THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE TRAINS GO BY

by Georges Simenon ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 29, 1946

No link missed in the disintegrative processes makes this a precise blueprint of mental and moral collapse, as Simenon portrays the results of shock on a respectable Dutch bourgeois. Kees Popinga learns his employer is decamping to escape the ruin of his ship chandlery and immediately disassociates himself with all his previous life. He plans to take his boss' mistress, is angered by her taunts, and does not learn he has killed her until he gets to Paris. There he begins to delight in the duel of wits that keeps him from being caught, accepts the protection of a dope peddler's mistress, but almost murders her. The ensuing hunt lures him to bait the police and in remaining unrecognized his success feeds his ego and his superiority. A chance meeting robs him of his financial freedom, sends him looking for a disguise, and lands him in a mental asylum where he is content to stay...Simenon-ized characterization and portraiture that is acceptable as usual.

Pub Date: April 29, 1946

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Reynal & Hitchcock

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1946

Categories: FICTION