Au bout du rouleau (roman de Simenon)  

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Au bout du rouleau (1947) is a 'roman dur' by Georges Simenon, the tale of a petty criminal who picks up a bargirl and tries to hide with her from the police in a small town.

Contents

Plot

Handsome, tall, and barely thirty years old, Marcel Viau is nonetheless a man of no stature with a miserable life. In Montpellier, this peasant's son steals a wallet full of money after having assaulted the owner. When he learns from the newspapers that the numbers of the stolen bills are known, he decides to get rid of them. Fearing to be arrested by the police, he starts drinking and meets Sylvie, a former bar girl, who invites him to accompany her to Chantournais, a small town near Marcel's birthplace. Hoping not to be hunted anymore and considering the rural environment as a safe place, Viau accepts. He despises Sylvie, as he does all the women he believes to be inferior to him, but at the same time, he is fascinated by her frankness, her sharp mind and her ability to adapt.

While he should avoid being noticed, and because he wishes to earn money easily, Marcel, the very evening of their arrival in Chantournais, plays poker with some locals and loses a large amount. To recover, he has to "borrow" a large sum from Maurice, the hotel's chef, who hides his savings - more than ten thousand francs - in his room, behind a painting. The next day, the game is in his favor, and Marcel is able to pay back the chef, who is not fooled, but who displays a kindly understanding.

Later on, Marcel, back at the hotel, lets himself be confided in during a conversation with Maurice. In the pouring rain, he then goes to the house of Mangre, a man he trusts. Mangre warns him to be careful and to consider leaving the country, as a foreigner is always viewed with suspicion and many people, including the local police inspector, wonder who Marcel is and where he comes from.

Instead of leaving the country, Marcel seems to want to reach out to his tragic fate. In vain, Sylvie invites him to reflect on the fact that the authorities have certainly connected him with the Montpellier robbery. She and old Maurice, who has already served time in prison, are even willing to come to his aid. But Marcel is at the end of his rope. He no longer feels strong enough to fight and considers suicide. Sylvie stops him.

When the police come to arrest him, Marcel fights fiercely, but once in his cell, he kills himself.

Éditions

Source

  • Maurice Piron, Michel Lemoine, L'Univers de Simenon, guide des romans et nouvelles (1931-1972) de Georges Simenon, Presses de la Cité, 1983, p. 128-129 Template:ISBN

Article connexe

Liste des œuvres de Georges Simenon





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