simenon, maigret and the killer

i think i first encountered the books of simenon in the library of my father and mother's house. i didn't think i would ever actually read them. i thought the design of the books was cool. and i think at a certain point i knew that they were mysteries.

i decided to dive into the books of simenon at some point, and now i am a great fan of police detective (chief superintendent) maigret, working about the year 1950 to 1970, in paris, tracking down criminals and bringing them to justice.

the main thing is that maigret as a human being is compassionate, about as compassionate as you can imagine a head police detective being. at one point he says in the fictional book that sometimes people who are put away in prison come back to see him after having served their time behind bars. they are friendly to the man who put them away, because fundamentally they know they deserved time behind bars and they know maigret was only doing his job when he caught them in such a way that they were going to be convicted.

yes, we see all around us police officers and police detectives, in the world of TV and movies. but few are as on target, wise, clever, and compassionate as maigret.