The Survivors (Simenon novel)
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Les Rescapés du Télémaque (1938, English: The Survivors) is a 'roman dur' by Georges Simenon.
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Plot
Pierre and Charles Canut are the sons of a sailor who died in 1906 during the sinking of the " Télémaque " off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. This sailor was found in a lifeboat with four other survivors who were suspected to have survived only by an act of vampirism, traces of which remained on the body o their dead companion. His wife sank into a semi-folly.
In Fécamp, among the sailors and fishermen, Pierre enjoys the general esteem. Charles, on the other hand, is the "brain" of the family: he is the one who helped Pierre to become a naval officer, while remaining himself in the shadows, as if he existed only in function of his brother.
Émile Février, the last living survivor of the "Télémaque", is found one day with his throat cut at home. Various clues lead to the indictment of Pierre Canut who, incarcerated in Rouen, denies the crime but defends himself poorly. His brother then decides, with the limited means at his disposal, to find the murderer by himself. His suspicions are first directed at Gaston Paumelle, but he gradually understands that the author of the murder is Emma, the cabaret owner, Paumelle's mistress. Emma had hoped to be married to Février, her occasional lover, in order to own his villa; when Février was asked to leave the country, she killed him to steal his money. Charles follows Emma who wants to go to England: he prevents her from committing suicide when she is discovered, because the justice system has just identified the culprit thanks to Paumelle's confession. When Charles returns to Fécamp, he believes he can announce, with proof, the innocence of his brother. But Pierre, already out of prison, is celebrated by all.
And life resumes its course with Pierre in front and Charles in the background. Just as in the past.
Special aspects of the novel
The story, which begins with Pierre's arrest, evokes by successive allusions the drama of the "Télémaque" whose distant consequences form the framework of the novel.
Description of the work
Space and time frame
Space
Time
Contemporary era.
Characters
Main character
Charles Canut. Railroad employee. Single. 33 years old.
Other characters
- Pierre Canut, twin brother of Charles, captain of a trawler.
- Laurence Canut, mother of Charles and Pierre
- Emma, Flemish, bargirl, about 45 years old
- Gaston Paumelle, a young deviant whose father was one of the survivors of the " Télémaque ", 20 years old
- Emile Février, former sailor, survivor of the " Télémaque ", 66 years old
- Babette, Charles Canut's fiancée, waitress in a café.
Éditions
- Prépublication en feuilleton dans le quotidien Le Petit Parisien, du 15 juin au 24 juillet 1937
- Édition originale : Gallimard, 1938
- Tout Simenon, tome 20, Omnibus, 2003 Template:ISBN
- Folio Policier, n° 478, 2007 Template:ISBN
- Romans durs, tome 3, Omnibus, 2012 Template:ISBN
Adaptations
- 1966 : The Survivors, épisode 9 de la série télévisée britannique Thirteen Against Fate réalisé par Rudolph Cartier, adaptation du roman Les Rescapés du Télémaque
Source
- Maurice Piron, Michel Lemoine, L'Univers de Simenon, guide des romans et nouvelles (1931-1972) de Georges Simenon, Presses de la Cité, 1983, pp. 70-71 Template:ISBN
Related article
See also
