The Shadow in the Courtyard
{{Short description|1932 novel by Georges Simenon}}
{{notability|1=Books|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox book |
| name = The Shadow in the Courtyard
| title_orig = {{langx|fr|L'Ombre chinoise}}
| translator =
| image =
| caption =
| author = Georges Simenon
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = Belgium
| language = French
| series = Inspector Jules Maigret
| genre = Detective fiction, Crime fiction
| publisher = Fayard
| release_date = 1932
| english_release_date = 1934
| media_type = Print
| pages =
| isbn =
| preceded_by = Guinguette by the Seine
| followed_by = Maigret Goes Home
}}
The Shadow in the Courtyard (other English-language titles are Maigret Mystified and The Shadow Puppet; {{langx|fr|L'Ombre chinoise}}) is a detective novel by Belgian writer Georges Simenon, featuring his character inspector Jules Maigret. The novel was written in Antibes in December 1931 and was published a month later, in January 1932, by the Parisian publishing house Fayard.[http://www.association-jacques-riviere-alain-fournier.com/reperage/simenon/notice_maigret/note_maigret_Ombre%20chinoise.htm Notice bibliographique] zu L’ombre chinoise auf der Maigret-Seite von Yves Martina.
Translations
The book has been translated three times into English: in 1934 by Anthony Abbot as The Shadow in the Courtyard , in 1964 as Maigret Mystified by Jean Stewart, and in 2015 by Ros Schwartz as The Shadow Puppet.[https://www.trussel.com/maig/plots/ombplot.htm Publication history] at trussel.com.; retrieved 15 February 2023.
The first German translation by Milo Dor and Reinhard Federmann was published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch in 1959. The new translation by Claus Sprick was published by Diogenes Verlag in 1982.Oliver Hahn: Bibliografie deutschsprachiger Ausgaben. In: Georges-Simenon-Gesellschaft (Hrsg.): Simenon-Jahrbuch 2003. Wehrhahn, Laatzen 2004, ISBN 3-86525-101-3, S. 72.
Adaptations
The novel has been adapted five times for film and television: in Italian in 2004 as L'ombra cinese, with Sergio Castellitto in the main role and in 1966 as L'ombra cinese, with Gino Cervi in the lead role;{{cite news|last=Vitali|first=Alessandra|date=12 November 2004|title=Castellitto diventa Maigret "Come se fosse davvero esistito"|url=https://www.repubblica.it/2004/i/sezioni/spettacoli_e_cultura/fictiontv/maigret/maigret.html|newspaper=la Repubblica|language=it|access-date=8 March 2023}}{{cite book|last1=Derchi|first1=Andrea|last2=Biggio|first2=Marco|date=2001|title=Gino Cervi: attore protagonista del '900|publisher=Erga|page=324|isbn=9788881632381|oclc=48108069|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VH9ZAAAAMAAJ}} in French in 2004 as L'ombre chinoise, with Bruno Cremer in the main role and in 1969 as L'Ombre chinoise with Jean Richard in the lead role;{{cite news|date=22 May 2004|title=Maigret et l'ombre chinoise Champions du monde|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/2004/05/22/p-maigret-et-l-ombre-chinoise-champions-du-monde-p_4296876_1819218.html|newspaper=Le Monde|language=fr|access-date=8 March 2023|url-access=subscription}}{{cite book|last=Doniak|first=Jean-Marc|date=1998|title=Les fictions françaises à la télévision: 1945-1990, 15000 œuvres|publisher=Dixit|page=278|isbn=978-2-906587-88-5|oclc=293547679|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NrtkAAAAMAAJ}} in English in 1961 as Shadow Play, with Rupert Davies in the main role.{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/58e7008cbe8042659d93462c0194bdc8|title=Maigret: Shadow Play|date=23 October 1961|website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk|access-date=8 March 2023}}[https://www.trussel.com/maig/bookndx.htm#OMB Film history] at trussel.com.; retrieved 15 February 2023.
Reception
Anthony Boucher of The New York Times summarized the novel in 1964: "Maigret works against a background of respectable middle-class apartments, a cheap music hall and a sordid hotel in the Place Pigalle, all vividly realized, to solve a safe-robbery-plus-murder that reveals an unusually well-characterized killer".{{cite news|last=Boucher|first=Anthony|author-link=Anthony Boucher|date=27 September 1964|title=Criminals At Large|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/27/archives/criminals-at-large.html|url-status=live|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230308230549/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/27/archives/criminals-at-large.html|archive-date=8 March 2023|access-date=8 March 2023|url-access=limited}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|author1=Maurice Piron|author2=Michel Lemoine|date=1983|isbn=978-2-258-01152-6|pages=278–279|publisher=Presses de la Cité|title=L'Univers de Simenon, guide des romans et nouvelles (1931-1972) de Georges Simenon}} {{in lang|fr}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{portal|Novels}}
- [http://www.trussel.com/f_maig.htm Maigret] at trussel.com
{{Georges Simenon}}
{{Maigret}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadow in the Courtyard}}