Editing Georges Simenon (section)

=== ''Romans durs'' ("hard novels") ===
Simenon suspended his writing of Maigret stories in 1933 in order to concentrate on the literary novels he called ''romans durs''. In 1937 he stated that his aim was to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947.<ref>Marnham (1994). pp. 147-8</ref>

Simenon defined the novel as, "a passion which completely possesses and enslaves the writer and permits him to exorcise his demons by giving them form and casting them out into the world."<ref name="Besler 1983. p. 7">Besler (1983). p. 7</ref> His novels were about "the naked man, the one who looks at himself in the mirror while shaving and has no illusions about himself."<ref name="Besler 1983. p. 7"/>

[[Michel Lemoine]] has elaborated on this, stating, "There is hardly a character in all the Simenon canon who does not ask, 'Who am I? What have I done with my life?"<ref>Besler (1983). 103</ref>[[File:Banc Georges Simenon, Liège.jpg|thumb|Bench and sculpture dedicated to Simenon in his home city of Liège]]Biographer Fenton Besler described the ''roman durs'' as "psychological thrillers...in which he explores the darkest corners of the human mind and, in tautly written prose, creates an atmosphere which is sinister and entirely his own."<ref>Besler (1983). pp. 1-2</ref> According to Besler, it doesn't matter whether Simenon's novels are set in France, Africa, Tahiti or America, the characters live the same traumas and despair, only "with their problems and anxieties accentuated by the local setting."<ref>Besler (1983). pp. 103-4</ref>

Biographer Patrick Marnham states that Simenon's earliest ''romans durs'' contain many of Simenon's typical themes: the street life of Paris, prostitution, the drudgery of domestic servants and shop assistants, police corruption and the hope of escape represented by railway stations. He compares Simenon's preoccupation with the "little people" with that of Balzac.<ref name=":3">Marnham (1994). pp. 173-4</ref> According to Marnham, there is also a strong autobiographical strain in his fiction, where events which Simenon had experienced were lightly fictionalised and then taken to a social, criminal or psychological extreme.<ref>Marnham (1994). pp. 174-7</ref>

Simenon's ''romans durs'' soon gained a high reputation among other writers, with Max Jacob, François Mauriac and André Gide among his admirers.<ref>Marnham (1994). p. 173-4</ref> Nevertheless, the academic and critical reception of his novels in France and the United States was mixed, which [[Ralph Ingersoll (PM publisher)|Ralph Ingersoll]], [[Brendan Gill]] and [https://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/bandy/sigaux-collection.php Gilbert Sigaux] have attributed to suspicion about their popularity and the speed with which they were written.<ref>Besler (1983). p. 181</ref>

Simenon's most acclaimed novels include ''Monsieur Hire's Engagement'' (1933),<ref name=":4">{{cite web |title=The Simenon Year - Le Soir magazine - 2003 |url=http://www.trussel.com/maig/ls03-pleiade-e.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303173148/http://www.trussel.com/maig/ls03-pleiade-e.htm |archive-date=3 March 2016 |access-date=23 June 2015 |work=trussel.com}}</ref> ''The Man who Watched the Trains Go By'' (1938),<ref>Marnham (1994). p. 165</ref>  ''Monsieur Monde Vanishes (1945),<ref>Besler (1983). p. 222</ref> Act of Passion (1947),<ref>Marnham (1994). p. 237</ref>'' ''The Snow was Dirty'' (1948),<ref>Marnham (1994). p. 244</ref>  ''Red Lights'' (1953),<ref>Marnham (1994). p.p. 265-6</ref> and ''The Little Saint'' (1967).<ref name=":4" />