Having decided not to read the blurb on the back it took me
a while to get into this story and brush aside my preconceptions. Based on the
title I had expected the main character to have seen some hideous crime and
either chosen to escape the consequences or perhaps had seen something happen
as a commuter train chugged by.
Once I got past that idea and settled into what becomes a
story of cat and mouse and a psychological battle for the protagonist Kees
Popinga to stay ahead of the law.
There is a sense his luck will eventually run out but
because the story is predominately told through his eyes you end up wondering
if he can keep going and evade the police.
After all he has suffered a shock to the system that
eradicates his comfort zone and removes any chance of continuing with his
normal life. The next major events are overshadowed by that mental collapse and
the sense that the most normal of men has become anything but.
By the end as he suffers misfortunes that cause him to run out
of options you find yourself sympathising with his situation. The final moments
also leave you pondering about what is insanity and whether that delivers
Popinga an escape from facing the consequences in reality.
That seems to be the main takeaway for me around the idea of
a mental collapse and examining what happens when a world is turned upside down
and the boundaries of normal life, the nine to five and Sunday diners, are
removed.
As usual with Simenon the writing flows easily and the
sketches of Parisian cafes and boarding houses are delivered with an acute eye
but a deft touch.
This isn't a Maigret story and if anything the Police are
described at a distance for the vast majority of the story. But this has all
the hallmarks of a study into caracter, the results of extreme pressure and the
choices made as that mounts.
