Πεντιγκρή: Μυθιστορηματική αφήγηση των νεανικών χρόνων

by Georges Simenon, Αργυρώ Μακάρωφ (translator), Lucy Sante (foreword)

Tο Πεντιγκρή είναι το πιο μακροσκελές, το πιο εκπληκτικό, το πιο τολμηρό μυθιστόρημα του Ζωρζ Σιμενόν. Είναι το βιβλίο που έχει φτάσει να θεωρείται, ολοένα περισσότερο, ο πυρήνας των σημαντικών επιτευγμάτων του ως χρονικογράφου του σύγχρονου εαυτού και της σύγχρονης κοινωνίας. Στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του 1940, ο Σιμενόν ξεκίνησε να γράφει μια αυτοβιογραφία με θέμα την παιδική του ηλικία στο Βέλγιο. Έδειξε τις πρώτες σελίδες στον Αντρέ Ζιντ, και εκείνος τον προέτρεψε να τις μετατρέψει σε μυθιστόρημα. Το αποτέλεσμα ήταν, σύμφωνα με μεταγενέστερο σχόλιο του ίδιου του Σιμενόν, ένα βιβλίο στο οποίο όλα είναι αληθινά αλλά τίποτα δεν είναι ακριβές. Το Πεντιγκρή ξεκινά στις αρχές του 20ου αιώνα, με την πολιτική αστάθεια και τις τρομοκρατικές επιθέσεις που τον χαρακτηρίζουν, φτάνει ώς το τέλος του Α’ Παγκόσμιου Πολέμου το 1918 και αποτελεί μια εποποιία της καθημερινής ύπαρξης σε όλη της τη συγκεχυμένη, ανολοκλήρωτη ένταση και πυκνότητα, μια ιστορία για την ενηλικίωση ενός πρόωρα αναπτυγμένου και περίεργου αγοριού και για την έλευση του σύγχρονου κόσμου.

Genres: Fiction, Belgium, France, Belgian, Mystery, 20th Century, Noir

680 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Georges 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.

Reviews

[Ubik 2.0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amarcord Liegi

Rispetto agli altri suoi romanzi, dove a Simenon sono sufficienti poche sapienti pennellate per trascinarci nel cuore della narrazione, in questo caso occorre dotarsi di una dose maggiore di pazienza e disponibilità per entrare in sintonia col complesso mondo ricreato sulla pagina dal maestro di Liegi.

Che questo libro richieda un approccio particolare e insolito lo si desume già a prima vista dalla mole stessa del tomo, pressoché il triplo del consueto canone simenoniano, e soprattutto dalla prefazione in cui l’autore, per la prima volta a mia conoscenza, dichiara esplicitamente la natura autobiografica di “Pedigree” (benché in veste di “Romanzo”), spiegando le circostanze che lo hanno indotto a tale scelta.

A partire dalle primissime righe che accompagnano le doglie materne, la narrazione si dipana lungo un arco temporale quasi ventennale in una rigida unità di luogo che non abbandona mai la città natìa e le due rive della Mosa, se non per qualche scampagnata negli immediati dintorni.

Le famiglie paterna e materna che rappresentano i due poli dell’esistenza di Roger (alias Georges), il bambino che cresce all’alba del secolo, sono ambedue numerosissime, popolate da un numero di zii e cugini che è difficile tenere a mente, tanto più che Simenon si impegna a descriverne in dettaglio caratteri e vicende, e lo stesso fa con negozianti, inquilini, conoscenti e poi nomi di piazze e strade, risultandone alla fine più che un romanzo autobiografico una vera e propria ricostruzione meticolosa di un mondo i cui confini sono quelli cittadini e l’altrove è solo vagamente immaginato, sognato o sentito raccontare.

Questa scelta espone la lunga trattazione delle prime due parti del racconto al rischio concreto di prolissità nella successione interminabile di episodi quotidiani e non particolarmente avvincenti, mentre i colpi di scena sono riservati agli eventi della storia; i grandi scioperi dei minatori a inizio secolo, lo scoppio della Guerra con la successiva invasione tedesca, l’emozionante boato della notizia dell’armistizio, scandiscono il tempo con una partecipazione inusuale nei romanzi di Simenon, in genere avulsi dal contesto socio-politico circostante.

Nella terza ed ultima parte, e si parla comunque di quasi 200 pagine, quando l’infanzia di Roger lascia il posto ad un’adolescenza inquieta e ribelle, “Pedigree” prende quota e diventa un pregnante romanzo di formazione dove, sullo sfondo della guerra e dell’occupazione, si assiste a un radicale cambio di registro nella psicologia del protagonista, con le prime esperienze sessuali e le cattive frequentazioni che lo inducono ad abbandonare gli studi e a cercare lavoro, ma prima che si manifestino i segnali del talento che marcherà l’esistenza di Simenon attribuendogli fama imperitura, il romanzo si conclude.

Una curiosità che mi rimane dopo questa lunga cavalcata negli anni è come mai in un racconto così scrupolosamente fedele al passato e alla vita reale, Simenon abbia totalmente omesso dal quadro familiare l’esistenza del fratello Christian, minore di tre anni, arruolato nella Legione Straniera e morto in Indocina l’anno prima della pubblicazione di questo libro. Agli psicologi l’interpretazione…

[Susana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Não me entusiasmou, mas também não fiz nenhum sacrifício em lê-lo até ao fim (a parte final até foi a que mais me agradou).

Recomendaria apenas a quem tenha algum interesse em saber alguma coisa sobre o autor, já que se trata duma obra autobiográfica que cobre a sua infância e adolescência e que decorre nas duas primeiras décadas do século XX.

[David W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book with a map of Liège in one hand. It is really the story of that city, from the perspective of three generations of the Mamelin-Peters family, and it is filled with specific references to named streets and other local landmarks. And at the same time, this highly autobiographical novel provides plenty of insight into this most obsessive of writers. The novel begins the day before the primary character, Roger Mamelin, is born, and it ends when he is 15 and World War I has just come to an end. Roger is born just after midnight, on Friday, January 13, 1903 (which his parents agree to lie about, and instead claim that he was born 11 minutes earlier, thus his birth certificate has his date of birth as January 12). His mother, Élise, was the thirteenth child in her family, although Simenon only seems to name 10 of her siblings: Léopold, Louisa, Marthe, Félicie, Hubert, Louis, Franz, Poldine, and Madeline. He also states that her husband, Désiré, has 13 siblings (at least there are 13 “mouths to feed” at their home), but he only mentions 5 of them by name: Cécile, Arthur, Lucien, Françoise, and Guillaume. There’s some irony in that Roger, as the alter-ego of this crazily driven author, gets a job in Germain’s Bookshop (“Contrary to what he would have imagined in the past, it was the passers-by who were in the aquarium and it was he who, through the bookshop window, watched them with a curiosity tinged with pity.”), where the owner attempts to stop him from doing any work that might give him (Roger) pleasure – and Roger incurs the owner’s wrath by showing, in front of an important customer, that he knows more than the owner about the novels of Dumas. In an interesting parallel, the narrator of The Man with the Little Dog also worked as an assistant in a bookshop with a not very benevolent owner.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Che sia anche un romanzo autobiografico lo dice Simenon stesso nella prefazione: “L’infanzia di Roger Mamelin, il suo ambiente, lo sfondo su cui si muove sono molto vicini alla realtà, come i personaggi che egli osserva. I fatti non sono quasi mai inventati”. Il libro fu scritto da Simenon in circostanze particolari, quando era convinto, a causa di una diagnosi medica sbagliata, di avere pochi mesi di vita, per trasmettere al figlio gli elementi del suo “pedigree” familiare.
Quindi nella famiglia Mamelin, composta da Elise e Désiré e dal piccolo Roger, ritroviamo i genitori e Simenon stesso. Una famiglia come tante, vista da lontano; una famiglia singolare vista con la lente di ingrandimento che Georges Simenon usa sempre quando scrive. I caratteri dei personaggi sono tratteggiati magnificamente: Elise è una donna nevrotica, lamentosa, convive con angosce e paure fomentate dai lutti che colpiscono la sua numerosa famiglia, lei è l’ultima di tredici fratelli, nata in una famiglia fiamminga borghese che da una buona condizione economica è precipitata, a seguito della morte del padre, nella povertà che ha costretto Elise a trasferirsi a Liegi e fare la commessa. La povertà le fa paura, invidia i ricchi ed ha un’ambizione sfrenata di uscire dalla situazione economica in cui Désiré la costringe a vivere, lui che si accontenta dello stretto necessario; Désiré è anche lui parte di una famiglia numerosa, i Mamelin, borghesi francofoni che accolgono freddamente la moglie “straniera”, la quale dal canto suo mai nulla farà per inserirsi in famiglia. Désiré è generoso, lavoratore, amorevole con la moglie e con il figlio, paziente, è l’idolo di suo figlio che lo adora, ha solo un difetto, è privo di ambizione, fa l’assicuratore e non intende fare carriera. E poi c’è Roger, di cui seguiamo le vicende dalla nascita fino all’adolescenza, al termine della prima guerra mondiale, nel susseguirsi di case che la famiglia Mamelin cambierà negli anni onde permettere ad Elise di esercitare il lavoro di affittacamere, nella confusione di visi e gesti di parenti, di inquilini e di conoscenti che il bambino scruta in silenzio, già a significare le future qualità di perspicace osservatore dei caratteri dello scrittore Simenon. La vita familiare non è facile, è appesantita dalle frequenti crisi materne, dai pianti e dalle ansie di una donna gretta, e Roger cresce tormentato, dibattendosi tra il desiderio di essere un “bravo” figlio e il disprezzo per l’ipocrisia e l’avidità materna (sappiamo come sia stato da adulto il rapporto di Simenon con le donne, tutto è partito da qui? Penso di sì).
Pedigree può essere considerato anche un romanzo storico, perché le vicende familiari dei Mamelin si svolgono con sullo sfondo quelle storiche, a partire dallo sciopero generale dei minatori belgi, fino allo scoppio della guerra, l’occupazione militare tedesca e infine l’urlo liberatore “L’armistizio!.. La guerra è finita!...”con in sottofondo le note della Brabançonne, e le feste lungo le strade ed i vicoli di Liegi, che conosciamo quasi a memoria alla fine del libro, con le insegne dei negozi, le piazze, le chiese, i campanili, i ponti sulla Mosa, i mercati.
Pedigree è anche, in un certo senso, un romanzo di formazione. Il giovane Roger legge un libro al giorno, a volte anche due, i suoi scrittori preferiti sono Dumas, Hugo, Balzac, legge tutto Rocambole: letture “popolari”, nel senso di essere dei classici destinati a qualsiasi tipo di lettore, indirettamente indicando a noi lettori che per lui (Simenon) l’ “alta” letteratura manualistica è un affare che non interessa, destinato agli snob.
Pedigree è tutto questo, ma in primo luogo è un romanzo di Simenon, che rispose con questa battuta a chi insisteva ad etichettare il romanzo come autobiografico: “nel mio romanzo tutto è vero anche se nulla è esatto”.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has no real plot and has one key story line that starts, meanders for a while and then abruptly stops. But I loved it. My edition has a forward that describes it as a "clockwork miniature" of a town in Belgium, Lieges, and that's exactly what it is. A European city seen through the eyes of a young boy growing up. Food, streets, smells, the search for a place in the fabric of society. Did I say already that I loved it?

[Juan Jiménez García · Rating 5 out of 5]

Georges Simenon. Madre e hijo

La obra autobiográfica de Georges Simenon es extensa, muy extensa, pero tal vez,  entre toda ella, hay tres libros emblemáticos. Tres libros atravesados por la muerte, tres libros muy diferentes. En el tiempo, en el propósito, en el estado de ánimo: Pedigrí sería una ficción sobre su infancia y juventud, tras un diagnóstico (errado) que le daba dos años de vida; Carta a mi madre  está escrita dos años después de la muerte de esta; Memorias íntimas, tras el suicidio de su hija Marie-Jo. Los dos primeros bajo el signo de la madre, los dos últimos bajo el signo de la culpa. O la duda. Como hijo, como padre.

Pedigrí sufrió un lento proceso hasta encontrar su forma definitiva. Tras diagnosticársele dos años de vida, Simenon decidirá escribir sobre él para dejárselo a su hijo, entonces un crío. Las cien primeras hojas se publicarán con el título de Je me souviens en 1945, pero, tras el consejo de Andrè Gide, la obra sufrirá una cambio decisivo. Pasará de la primera persona a la tercera, se convertirá en una novela y, con ello, el escritor asumirá su vida como una ficción poética, en la que casi todo es cierto. Y así será. Simenon se muestra escéptico en los intentos de desentrañar su biografía a partir de Pedigrí, pero tan cierto como que hay infinidad de elementos tomados de esa vida también encontramos otras ausencias notables (por lo pronto, su protagonista, Roger Mamelin, es hijo único, borrando de la historia a su hermano pequeño). Pedigrí debía tener continuación, detenida en sus quince años y el fin de la guerra, de la primera, pero cansado de demandas judiciales se quedará ahí.

Aunque trata de esa infancia en Lieja y de los primeros años de su juventud, el libro no dejará de ser el libro de su madre. Es sus dos primeras partes (de tres), coincidiendo con su infancia, será ella el personaje omnipresente. Sí, está el padre, Désiré, su trabajo, su numerosa familia, su relación con esta familia, en especial con su madre, la abuela de Roger, pero la presencia de Elise será constante, tal vez porque su personalidad, su complicada personalidad, se impone al resto (más adelante, el escritor dirá que ella es uno de los personajes más complejos que ha conocido). Decimotercera y última hija de una familia rica hundida en la miseria, tiene en sí todo las manías y todo el hambre del mundo. Su existencia estará marcada por la necesidad de sobrevivir a todo y a todos, por una intuición permanente de las desgracias, por una preocupación constante por el futuro. Su futuro.

En Carta a mi madre (un libro revelador si se confronta con este), Simenon, ante la muerte de ella, no está muy convencido de haber sido justo en el retrato que trazó en su momento. Paradójicamente, buena parte de este queda reafirmado en el otro, pero sin duda no puede evitar una cierta sensación de injusticia frente a una mujer cuyas circunstancias desconocía pero con una vida marcada por esa obsesión por resistir, por ser la última, como una especie de venganza frente a un destino que no le fue propicio. Roger vivirá eternamente vigilado, milimétricamente cuidado, por esa mujer frágil pero indestructible, puro nervio, siempre alerta, siempre desconfiada, junto a un padre que solo quiere una vida tranquila, en la que nunca pase nada.

En esa infancia marcada por un puñado escaso de calles, por las familias paterna y materna, por sus tragedias personales (alegrías no hay muchas), un ambiente triste, gris y solitario, el paso del tiempo vendrá marcado por otras cosas. Como cuando empiecen a alquilar habitaciones, y su mundo se llene de la vida de los otros, de los inquilinos, que no serán ajenos a las obsesiones maternales y acabarán con ese no necesitar nada paterno, pero que aportarán un poco de luz en su oscura monotonía (mejor: atonía). Y todo se romperá en pedazos cuando Roger empiece a abandonar la infancia para encontrarse con una primera juventud. Ya no será solo una cuestión de edad, sino también la llegada de la guerra y la invasión alemana.

En la tercera parte del libro, Roger logrará despegarse de la madre para vivir una vida propia y no demasiado heroica. Será su descenso a los infiernos, ese descenso que su madre parece haber siempre temido (pero ella desconfiaba de todo y, antes que nada (le reprocha), de él, de su hijo). La escuela ya no le interesa y solo le preocupa su falta de todo, su miseria, su hambre. Y las mujeres. Serán sus años crueles. Para consigo mismo y para con los demás. No es algo para sentirse especialmente orgulloso y no se siente. Las más de las veces se creerá ridículo, pero es un sentimiento más entre todos. Las discusiones con su madre serán constantes y se dirán las peores cosas, mientras el padre será siempre el mismo: un hombre tranquilo.

Pedigrí, por sus características, podría considerarse un libro aparte en la obra de Georges Simenon, pero no lo es. No lo es porque la obra de Simenon no son solo las novelas de Maigret o algunas otras policiacas, sino que su obra es de una complejidad y diversidad inmensas. Algunos de sus personajes salieron de su vida, algunas de sus historias también. En la novela está la misma preocupación que alimenta su obra: las complejas relaciones entre las personas, la complejidad de esos mismos personajes. Aquello que late bajo unos cuerpos comunes, que nos cruzamos todos los días. Por utilizar una palabra de Georges Perec, lo infraordinario. Libro de una extraordinaria intensidad, de una poesía de lo común, de una fuerza arrolladora en esa calma de días que pasan, que pasan con sus temores, pequeños descubrimientos, desilusiones,… Y por eso, al final, Pedigrí será un libro sobre la madre: porque es la madre la que recoge esa inquietud, el recipiente de nuestros temores, de nuestros miedos más íntimos. Nuestra genealogía y la constancia de ella.

Escrito para Détour.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should have gotten around to this review soon after finishing the read - but instead I let a-few-too-many-days go by, and the misery that is our current world grabbed hold of me. It's like Joni Mitchell sang over 50 years ago: "They won't give peace a chance - that was just a dream some of us had..."

So Ukraine news is bad and so much of the other news is bad. And our own government remains largely clueless and / or self-serving. And it all kept me from gathering my thoughts on Georges Simenon's memoir / novelization.

~ which I liked. I can say it's mainly the kind of book that is usually read for the way it's written. The prose is ever-so-smooth and elegant, and it makes 560 pp. fly by. Its tone is quite different from the author's mysteries / other historical work; by necessity, it's much more intimate.

Not a whole lot 'happens'. It follows the early years of Roger (Simenon's alter ego) - from the start of the last century through to the end of WWI in 1918. The reader gets a wonderfully vivid overview of (mostly family and relatives') life in the Belgian province of Liège.

Apparently Simenon ended up really hating his mother - which makes his immensely detailed / incisive / empathetic portrait of her here so astonishing. Maybe we don't end up really admiring her but we certainly get what seems a very fair rendering of the woman as a person. (Simenon's views of himself and his father seem to get equal time but not exactly equal depth.)

I was most taken with this look-back as it was nearing its conclusion, as the war was ending and as Roger's love of literature was deepening (so much so that, as a clerk in a bookstore, his knowledge of authors eventually surpassed that of the proprietor... for which he was sacked).

... Sigh. Now I need to throw myself into another book. The world is nuts; I want to get off it and stay inside pages, somewhere.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

a fictional memoir coming of age tale in the hands of a master novelist. I knew somehow that I couldn't go wrong with PEDIGREE, no matter what it was about. Mundane and dramatic events alike are rendered with such sensitivity, the town of Liege in Belgium at the beginning of the 20th century becomes a familiar friend and an indelible memory reconstructed in fragments of feeling.

Worthwhile and rewarding in spite of the loose ends.

[Paola · Rating 5 out of 5]

A largely autobiographical novel peering through the difficulties of life in Liege at the beginning of the last century by charting the story of a family, with all the unpalatable resentments, jealousies, pettiness, sour disappointment with a life that is not taking the right turns that can go on underneath the surface. The misery of human nature laid bare in a powerful book.

[paper0r0ss0 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se le autobiografie sono di per se' stesse un campo minato, quelle scritte in forma romanzata sono spesso ancor piu' problematiche. Quando prendono piede da una lettera ai posteri, al figlio, come nel caso di Simenon, risentono a mio parere del peccato originale di essere involontariamente troppo e allo stesso tempo troppo poco sincere. I primi anni di vita di Georges alias Roger, la sua famiglia, il padre idealizzato, cordiale e disincantato, la madre nevrotica, opprimente e colpevolizzatrice, il circo dei famigliari piu' o meno sciroccati e problematici, tutto chiaro, fin troppo lineare e letterariamente non troppo originale. Anche le assenze sono significative, il fratello minore Christian ad esempio, della morte del quale Georges sara' sempre incolpato dalla madre, e del quale troviamo invece traccia ne "Il fondo della bottiglia" con il relativo rapporto conflittuale. Roger/Georges e', o almeno mi sembra, piu' sincero, sia nelle paure e ingenuita' dell'infanzia che (soprattutto) nel carattere in costruzione dell'inizio adolescenza, nei suoi atteggimenti e passioni. La scrittura e' come sempre "simenoniana", cioe' potente e di classe, anche se mi resta una vaga sensazione di minorita' e di incompiutezza rispetto ai migliori standard del nostro.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Elise had a congenital fear of causing people trouble. She had never dared to occupy the whole of a chair."

He's brilliant about Elise, his mum. I loved her. The poor thing lives in absolute fear of everything for 500 pages.

Other elements weren't quite as brilliant. The terrorist, and then Leopold, ran out of steam and disappeared, and I wondered if the whole thing wouldn't have been better without them.

And there was a dead brother in real life! Omitting your dead brother from your family history seems remarkably unkind.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

very detailed novel of pre wwi liege belgium told from little boy "roger's" view, his money grubbing mother, his kind but distant father, his meltdown teenage years. was VOL 1 of a projected 3 vols, but i guess simenon said fuckit after this first one. surely not as popular as his mysteries and such, but a fascinating geographical and psychological stay in the city. just think back your ownself, what did the shadows and light look like around your house? simenon seemed to have remembered.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another NYRB classic. Pre-WW1 Liege in Belgium is vividly brought to life through the eyes of a young boy (semi auto-biographical). Excellent read.

[Silvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narrazione autobiografica in cui Simenon mette in scena i luoghi in cui si è formato come uomo e nel suo immaginario di scrittore , non fa parte dei "romanzi della devianza" , ma mostra a tratti il vero Simenon, a tratti dolente, a tratti rancoroso, in un grande lavoro sul suo suo passato e la memoria.

[jacmaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

comme une succession de vieilles photos en noir et blanc

[Géraldine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relecture

A great book about the childhood of the author in Liège (Belgium). A lot of old atmosphere.

Un livre à lire surtout pour le contexte de l'ancien Liège, principalement le quartier d'Outremeuse où Simenon a passé son enfance.

[Valia Papanastasopoulou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Υπέροχο!

[Vassiliki Dass · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*
Αυτή η ιδιομορφη αυτοβιογραφικη μυθιστορία μου αρεσε πολύ. Ενώ ο Σιμενον κανει μια τοσο λεπτομερη καταγραφη της καθημερινοτητας της Λιεγης των αρχων του 20ου αι. και μαζι της ζωης που ζουν οι πιο ευνοημενοι ή οι πιο περιθωριακοι κατοικοι της, μεχρι σημειου που, όπως ήδη αλλοι εχουν πει πριν απο μενα, βαθιας κοινωνιολογικης αναλυσης και αναπλασης μια ολοκληρης εποχης, δεν βαρεθηκα στιγμη. Μου εχει τυχει σε άλλη, παρομοιου υφους αυτοβιογραφια, όπως του Σνιτσλερ τρανταχτο παραδειγμα, να πληξω αφορητα. Δεν ξερω τι είναι αυτό στο ταλεντο του Σιμενον που με κανει να βυθιζομαι στον κοσμο που αναπαριστα και στις ιστοριες των ανθρωπων που τον κατοικούν. Επίσης ενθουσιαστηκα που βιωσα μεσω του βιβλιου αυτού την αρχη της αναπτυξης μια βιομηχανικής Λιεγης, της οποιας την διηγηση της απολυτης παρακμης ειχα θαυμασει στον τροπο κινηματογραφης και αφηγησης των αδελφων Νταρντεν και στην αριστουργηματικη τους Ροζεττα. Πιστευω ότι και ο Σιμενον αν ζουσε και έβαζε τον ηρωα/alter ego του να την δει 100 χρονια σχεδον μετα μέσα στα κακοφοιμα σινεμα όπου συχναζε ως εφηβος θα ενθουσιαζοταν και θα δημιουργουσε εξισου δυνατες σκηνες. Για τους λατρεις του Σιμενον και όχι μονο βιβλιο που προτεινω ανεπιφυλακτα

[Αλέξανδρος Βαγενάς · Rating 3 out of 5]

Πρώτη μου επαφή με το έργο του πολυγραφότατου Βέλγου συγγραφέα Ζωρζ Σιμενόν γνωστού για τις ιστορίες του με τον επιθεωρητή Μαιγκρε.Προτιμησα να ξεκινήσω με το αυτοβιογραφικό μυθιστόρημα Πεντιγκρη τη σχέση μου μαζί του και τελειώνοντας το βιβλίο μπορώ να πω ότι δεν με ενθουσίασε στον βαθμό που περιμενα.Σιγουρα η εξιστόρηση των παιδικών και εφηβικών χρόνων του Ροζέ Μαμελέν(alter ego του συγγραφέα) είχε για μένα το περισσότερο ενδιαφέρον σε σχέση με τα κεφάλαια που αφιέρωνε για την παράξενη και νεωρωτικη μητέρα του(αλλά με επιχειρηματικό μυαλό καθώς νοικιάζει τα δωμάτια του σπιτθιυ της λειτουργωντας τα ως πανσιον)ή για τον χαμηλών τόνων και χωρίς ιδιαίτερες φιλοδοξίες πατέρα του.Με κούρασαν οι περιγραφές τω�� διαφορων εργατών,αναρχικών της πολιτοφυλακής αλλά και γενικά της ζωής και του περίγυρου στο Βέλγιο.Ηθελα περισσότερο να μάθω για τη ζωή του Ροζε,για τους πρώτες έρωτες,τους σχολικούς καβγάδες τον αντίκτυπο που είχε ο πόλεμος πάνω του κλπ.

[(Mark) EchoWolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

A memoir of his life, particularly of his early life, presented loosely as a novel. Simenon had to leave parts of the novel unpublished, and change other sections, because various people from his childhood recognized themselves in the text and took legal action against him. It's a difficult read, and not that engaging, but as a sort of pseudo-autobiography does explain some of his later writings and behaviors, and his resentment for much in his childhood.

[Damien Travel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pedigree is, probably with Lettre à ma Mère, Simenon’s most intimate book. According to literary history, he wrote it after a cardiac alert. Did he want to write down his childhood and adolescence memories before it would be too late? The exegetes of his work always find biographic reminiscences in his novels: a first or last name which is recurrent, this posture, this type of dress or this mannerism which are common to many characters in his work. Pedigree is often the key which allows interpreting those links.

Read more on my blog:
http://www.travelreadings.org/2015/05...

[Mikee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an autobiography written as a novel. The concept is amazing, and the book is painfully good. Imagine writing the story of your life as fiction! Parts of it dragged for me, though I think it will stay with me for a long time.

[Afroditi Kousouni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Τον συγγραφέα τον γνώρισα μέσα από το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο του, δεν είχε τύχει να διαβάσω προηγουμένως κάτι δικό του. Πρόκειται για μια αυτοβιογραφία των πρώτων 16 χρόνων της ζωής του, δοσμένη με αφηγηματικό τρόπο και γραμμένη σε τρίτο ενικό. Ο συγγραφέας εφευρίσκει εκ νέου τον εαυτό του, αφαιρεί ό,τι τον ζορίζει υπερβολικά (όπως ο αδελφός του, ο οποίος απουσιάζει παντελώς), διατηρώντας ωστόσο ονόματα ανθρώπων και τόπων αυτούσια. Κυρίαρχη η εικόνα της μητέρας του, μιας δύσκολης γυναίκας, με έντονη τάση θυματοποίησης, που από την υπερβολική της ανασφάλεια για την εξασφάλιση ενός αξιοπρεπούς μέλλοντος για τον γιο της, καταντά τυραννική. Ένας πατέρας χωρίς ψεγάδια, ο πρόωρος θάνατος του οποίου, μολονότι δεν περιγράφεται στο βιβλίο, επηρεάζει προφανώς βαθιά την προδιάθεση του γιου του απέναντί του, με αποτέλεσμα να εμφανίζεται εκείνος ως ένας άνθρωπος χωρίς κανένα φανερό ή κρυφό ελάττωμα. Απόλαυσα τις περιγραφές της Λιέγης, της πανέμορφης αυτής βέλγικης πόλης, που στις αρχές του 20ου αιώνα περιγράφεται πολλαπλά: τα διερχόμενα τραμ, οι γειτονιές, οι οικογενειακές σχέσεις, οι κοινωνικές συνθήκες. Και ο Πρώτος Παγκόσμιος που έρχεται να δώσει σε όλα ένα άλλο, μελανό χρώμα και να ανατρέψει καθετί. Θεωρώ ότι θα μπορούσε να είναι λίγο πιο μικρό, υπάρχουν σημεία που είναι μάλλον κουραστική η αφήγηση, ίσως περισσότερο λεπτομερειακή από όσο θα μπορούσε να κρατάει διαρκώς σε εγρήγορση το ενδιαφέρον του αναγνώστη. Βρήκα πολύ καλή τη γραφή, σαφές προϊόν ενός καταξιωμένου συγγραφέα. Θα ήθελα πάντως να είχε γράψει και τη συνέχεια, ώστε να έρχεται ο αναγνώστης σε επαφή και με τα επόμενα χρόνια της ζωής του, ιδιαίτερα τα ενήλικα...

[Kostas Kyriakopoulos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Είναι από τα "δύσκολα" βιβλία, το δυσκολότερο του Σιμενόν, είτε θέλουν οι φανατικοί του αναγνώστες είτε όχι. Τόσο δύσκολο, όσο είναι να παραμείνει κάποιος ήρεμος μέσα σε ένα θάλαμο νεκροτομείου όπου δουλεύουν μαζί όλα τα παγωμένα νυστέρια. Γιατί ο Σιμενόν μπορεί να μην έβαλε καθόλου μυστήριο σε αυτόν τον ογκώδη τόμο της μυθιστορηματικής απόδοσης των νεανικών του χρόνων αλλά σκάβει σε όλα τα μυστήρια ταυτόχρονα. Και το κάνει χωρίς να το ανακοινώνει. Εκεί που δίνει την εντύπωση ότι κάνει μια περιδιάβαση σε μια τυχαία σκηνή, σε ένα κάποιο περιστατικό, της εφηβικής ζωής, σταματάει και αρχίζει να ανατέμνει χειρουργικά τα πάντα γύρω από αυτήν. Και αφήνει ανοιχτή κι εκτεθειμένη την πληγή όχι για να αναγκάσει τον αναγνώστη να συμφωνήσει μαζί του αλλά σαν ιατροδικαστής να τον πείσει ότι αυτό που βλέπει δεν είναι το συμπέρασμα αλλά το επιχείρημα που οδηγεί στο συμπέρασμα.

Η αίσθηση ότι διαβάζεις ένα λογοτεχνικό αριστούργημα δεν καταργείται αλλά κάνει μερικές διακοπές, σε κάποια σημεία αρκετά "βαριές" με πολλές και φλύαρες περιγραφές, εμμονικές λεπτομέρειες και μπερδευτικές αλληλουχίες από ονόματα και συγγένειες που το λιγότερο που απαιτούν είναι καθαρό κεφάλι για να αντιληφθείς τον τρόπο που εφάπτονται στην Ιστορία. Εντούτοις δεν μπορούν να μειώσουν την υψηλή λογοτεχνική αξία του παρά μόνο στο ελάχιστο.

[D'face · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simenon’s lightly fictionalised account of his childhood up to the point of his father’s death and the Armistice. So lightly fictionalised that he was sued by numerous acquaintances for revealing unsavoury aspects of their lives. He had started writing a straight history for the benefit of his children and was advised to change to fiction so as not to be so constrained. It is kind of interesting but does not really work. He introduces his alcoholic uncle who plays a role in the first half repeatedly appearing only to disappear in the second half. It does not really flow well and does not explore why he became a sex addict. He is not easy on himself however, he revealed that on many occasions he stole and was deliberately cruel and obstructive to his controlling mother.

[Abe Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this book is a bit of a shambles and definitely not Simenon playing to his strengths. To wit: the most alive sections involve a political conspiracy, but it disappears entirely halfway through. Similarly, the story transitions its focus at some point so as to be about the boy Roger (ie, Simenon) instead of his (perhaps more interesting, or at least more able-to-be-written-about-in-a-somewhat-dispassionate-way) parents. But there are great moments of feeling for places and people, and it makes a lovely source for the world of early 20th century Belgium.

[Jim Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is perhaps Simenon’s most autobiographical novel—a look at the lives of a married couple (very like his parents) in early 20th century Belgium. The husband, Desire, is French speaking, unambitious, very family oriented, and self-satisfied. The wife, Elise, is Flemish, from a once prominent family with nervous constitutions and drinking problems. She is both ambitious and frugal. This couple and their large families are examined under a microscope to see what makes them tick. While the novel can have psychological insight, its slow pace frustrated me.

[Kathleen Woodcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Georges Simenon’s autobiography about growing up in Belgium during WWI (1914-1918). Luckily he was in school and did not experience actual fighting. His mother took in boarders to offset his father’s low paying clerical position at an insurance company. All Georges’s trials and tribulations during his coming of age made for an entertaining distraction from war’s deprivations. Class status seemed insurmountable.

[Jessica Florio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Per carità Simenon scrive benissimo, ma che Fatica(!!!) ho fatto a finire questo suo romanzo.
Piacevolmente ho scoperto che è un romanzo scritto per un errata diagnosi medica, dove gli vien detto che gli rimangono solo due anni di vita.
Decide cosi di scrivere quest' opera autobiografica per il figlio.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read the 1st 150 pages or so of this autobiographical tome. It was outstanding in the usual Simenon / milieu way, but so slight a story as it was hard to hang on to. An excellent overview of Liege Belgium circa ... 1910? thereabouts. but really this is all character study and description and virtually no plot at all.... too long for that!