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The Confessional
This is straight fiction Simenon, in a masterful unwrapping of a sixteen-year-old boy from the long half-sleep of childhood. Andre Bar would rather not hear, but each of his parents insists on telling him one side of their dismal but continuing marriage. Coming just as he's begun to fall in love for the first time and wants to believe in the security of simply motivated affection, the disclosure is particularly unwelcome; he thrusts it away, preserving some breathing space for himself and his very honest, likeable girl. A short, affecting psychological study developed entirely in terms of Andre's reactions.
(Kirkus review)
(Kirkus review)
155 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1966
2 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Georges Simenon
2,738 books2,294 followersGeorges Joseph Christian Simenon (1903 – 1989) was a Belgian writer. A prolific author who published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, Simenon is best known as the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret.
Although he never resided in Belgium after 1922, he remained a Belgian citizen throughout his life.
Simenon was one of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century, capable of writing 60 to 80 pages per day. His oeuvre includes nearly 200 novels, over 150 novellas, several autobiographical works, numerous articles, and scores of pulp novels written under more than two dozen pseudonyms. Altogether, about 550 million copies of his works have been printed.
He is best known, however, for his 75 novels and 28 short stories featuring Commissaire Maigret. The first novel in the series, Pietr-le-Letton, appeared in 1931; the last one, Maigret et M. Charles, was published in 1972. The Maigret novels were translated into all major languages and several of them were turned into films and radio plays. Two television series (1960-63 and 1992-93) have been made in Great Britain.
During his "American" period, Simenon reached the height of his creative powers, and several novels of those years were inspired by the context in which they were written (Trois chambres à Manhattan (1946), Maigret à New York (1947), Maigret se fâche (1947)).
Simenon also wrote a large number of "psychological novels", such as La neige était sale (1948) or Le fils (1957), as well as several autobiographical works, in particular Je me souviens (1945), Pedigree (1948), Mémoires intimes (1981).
In 1966, Simenon was given the MWA's highest honor, the Grand Master Award.
In 2005 he was nominated for the title of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian). In the Flemish version he ended 77th place. In the Walloon version he ended 10th place.
Although he never resided in Belgium after 1922, he remained a Belgian citizen throughout his life.
Simenon was one of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century, capable of writing 60 to 80 pages per day. His oeuvre includes nearly 200 novels, over 150 novellas, several autobiographical works, numerous articles, and scores of pulp novels written under more than two dozen pseudonyms. Altogether, about 550 million copies of his works have been printed.
He is best known, however, for his 75 novels and 28 short stories featuring Commissaire Maigret. The first novel in the series, Pietr-le-Letton, appeared in 1931; the last one, Maigret et M. Charles, was published in 1972. The Maigret novels were translated into all major languages and several of them were turned into films and radio plays. Two television series (1960-63 and 1992-93) have been made in Great Britain.
During his "American" period, Simenon reached the height of his creative powers, and several novels of those years were inspired by the context in which they were written (Trois chambres à Manhattan (1946), Maigret à New York (1947), Maigret se fâche (1947)).
Simenon also wrote a large number of "psychological novels", such as La neige était sale (1948) or Le fils (1957), as well as several autobiographical works, in particular Je me souviens (1945), Pedigree (1948), Mémoires intimes (1981).
In 1966, Simenon was given the MWA's highest honor, the Grand Master Award.
In 2005 he was nominated for the title of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian). In the Flemish version he ended 77th place. In the Walloon version he ended 10th place.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 31, 2012
The Confessional was first published as Le Confessionnel in 1966, and was translated by Jean Stewart. André Bar has problem parents. As he slowly builds up a relationship with Francine, a girl he likes at school, he becomes aware of the dysfunctional family he has been born into. Francine’s family is quite different. Her mother and father have a warm, open relationship, into which their daughter fits quite intimately. They all trust one another. But in André’s family distrust is the norm. It’s a harsh lesson for André: his mother feels unattractive, and clings to her fleeing physical charms by cultivating a bohemian friend whom she doesn’t really like, and by having random affairs. André’s father can show her compassion, but not tenderness. Both parents turn to their son to justify their behaviour, and to make him their ally in this misalliance. To make matters worse, André finds his mother has taken to drink to relieve her unhappiness. André fights for his freedom to pursue his own life, conduct his own blossoming relationships, while his parents unavailingly try to justify their failure to have a viable relationship. André has become their confessional, not just their son. This sketch is unresolved, ending as it had begun, the situation of the Bar family unchanged. But it’s a sketch without drama, penetrating and acute in its analysis but not involving.
August 4, 2016
People are incomplete puzzles.
October 29, 2025
I have recently read The Neighbours by Simenon and Maigret and the Nahour Case, it was interesting to see the connections to this little book. In The Neighbours the family of three includes a boy in his final years of school who is self contained, similar to The Confessional. In the Nahour Case Nahour is a Lebanese gambler who appears briefly in this book also.
The Confessional refers to Andre the son of a couple who are going through marital difficulties. The husband and wife separately come to speak to their son about their marriage and Andre in turn bares his soul to his new girlfriend. The wife is having affairs as she is bored being the wife of a dull dentist. Andre is preparing for his exams and feels ill prepared to act as his parents’ confessional, rather he would like to get on with his own life.
A small slow paced Roman durs from Simenon where a young man is put in an awkward position by his parents.
The Confessional refers to Andre the son of a couple who are going through marital difficulties. The husband and wife separately come to speak to their son about their marriage and Andre in turn bares his soul to his new girlfriend. The wife is having affairs as she is bored being the wife of a dull dentist. Andre is preparing for his exams and feels ill prepared to act as his parents’ confessional, rather he would like to get on with his own life.
A small slow paced Roman durs from Simenon where a young man is put in an awkward position by his parents.
November 22, 2022
He felt Francine's hand seeking his and pressing the tips of his fingers.
"Poor André!"
But he did not want pity.
"Why poor André?"
She retreated swiftly, withdrawing her hand and stammering:
"I don't know. I was trying to put myself in your place."
As if you could put yourself in anyone's place.
Pretty cynical for a sixteen and a half year-old, that André. But then he is the eponymous confessional. It is his parents who take turns confessing to him. You know, an unhappy family. It is a situation, more than a sin, that they are confessing.
Yet, situations have ancestry. Choices are made, by the generations. How else to explain André's residual numbing. He'll have to deal with it all, and Francine, perhaps. But first he'll have to pass that chemistry exam. Put yourself in his place.
"Poor André!"
But he did not want pity.
"Why poor André?"
She retreated swiftly, withdrawing her hand and stammering:
"I don't know. I was trying to put myself in your place."
As if you could put yourself in anyone's place.
Pretty cynical for a sixteen and a half year-old, that André. But then he is the eponymous confessional. It is his parents who take turns confessing to him. You know, an unhappy family. It is a situation, more than a sin, that they are confessing.
Yet, situations have ancestry. Choices are made, by the generations. How else to explain André's residual numbing. He'll have to deal with it all, and Francine, perhaps. But first he'll have to pass that chemistry exam. Put yourself in his place.
May 4, 2025
Un couple malade sous les yeux de leur fils.
Dans ce confessionnal, la chambre du fils – principalement, père et mère viennent plaider leur cause sans même trop savoir comment. Une valse hésitante et gênée devant un ado solitaire qui ne rêve que de s’échapper de ce qui ne le concerne pas et partir retrouver Francine, manger des glaces et préparer son bac.
Un roman fin à l’ambiance lourde
https://www.noid.ch/le-confessionnal/
Dans ce confessionnal, la chambre du fils – principalement, père et mère viennent plaider leur cause sans même trop savoir comment. Une valse hésitante et gênée devant un ado solitaire qui ne rêve que de s’échapper de ce qui ne le concerne pas et partir retrouver Francine, manger des glaces et préparer son bac.
Un roman fin à l’ambiance lourde
https://www.noid.ch/le-confessionnal/
December 13, 2022
I enjoyed this novel, a testimony to family relationships full of unspoken words, secrets and uncommunicated expectations
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November 23, 2023So this is the only of the novels I happened to have come across/gathered in my time by Simenon that was not one of the Maigret mysteries. This is a family novel or perhaps a kind of coming of age novel (it’s hard to call it exactly this because the whole of it takes place in a few weeks), that was published in 1966. Because of a few factors, it’s very different from the Maigret novels. One, obviously, it’s not a mystery. There’s a small amount of tension that grows throughout the novel, but it’s subtle and while the tension is real and painful in its own right, that smallness and difference from the mysteries is real. And of course, as no one gets murdered in this novel, the tension is less explosive. The Maigret novels are designed to unlock the hidden clues mysteries have once we’re upon them. Maigret does not really care what motivates killers outside of how those motivations are part of a set of knowable facts that help him to solve the crimes.
Two, this novel is much more recent than the first six or so of the novels in this review. Simenon was 28 or so when the first of the novels were published, and he’s in his 60s for this one. That difference comes through.
Three, this novel is about a family and especially about youth.
So this novel is about Andre Bar, a young student living in Nice and studying for his matriculation exams. They are coming up in a few weeks, and while he’s studying a lot, he’s also recently become acquainted with Francine, the daughter of a couple who are friends with his father (both his father and her father are doctors). Francine and Andre go on a few dates and what becomes clear is that Andre has a normal set of problems, and is more or less handling them ok, but they are growing in their ways and he’s being asked to take on too much at home. The problem are large, by an objective accounting, and his father is mostly able to keep them from Andre, but what is occurring is that his mother is asking Andre to take on a lot of the stress she’s feeling personally, and be the confessional of the title of the novel, and his father, while trying to shield Andre from this, is doing the same thing himself. This is a smallish and conservative take on a lot of contemporary novels, where the author might feel the need to artificially inject additional stress or drama into the situation, which might make it more exciting, but would also make it more extraordinary. This is a decidedly ordinary story.
Two, this novel is much more recent than the first six or so of the novels in this review. Simenon was 28 or so when the first of the novels were published, and he’s in his 60s for this one. That difference comes through.
Three, this novel is about a family and especially about youth.
So this novel is about Andre Bar, a young student living in Nice and studying for his matriculation exams. They are coming up in a few weeks, and while he’s studying a lot, he’s also recently become acquainted with Francine, the daughter of a couple who are friends with his father (both his father and her father are doctors). Francine and Andre go on a few dates and what becomes clear is that Andre has a normal set of problems, and is more or less handling them ok, but they are growing in their ways and he’s being asked to take on too much at home. The problem are large, by an objective accounting, and his father is mostly able to keep them from Andre, but what is occurring is that his mother is asking Andre to take on a lot of the stress she’s feeling personally, and be the confessional of the title of the novel, and his father, while trying to shield Andre from this, is doing the same thing himself. This is a smallish and conservative take on a lot of contemporary novels, where the author might feel the need to artificially inject additional stress or drama into the situation, which might make it more exciting, but would also make it more extraordinary. This is a decidedly ordinary story.
July 4, 2020
Simenon schetst hoe de 16-jarige André Bar heen en weer geslingerd wordt in zijn solidariteit met zijn vader en zijn moeder, die een huwelijkscrisis doormaken. Zijn ouders gaan om en om bij hem 'te biecht' en zo komt hij steeds meer te weten - meer dan hem lief is- over hun huwelijk en over hun beider verwachtingen en teleurstellingen. De verwarrende emoties die deze ontboezemingen bij hem teweegbrengen maken het moelijk voor hem om onbekommerd te genieten van zijn nieuwe vriendschap met Francine Boisdieu, de dochter van een bevriend echtpaar.
Simenon laat in dit boek zien hoezeer onze levens bepaald worden door onze ouders, door de relaties tussen ouder en kind en tussen ouders onderling. De verschillen tussen de afstandelijke familie Bar en de warme familie Boisdieu lijken wat obligaat, maar overtuigen toch doordat we ze zien door de ogen van André, vanuit de onschuld van het kind dat hij nog is, maar ook vanuit het kritische waarnemingsvermogen van de adolescent die voor het eerst zelf aan een relatie begint. De sympathie van de lezer gaat vanzelfsprekend uit naar deze jongen, die je al het genoegen van een eerste grote liefde gunt, maar het knappe van Simenon is dat hij ook de andere karakters in hun waarde laat, zonder nadrukkelijk partij te kiezen. André kan zijn ouders van alles verwijten, maar naarmate zij hun zoon meer en meer in vertrouwen nemen, krijgen we toch ook steeds meer begrip voor hun frustraties en hun onvolkomenheden, en gaan we langzaam inzien dat de huwelijkscrisis vooral zijn oorzaak vindt in het onvermogen van beide echtelieden om aan elkaars verwachtingen te voldoen.
Simenon laat in dit boek zien hoezeer onze levens bepaald worden door onze ouders, door de relaties tussen ouder en kind en tussen ouders onderling. De verschillen tussen de afstandelijke familie Bar en de warme familie Boisdieu lijken wat obligaat, maar overtuigen toch doordat we ze zien door de ogen van André, vanuit de onschuld van het kind dat hij nog is, maar ook vanuit het kritische waarnemingsvermogen van de adolescent die voor het eerst zelf aan een relatie begint. De sympathie van de lezer gaat vanzelfsprekend uit naar deze jongen, die je al het genoegen van een eerste grote liefde gunt, maar het knappe van Simenon is dat hij ook de andere karakters in hun waarde laat, zonder nadrukkelijk partij te kiezen. André kan zijn ouders van alles verwijten, maar naarmate zij hun zoon meer en meer in vertrouwen nemen, krijgen we toch ook steeds meer begrip voor hun frustraties en hun onvolkomenheden, en gaan we langzaam inzien dat de huwelijkscrisis vooral zijn oorzaak vindt in het onvermogen van beide echtelieden om aan elkaars verwachtingen te voldoen.
April 18, 2009
Just as a boy of about 16 begins to date a girl, he is suddenly forced to learn all about his parents' pasts. It's a very good portrait of a boy, a girl, and their emerging friendship amidst a series of unpleasant revelations. I give it a 3.75! Why can't we have stars with decimals?
April 18, 2017
Every master has his off day, and I am afraid that Simenon has left me feeling very dissatisfied with this book. It concerns a 16-year-old boy who discovers that his mother is having an affair, and it charts his awakening about the truth behind his parents' long and unsatisfactory relationship. I can't say, however, that there were any terribly acute insights here, and I wondered what the real purpose of the book was. Did this document some trauma in Simenon's own life? One must conjecture. But I can't really recommend this to anyone but the most devout Simenon fan.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews