The Train (Simenon novel)
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The Train (1961, French: Le Train) is a 'roman dur' by Georges Simenon. It is the story of Marcel, a 32-year old man who has to flee the Germans at the beginning of World War II, who is separated from his family, and who forms an unlikely friendship with partisan woman.
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Plot
Although afflicted with a malformation in the eye, Marcel Féron, runs a small successful radio equipment dealership and is a happy husband. He lives a problem-free existence until the day - May 10, 1940 - when the German invasion caused him, with his pregnant wife and her four-year-old daughter, to take a train to evacuate them from the combat zone. This is the event he was confusedly awaiting: a possible new thing is opening up before him, without his being really surprised. It feels as if he has an appointment with fate.
At the time of departure, his wife, who is seven months pregnant, and little Sophie are placed in a compartment of 1st class of the train, while he is put, with the able-bodied adults, in one of the many cattle wagons attached to the convoy. The latter is split during the course, and Marcel finds himself separated from his family.
The anxiety that he might feel is repressed by the extraordinary environment of the train, with its promiscuity, its frequent stops and the aerial dangers that threaten it. A young woman in a black dress, without luggage, gets into the wagon at the last minute (she comes from the Namur prison where the inmates had been released), will trigger the unexpected for Marcel: a connection is made between him and Anna. In a period that abolishes past and future, they experience a union that is both physical and moral, almost without knowing each other.
The train finally arrives in La Rochelle at the time of Pétain's armistice, and the evacuees find themselves in a camp. Lists are circulating in search of refugees: Marcel learns that his wife is at the maternity hospital in Bressuire, a short distance from La Rochelle, where she has just given birth to a boy. He tries to join her immediately. Anna accompanies him to the threshold of the establishment. With a heavy heart, she bids him farewell and simply adds: "I was happy with you".
Time has returned to its normal course. With his two children, Marcel resumes his family life in Fumay, as before.
During the winter of the following year, while visiting a client one evening, he sees Anna suddenly appear from the shadows. She came to ask him to accommodate her and an English aviator, because they are being hunted down by the Gestapo. It's only for a few days. A moment of hesitation ... Anna understands and does not insist. Marcel has a wife, children, a shop.
A month later, on a list of spies shot, Marcel reads an English name close to that of Anna Kupfer.
Production
Simenon wrote the novel in Noland, Switzerland, between 18 and 25 March 1961.
Theme
As is often the case in Simenon's work, this is the story of a rupture, here caused by the German invasion. There is also the theme of human cowardice (that of men more than that of women), because back in his home, the hero betrays Anna.
Particular aspects of the novel
Space-time frame
Fumay (French Ardennes). La Rochelle, and the train route between these two localities.
Contemporary period: start of WWII
Characters
- Marcel Féron, electrician, radio equipment dealer in Fumay, married, a child at the beginning of the story (later, two others), 32 years old
- Jeanne Féron, his wife, née Van Straeten
- Anna Kupfer, young Czech girl, Jewish, 22 years old
Editions
- Serial pre-publication in the weekly Le Nouveau Candide , Template:N ° from May 4 to July 6, 1961
- First edition: Presses de la Cité, 1961
- Tout Simenon, tome 11 , Omnibus, 2003 Template:ISBN
- Pocket Book, Template:N °, 2008 Template:ISBN
- Romans durs, tome 11 , Omnibus, 2013 Template:ISBN
Adaptations
In the cinema
- 1973: Le Train , film franco - Italian by [ [Pierre Granier-Deferre]], with Romy Schneider and Jean-Louis Trintignant.
On the radio
- 2016: adaptation by Pierre Assouline, performed by Blandine Masson, original music: Eric Slabiak. Actors: Bruno Raffaelli, Françoise Gillard, Guillaume Gallienne, Adeline d'Hermy, Pierre Hancisse, Rebecca Marder
