 as Maigret Mystified by Jean Stewart, and in 2015 by Ros Schwartz as The Shadow Puppet.[2]
The first German translation by Milo Dor and Reinhard Federmann was published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch in 1959. The new translation by Claus Sprick was published by Diogenes Verlag in 1982.[3]
Adaptations
The novel has been adapted five times for film and television: in Italian in 2004 as L'ombra cinese, with Sergio Castellitto in the main role and in 1966 as L'ombra cinese, with Gino Cervi in the lead role;[4][5] in French in 2004 as L'ombre chinoise, with Bruno Cremer in the main role and in 1969 as L'Ombre chinoise with Jean Richard in the lead role;[6][7] in English in 1961 as Shadow Play, with Rupert Davies in the main role.[8][9]
Reception
Anthony Boucher of The New York Times summarized the novel in 1964: "Maigret works against a background of respectable middle-class apartments, a cheap music hall and a sordid hotel in the Place Pigalle, all vividly realized, to solve a safe-robbery-plus-murder that reveals an unusually well-characterized killer".[10]
Bibliography
- Maurice Piron; Michel Lemoine (1983). L'Univers de Simenon, guide des romans et nouvelles (1931-1972) de Georges Simenon. Presses de la Cité. pp. 278–279. ISBN 978-2-258-01152-6. (in French)
References
- ^ Notice bibliographique zu L’ombre chinoise auf der Maigret-Seite von Yves Martina.
- ^ Publication history at trussel.com.; retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ Oliver Hahn: Bibliografie deutschsprachiger Ausgaben. In: Georges-Simenon-Gesellschaft (Hrsg.): Simenon-Jahrbuch 2003. Wehrhahn, Laatzen 2004, ISBN 3-86525-101-3, S. 72.
- ^ Vitali, Alessandra (12 November 2004). "Castellitto diventa Maigret "Come se fosse davvero esistito"". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ Derchi, Andrea; Biggio, Marco (2001). Gino Cervi: attore protagonista del '900. Erga. p. 324. ISBN 9788881632381. OCLC 48108069.
- ^ "Maigret et l'ombre chinoise Champions du monde". Le Monde (in French). 22 May 2004. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ Doniak, Jean-Marc (1998). Les fictions françaises à la télévision: 1945-1990, 15000 œuvres. Dixit. p. 278. ISBN 978-2-906587-88-5. OCLC 293547679.
- ^ "Maigret: Shadow Play". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 23 October 1961. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ Film history at trussel.com.; retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ Boucher, Anthony (27 September 1964). "Criminals At Large". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
External links
Novels portal
- Maigret at trussel.com
- v
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novels
- The Strange Case of Peter the Lett (1931)
- The Crime at Lock 14 (1931)
- The Death of Monsieur Gallet (1931)
- The Crime of Inspector Maigret (1931)
- A Battle of Nerves (1931)
- Maigret and the Yellow Dog (1931)
- Maigret at the Crossroads (1931)
- The Sailors' Rendezvous (1931)
- Maigret at the Gai-Moulin (1931)
- Guinguette by the Seine (1931)
- The Shadow in the Courtyard (1932)
- Maigret Goes Home (1932)
- The Flemish Shop (1932)
- Death of a Harbour Master (1932)
- The Madman of Bergerac (1932)
- Maigret in Exile (1940)
- Maigret and the Hotel Majestic (1942)
- Maigret and the Spinster (1942)
- To Any Lengths (1944)
- Maigret and the Toy Village (1944)
- Maigret in Retirement (1947)
- Maigret in New York (1947)
- A Summer Holiday (1948)
- Maigret's Dead Man (1948)
- Maigret's First Case (1948)
- My Friend Maigret (1949)
- Maigret and the Coroner (1949)
- Maigret and the Old Lady (1950)
- Madame Maigret's Own Case (1950)
- Maigret's Memoirs (1950)
- Inspector Maigret and the Strangled Stripper (1950)
- Maigret and the Burglar's Wife (1951)
- Maigret, Lognon and the Gangsters (1951)
- Maigret's Revolver (1952)
- Maigret and the Man on the Boulevard (1953)
- Maigret's Mistake (1953)
- Maigret Goes to School (1954)
- Maigret and the Headless Corpse (1955)
- Maigret Sets a Trap (1955)
- Maigret's Failure (1956)
- Maigret Has Scruples (1958)
- Maigret and the Lazy Burglar (1961)
- Maigret and the Saturday Caller (1962)
- Maigret and the Dosser (1963)
- Maigret on the Defensive (1964)
- The Patience of Maigret (1965)
- Maigret Hesitates (1968)
- Maigret and the Killer (1969)
- Maigret and the Mad Woman (1970)
- Maigret and the Loner (1971)
- Maigret and Monsieur Charles (1972)
- Les Fiançailles de M. Hire (1933)
- The Night Club (1933)
- Tropic Moon (1933)
- Chit of a Girl (1938)
- The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By (1938)
- Le Bourgmestre de Furnes (1939)
- The Strangers in the House (1940)
- Strange Inheritance (1941)
- La Veuve Couderc (1942)
- Young Cardinaud (1942)
- Act of Passion (1946)
- The Mahé Circle (1946)
- The Couple from Poitiers (1946)
- Pedigree (1948)
- The Bottom of the Bottle (1949)
- Belle (1952)
- Red Lights (1953)
- The Watchmaker of Everton (1954)
- The Little Man from Archangel (1956)
- The Cat (1967)
- The Man on the Bench in the Barn (1968)
- The Prison (1968)
- The Disappearance of Odile (1971)
- The Glass Cage (1971)
- The Man Who Wasn't Maigret (1992 biography)
