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ncinsley's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
andrewdeyoung's review
4.0
This is the first book I've read by Georges Simenon, and though he's probably written better, this was a good place to start. Set against the backdrop of the Germans invading France during World War II, The Train is a character study with existentialist overtones, examining what happens to a man when the old conditions of his life are stripped away. The book is far from perfect, but it was a fascinating read and enough to interest me in reading more by Simenon. I'll be moving onto Tropic Moon next.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
4.0
You know those books where the plot is not much action but the characters and settings are so powerfully done it sells the book? That's this book about a French man and his family fleeing the advancing Germans.
And then you get to the end and you go wow, when you put it down.
And then you get to the end and you go wow, when you put it down.
lindagreen's review against another edition
4.0
The Neversink Library is a wonderful attempt by the publishing house Melville House to find the best hidden gems in worldwide literature. The books in this imprint are the ones that should be classics but, usually due to geography, have oftentimes not found a very wide audience.
Coming in at a scant 160 pages, Georges Simenon's The Train reads much more like a short story than a novel. It doesn't contain all the twists and turns that you would expect in a novel and, instead, stays much more focused on the singular plot idea. The book is not overly descriptive and tends to read as a "play by play" of daily events. This may prove boring for modern readers (it was first published in 1961) who are used to the more descriptive prose or edge of your seat thrill rides. I found the style a refreshing change and while I am not usually a fan of first person POV, I think it worked exceptionally well in this piece. However, I think this lack of descriptions and emotions may be one of the main reasons for the varying reviews of this book: having not experienced something like this yourself it makes it can make it difficult to understand the mentality and the actions that the characters engage in.
Personally, I enjoyed it immensely. In light of their situation, I understand his coupling with Anna (as he said it was just as much a desire for life as a desire for her) and the increasing despondency of being broken more and more into pieces from their original reality (the separation of train cars) into a place where ultimately they can only rely on themselves and their fellow travelers. Even in this the story excels...where once fear of their neighbors was had, as the journey continues these people become a surrogate life line - not folks they would choose to associate with (or condone the actions of) but by their common circumstances they are obliged to accept in order to survive.
The ending is as expected which, rather than dissappoint, provides a sense of expected closure to the story. Rather than over the top melodrama, this story rings so realistically true to the ordeals of daily events. It's not a movie..it's real life. Different from ours, yes, but no less joyful and tragic in its routine. As he intimated, daily life is often boring and nondescript but just once being able to experience passion for someone, some goal, life itself is what makes life worth living.
ARC Galley Proof
Coming in at a scant 160 pages, Georges Simenon's The Train reads much more like a short story than a novel. It doesn't contain all the twists and turns that you would expect in a novel and, instead, stays much more focused on the singular plot idea. The book is not overly descriptive and tends to read as a "play by play" of daily events. This may prove boring for modern readers (it was first published in 1961) who are used to the more descriptive prose or edge of your seat thrill rides. I found the style a refreshing change and while I am not usually a fan of first person POV, I think it worked exceptionally well in this piece. However, I think this lack of descriptions and emotions may be one of the main reasons for the varying reviews of this book: having not experienced something like this yourself it makes it can make it difficult to understand the mentality and the actions that the characters engage in.
Personally, I enjoyed it immensely. In light of their situation, I understand his coupling with Anna (as he said it was just as much a desire for life as a desire for her) and the increasing despondency of being broken more and more into pieces from their original reality (the separation of train cars) into a place where ultimately they can only rely on themselves and their fellow travelers. Even in this the story excels...where once fear of their neighbors was had, as the journey continues these people become a surrogate life line - not folks they would choose to associate with (or condone the actions of) but by their common circumstances they are obliged to accept in order to survive.
The ending is as expected which, rather than dissappoint, provides a sense of expected closure to the story. Rather than over the top melodrama, this story rings so realistically true to the ordeals of daily events. It's not a movie..it's real life. Different from ours, yes, but no less joyful and tragic in its routine. As he intimated, daily life is often boring and nondescript but just once being able to experience passion for someone, some goal, life itself is what makes life worth living.
ARC Galley Proof
pussreboots's review
3.0
Georges Simenon was a Belgian born writer who had a prolific career. He's best known for his Commissaire Maigret series which spans 75 novels and 28 short stories. He also wrote many other stand alone pulp novels under a variety of pseudonyms.
As his Maigret series pretty much drowns out the other books, it's been difficult to find much information about The Train. I can tell you that it was first published in 1961 as Le Train and it was first translated into English in 1964. It has since been retranslated and reissued by Melville books; it was their review galley that I read.
Marcel Féron has a normal, unexceptional life as a radio repairman in the Ardennes region of France. He has a 4 year old daughter and a wife who is seven months pregnant. As Paris falls and Belgium is invaded, he realizes he and his family have to make their escape. They head for the trains. So does (nearly) everyone else.
When traveling to escape there's no time to think and little time to react. Féron takes the new facts of his life with the same calmness that he takes all other aspects of his life.
There's a detachment to Féron. He reports on the dangers on the train with the same quietude as he describes his morning routine at home. Féron is a hard character to read. He is very much akin to the protagonist in Banana Yoshimoto's The Lake but I just couldn't relate to him as well.
As his Maigret series pretty much drowns out the other books, it's been difficult to find much information about The Train. I can tell you that it was first published in 1961 as Le Train and it was first translated into English in 1964. It has since been retranslated and reissued by Melville books; it was their review galley that I read.
Marcel Féron has a normal, unexceptional life as a radio repairman in the Ardennes region of France. He has a 4 year old daughter and a wife who is seven months pregnant. As Paris falls and Belgium is invaded, he realizes he and his family have to make their escape. They head for the trains. So does (nearly) everyone else.
When traveling to escape there's no time to think and little time to react. Féron takes the new facts of his life with the same calmness that he takes all other aspects of his life.
There's a detachment to Féron. He reports on the dangers on the train with the same quietude as he describes his morning routine at home. Féron is a hard character to read. He is very much akin to the protagonist in Banana Yoshimoto's The Lake but I just couldn't relate to him as well.
chalicotherex's review
5.0
The first part of the novel's about the way we form groups with strangers, both in extraordinary situations like war (where the old rules of conduct can quickly fall away) and in more mundane gatherings, like sharing public transit. The second half is about life as a refugee, and is up there with Celine's final trilogy for documenting the uncertainty of such a life.
And even though you're with the protagonist all the way, you realize he's a piece of shit. Still, you always tell yourself you'll be the guy who signs up with the Resistance, never the guy who keeps his head down.
And even though you're with the protagonist all the way, you realize he's a piece of shit. Still, you always tell yourself you'll be the guy who signs up with the Resistance, never the guy who keeps his head down.
oldpondnewfrog's review against another edition
5.0
First read March 2013
I'm not sure what it was about this book, but lately, for some reason, it's been the one I think of first.
"I want to make it clear right away that I was not an unhappy man, nor a sad man either."
Second read October 2014
What a novel. It just works for me. I am taken in all the way. Great chapter endings. Great familiarity among the strangers-become-roommates on the train. And a really poignant, believable love affair.
There is this sense of inevitability that I can't quite express, but which I experience strongly. It's also present in other works—like Don Henley's "The End of the Innocence."
The translation by Robert Baldick is, I think, especially good.
"When I woke up, a yellowish light which I knew so well was filtering into the bedroom through the holland curtains. Our windows, on the first floor, have no shutters. None of the houses in the street has any."
I love that has.
I love the ending, which is unusually satisfying for a thing like this that has to come to an end.
I love the narrator, whose mention of irrelevant details is integral to the pleasure of his tale, and whose uncertainty about his own feelings somehow makes me understand better.
I'm not sure what it was about this book, but lately, for some reason, it's been the one I think of first.
"I want to make it clear right away that I was not an unhappy man, nor a sad man either."
Second read October 2014
What a novel. It just works for me. I am taken in all the way. Great chapter endings. Great familiarity among the strangers-become-roommates on the train. And a really poignant, believable love affair.
There is this sense of inevitability that I can't quite express, but which I experience strongly. It's also present in other works—like Don Henley's "The End of the Innocence."
The translation by Robert Baldick is, I think, especially good.
"When I woke up, a yellowish light which I knew so well was filtering into the bedroom through the holland curtains. Our windows, on the first floor, have no shutters. None of the houses in the street has any."
I love that has.
I love the ending, which is unusually satisfying for a thing like this that has to come to an end.
I love the narrator, whose mention of irrelevant details is integral to the pleasure of his tale, and whose uncertainty about his own feelings somehow makes me understand better.
reader_fictions's review against another edition
2.0
Believe it or not, I was a History major in undergrad, not English, although, given my love of literature, that might have been the obvious choice. I do also really enjoy reading about history, although I do it less, since so many academic historians write so dryly and reading their books is like pulling teeth. My favorite historical periods to study are World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War, not the battles so much, but what life was like. I am a sucker for novels about these time periods as much as I am for ya books with corsets on the cover.
I tried, somewhat halfheartedly, to find out some historical background on The Train, but was not particularly successful. Apparently, the book was forgotten after its initial publication and is now being republished in a snazzy new cover by Melville House, which is doing the same for a number of old titles. The initial publication in English was in 1964.
The book itself was somewhat of a disappointment. It had some inherent interest, because Simenon discussed a section of wartime life I knew nothing about, which I always love. The refugees on the trains are reminiscent of Holocaust memoirs, only they had it so incredibly easy. Their trains made so many stops, so they could get out and do their business, and they were given free, pretty plentiful and delicious food at each station. They had enough space to lay down in the train cars. Still, they were pretty cramped and they had no idea where they were going or precisely what would happen to them when they got there. This was all cool.
The main problem I had with The Train was either the translation or Simenon's writing style, although I cannot say which. The syntax was often odd and stilted, making me need to read a few sentences a couple of times to figure out what was going on. Its like the rhythm is just a little bit off somehow.
I also did not appreciate reading yet another book about an affair. Sigh. To be fair though, the affair did support the story and made perfect sense in context. The freedom that everyone felt was a part of the train journey too. It was so different from daily experience that people felt uninhibited: "I wasn't alone in feeling outside ordinary life and its conventions" (126).
Also cool is the question of how reliable of a narrator Marcel really is. Some of his assertions definitely need to be taken with a cellar of salt. At only 153 pages, The Train is well-worth the time it takes to read for the unique reflection on WWII life.
I tried, somewhat halfheartedly, to find out some historical background on The Train, but was not particularly successful. Apparently, the book was forgotten after its initial publication and is now being republished in a snazzy new cover by Melville House, which is doing the same for a number of old titles. The initial publication in English was in 1964.
The book itself was somewhat of a disappointment. It had some inherent interest, because Simenon discussed a section of wartime life I knew nothing about, which I always love. The refugees on the trains are reminiscent of Holocaust memoirs, only they had it so incredibly easy. Their trains made so many stops, so they could get out and do their business, and they were given free, pretty plentiful and delicious food at each station. They had enough space to lay down in the train cars. Still, they were pretty cramped and they had no idea where they were going or precisely what would happen to them when they got there. This was all cool.
The main problem I had with The Train was either the translation or Simenon's writing style, although I cannot say which. The syntax was often odd and stilted, making me need to read a few sentences a couple of times to figure out what was going on. Its like the rhythm is just a little bit off somehow.
I also did not appreciate reading yet another book about an affair. Sigh. To be fair though, the affair did support the story and made perfect sense in context. The freedom that everyone felt was a part of the train journey too. It was so different from daily experience that people felt uninhibited: "I wasn't alone in feeling outside ordinary life and its conventions" (126).
Also cool is the question of how reliable of a narrator Marcel really is. Some of his assertions definitely need to be taken with a cellar of salt. At only 153 pages, The Train is well-worth the time it takes to read for the unique reflection on WWII life.
alanfederman's review against another edition
4.0
Taut, psychological novel about a couple that is separated when the Germans invade Belgium and France. It shows what one does to cope with life during wartime, physically and emotionally.
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