The Others (Simenon novel)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Uncle Antoine died on Tuesday, on Hallowe’en, probably at about eleven in the evening. That same night Colette tried to throw herself out of the window. The street lights had just been turned on." "I walked along Rue de la Cathédrale, then along Rue des Chartreux, looking at the same shop windows I used to look at when I was sixteen." |
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Les Autres (1962) is a roman dur by Georges Simenon, the story of Blaise who tells the story of the week long aftermath of the death of Antoine, a rich uncle. The story is reminiscent of The Old Man Dies, which also takes place in a week's time from the death to the burial. Full-of-plans but good-for-nothing braggart Édouard shares similarities with Bernard from The Old Man Dies.
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Summary
Two events that occur at the same time determine Blaise Huet to relate his vicissitudes and the history of his family (centered on others rather than on himself) in a journal: on the one hand, the death of his uncle Antoine, eminent jurist, 72 years old, who was poisoned the night before All Saints Day; on the other hand, the unexpected return of his cousin Édouard, who had been missing for years.
This journal is in the continuation, in another form and through different circumstances, of an autobiographical novel that Blaise had written, three years earlier, and that had been rejected by several publishers. A character without stature and a complacent husband, Blaise knows he is a mediocre figure, but in this lucidity he finds satisfaction. Irène, his wife, is superficial and receives the attentions of a household companion, Nicolas Macherin, undemanding and generous.
The events in which Blaise is involved reveal the more or less secret web of relations between the members of the Huet family. Old uncle Antoine is the husband of Colette, a pretty neurotic nymphomaniac courted by Doctor Jean Floriau, husband of Monique Huet, Antoine's niece. When Colette discovers her lifeless husband, she wants to commit suicide by throwing herself out the window and Jean Floriau has her hospitalized. As for Lucien Huet, quite different from his brother Blaise, he is a religious man. He returned from the Buchenwald concentration camp where he had been sent by an anonymous denunciation - he worked for the Resistance - which we later learned came from Édouard, another nephew of Antoine Huet, known in the city for his seductive and interpersonal skills.
We can imagine the tension created in the family by the unexpected return of Édouard, swindler, adventurer, convict, who returns like a wreck to the house of Marie, his wife, who still loves him and takes him in. It is she who gets Blaise to speak to Lucien, because, without the latter's forgiveness, there is no possible reintegration for Édouard. At the end of an interview which upsets the two brothers, Lucien accepts.
Édouard, who is the eldest of the Huets, will therefore lead the mourning to the funeral of Uncle Antoine, celebrated despite the fact that he committed suicide, and it is he who, on the same day, will be appointed by the notary as heir of the deceased, with his two cousins Blaise and Lucien. Antoine Huet, faithful to a promise made to his mother in the past, bequeathed his goods to the only male bearers of his father's name. As for the others, they receive nothing.
Characters
- Blaise Huet, drawing teacher at the city's School of Fine Arts. Married, no children. 40 years.
- Irène, wife of Blaise, who lives with her husband in a menage a trois
- Lucien, brother of Blaise, editor for the newspaper "Le Nouvelliste", 36 years old.
- Colette, wife of Antoine Huet (who dies at the beginning of the novel), 41 years old
- Jean Floriau, renowned cardiologist, married, 38, nephew of Colette
- Édouard Huet, son of a brother of Antoine and cousin of Blaise, 41 years old, without a specific profession, lived apart from his wife and son
- Monique, sister of Édouard and former fiancée of Lucien
- Nicolas Macherin, businessman, 58 years old.
Analysis of the novel
Written by Georges Simenon in Échandens during the fall 1961, the novel recounts an episode that runs through a family saga where dramas are stifled. Blaise's account, written in the first person, covers the days from November 5 to November 9 corresponding to the period between the death of Antoine Huet and the opening of his will. A final chapter, dated March 21 of the following year, takes stock of the situation: things have taken, or resumed, their place.
Editions
- Presses de la Cité, 1962
- Tout Simenon, tome 11, éditions Omnibus, 2003 Template:ISBN
- Le Livre de poche Template:Numéro, 2008 Template:ISBN
- Éditions Gallimard, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, volume Pedigree et autres romans, 2009 Template:ISBN.
- Romans durs, tome 11, éditions Omnibus, 2013 Template:ISBN
See also
