Still from the 2007 Hungarian film based on the novel starring Miroslav Krobot
"At
the time, you think they are hours like any others. Only with hindsight
do you realize how exceptional they were and then you do your damnedest
to reconstruct the missing thread, to piece together the isolated
minutes."
The above serves as the opening sentence for this
searing Simenon psychological thriller, a tale of murder where the main
character, Maloin, peers out from his perch up in the glass-walled cabin
where he's been working the night shift as a signalman for nearly
thirty years at the docks and ferry terminal in the town of Dieppe in
Northern France, across the channel from England.
One winter
night proves to be a life-changer. Shortly after midnight, Maloin looks
down from his station and sees a sequence of events unfold, beginning
with the arrival of the ferry from England. Simenon, forever a master of
his craft, provides all the telling details so that we, as readers, can
live through those events alongside Maloin.
A tall, thin man in
a beige raincoat, standing at the ferry's bow, deftly throws a small
suitcase to another man wearing a grey overcoat, a grey felt hat, and
kidskin gloves, all while smoking a cigarette. The throw is described "as dazzling in its precision as a piece of acrobatics." When the tall
man finally disembarks from the ferry, he strides over to the other man.
They shake hands and walk off together. Maloin recognizes that these
two men are obviously in cahoots.
Hours later, things reach
their climax: the tall, thin man and the man with the grey felt hat
return and stand together in the darkest, most deserted spot at the edge
of the dock. Suddenly, the tall man, now holding the suitcase in his
left hand, strikes his partner in the face with something hard in his
right hand. The blow proves fatal, causing his partner to fall into the
water. But before he does, something unexpected occurs: the victim
manages to grab the small suitcase from the thin man, which then plunges
and sinks along with him. The thin man bends over the water for a
moment but then quickly hastens away.
What does Maloin do?
Simenon writes, "it wasn't until several days later that Maloin wondered
why he hadn't called for help. The fact was, he just hadn't thought of
it. When you imagine something dramatic, you think you'll do this or
that. But when you're there, it's different."
Time passes.
The tall, thin man in the beige raincoat is a long way away; the docks
are completely deserted. After much brooding and pacing back and forth,
Maloin makes his decision: now that it's low tide and the water will be
no deeper than ten feet, he climbs down, takes off his jacket and shoes,
and dives into the water. Minutes later, Maloin is back in his cabin.
He opens the suitcase. An incredible sum of money! When morning finally
arrives, Maloin locks the suitcase away his own little cupboard (each of
the three signalmen has his own cupboard) and climbs down the ladder
and begins his walk home. Thus ends Chapter One.
What would huge
stacks of cash mean to Maloin and his family? After all, Henriette, his
teenage daughter, must work as a drudge, a lowly maid in the home of the
town's butcher. And his younger son, Ernest, a mere schoolboy, but what
does the future hold for someone coming from such a poor family? If all
this isn't enough, there's his damn well-to-do brother-in-law who has
always looked down on him. Lastly, and most importantly, there's his
wife (played by Tilda Swinton in the 2007 film). What a difference money
would make.
The Man from London is a dark gem, among the
finest of the author's non-Inspector Maigret "hard novels," the type of novel where
Simenon places his main character in a crisis that pushes him or her
(usually a him) to the edge. And what gives The Man from London a
special depth is the way Simenon occasionally shifts away from Maloin
to focus on other key characters in a drama that builds in suspense
chapter by chapter. What a gripping saga. I can assure you, once you start
reading, you'll find it nearly impossible to stop.
The master at his desk - Georges Simenon (1903-1989). The Man from London originally published in 1934, when the great author was age thirty-one. Amazing accomplishment.
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