Novel: Summertime All the Cats Are Bored
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Helen
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Novel: Summertime All the Cats Are Bored
I've just finished reading this English translation of a French novel published in 2012. The author, Philippe Georget, is described as a news anchor for France 3 and this was his debut novel.
It's set in the PO and the main character is Inspector Gilles Sebag, who works in Perpignan. As with all good crime thrillers it starts with a murder-in this case, a young Dutch woman whose body is found on Argeles beach one hot summer.
It's worth a read, although the English translation is amusingly literal, and clunky at times! I discovered the book on Amazon completely by accident and, because it was set in the PO, downloaded it.
Undoubtedly there are better crime thrillers to be read, but this one kept my interest. I couldn't understand why, as a cop team, they hadn't pursued a few obvious things - but let them off, as it was the first time I'd read a crime story set in this part of the world. And, after all, the poor inspector was somewhat preoccupied with his wife's fidelity!
As for the title, heaven only knows! It's a direct translation of the French title - and is probably obscure in the original too. There is a cat in the story - and there's an element of cat and mouse throughout. But bored cats?
Anyway, I for one wasn't bored - and almost didn't make it to the boulangerie this morning in time for essential bread, so determined was I to get to the end!
It's set in the PO and the main character is Inspector Gilles Sebag, who works in Perpignan. As with all good crime thrillers it starts with a murder-in this case, a young Dutch woman whose body is found on Argeles beach one hot summer.
It's worth a read, although the English translation is amusingly literal, and clunky at times! I discovered the book on Amazon completely by accident and, because it was set in the PO, downloaded it.
Undoubtedly there are better crime thrillers to be read, but this one kept my interest. I couldn't understand why, as a cop team, they hadn't pursued a few obvious things - but let them off, as it was the first time I'd read a crime story set in this part of the world. And, after all, the poor inspector was somewhat preoccupied with his wife's fidelity!
As for the title, heaven only knows! It's a direct translation of the French title - and is probably obscure in the original too. There is a cat in the story - and there's an element of cat and mouse throughout. But bored cats?
Anyway, I for one wasn't bored - and almost didn't make it to the boulangerie this morning in time for essential bread, so determined was I to get to the end!
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martyn94
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I did a bit of googling on the french version of the title, thinking it might be some sort of literary reference/pun (like one of his others: "les violents de l'automne").
Not that I can find, but it seems that boredom in their cats is quite a pre-occupation for french cat lovers.
Tiresome that French publishers continue to mostly boycott publication on Kindle. Still, it's still a lot cheaper as a paperback in French. Have bought: I need something to counteract my Maigret withdrawal symptoms.
Not that I can find, but it seems that boredom in their cats is quite a pre-occupation for french cat lovers.
Tiresome that French publishers continue to mostly boycott publication on Kindle. Still, it's still a lot cheaper as a paperback in French. Have bought: I need something to counteract my Maigret withdrawal symptoms.
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Helen
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The nearest I got when googling the title was the YouTube persona of Henri le Chat Noir https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCKV9BaMeTZ1XkpTzvJl226Q
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martyn94
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I bought this and the following one (Les Violents d'automne) in French, and found them quite diverting at €15 the two, delivered. They follow a familiar template, and the P-O setting is a bit superficial (less so in the second one). But a disillusioned middle-aged Perpignanais makes a change from a disillusioned middle-aged Swede.
I'd read it in French if you can: apart from being a lot cheaper, it's probably a better read. It's pretty formulaic in the original (and not difficult), so I can believe that Helen found it clunky at times once translated. The occasional snippets of dialogue in catalan are agonisingly self-conscious in any language.
I'd read it in French if you can: apart from being a lot cheaper, it's probably a better read. It's pretty formulaic in the original (and not difficult), so I can believe that Helen found it clunky at times once translated. The occasional snippets of dialogue in catalan are agonisingly self-conscious in any language.
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Helen
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Helen
- Rank 5
- Posts: 257
- Joined: Tue 20 Dec 2005 20:08
- Contact: