Reviews

Μπέττυ by Georges Simenon

virgi4's review against another edition

Tanto per 'amare' un altro po' di più la donna.

franci_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

naimfrewat's review against another edition

5.0

Highly appreciated

iainkelly_writing's review against another edition

3.0

One of the very few Simenon novels that failed to really grip me. The writing is good as always, but Betty is unsympathetic and there's not enough happening to really engross the reader.

blueyorkie's review against another edition

3.0

Betty is the observation that a woman makes of having had the wrong life, an observation in which she was nevertheless an accomplice for ten years, in full consciousness, not really knowing how to do otherwise. From modest and rural strata, she found herself, through her marriage, embarked on a family of the upper-middle class, knowing that she thus accepted not to live out her true aspirations. But real questions are asked through this little book, on the female condition (written in 1960) of the time, through various examples just touched on, but which constitute the atmosphere of the book: this orphan character in the countryside , girl to do everything and to relieve the male race at the same time; the lack of taking control of her destiny by Betty because, in these "upper" families, it is the man who decides and the woman must perfectly play a role which has been devolved to her from all eternity (see the volume 2 of the second sex of Simone de Beauvoir), the maternal instinct which, after all does not necessarily fall from the sky as we wanted to make us believe, the character of Laura who is not "Laura" but who was "the woman of a great doctor "then" Mario's mistress ", and who, when her existence is no longer justified by a man at her side, prefers to die (moreover, we do not know how and why she died, but she died of find alone and certainly not out of heartache), etc ... So several women in this book, who are either transparent, or non-existent, in any case lost. Betty herself becomes a kind of someone again by becoming "mistress of ..."
So an interesting book, a light and constant psychological study, a gloomy atmosphere of streets, bars and clubs bathed in alcohol, frustrations and one night's sex, clumsy and which leads to a great void, sometimes lengths, and simplicity in style full of depth (simple but not bland!)

furfff's review against another edition

1.0

Not a book that has aged well. A supposed examination/exploration of where depravity (in this particular case, insatiably horndog women) comes from, but really just a tittering celebration of it.

lnatal's review against another edition

2.0

Not the best of Simenon, I am afraid.

2* Betty
4* Pietr the Latvian (Maigret, #1)
3* The Carter of 'La Providence' (Maigret, #2)
3* The Late Monsieur Gallet (Maigret, #3)
4* The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien (Maigret, #4)
3* A Man's Head (Maigret #5)
4* The Yellow Dog (Maigret #6)
4* The Night at the Crossroads (Maigret #7)
2* A Crime in Holland (Maigret #8)
3* The Grand Banks Café (Maigret, #9)
3* The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin (Maigret #10)
3* The Two-Penny Bar (Maigret, #11)
4* The Misty Harbour (Maigret, #15)
4* Lock No. 1 (Maigret, #18)
4* The Cellars of the Majestic (Maigret, #20)
3* Inspector Cadaver (Maigret, #25)
3* Maigret Se Fache (Maigret, #26)
4* Maigret's Holiday (Maigret, #28)
4* La première enquête de Maigret (Maigret, #30)
4* My Friend Maigret (Maigret #31)
4* Maigret at the Coroner's (Maigret #32)
3* The Friend of Madame Maigret (Maigret #34)
3* Maigret and the Burglar's Wife (Maigret, #38)
3* Maigret's Mistake (Maigret, #43)
3* Maigret and the Calame Report (Maigret, #46)
3* Maigret si diverte (Maigret, #50)
3* Maigret in Court (Maigret, #55)
3* Maigret and the Idle Burglar (Maigret, #57)
3* Maigret and the Bum (Maigret, #60)
4* Maigret Loses His Temper (Maigret, #61)
3* Maigret on the Defensive (Maigret, #63)
3* Maigret Bides His Time (Maigret #64)
3* Maigret Hesitates (Maigret, #68)
3* Maigret's Boyhood Friend (Maigret, #69)
3* Maigret and the Madwoman (Maigret, #72)
4* Maigret and the Loner (Maigret, #73)
TR The Shadow Puppet (Inspector Maigret #12)
TR The Saint-Fiacre Affair (Inspector Maigret #13)
TR The Flemish House (Maigret, #14)
TR The Madman of Bergerac (Inspector Maigret #16)
TR Liberty Bar (Maigret, #17)
TR Maigret (Maigret, #19)
TR The Judge's House (Maigret, #21)
TR Cécile is Dead (Maigret, #22)
TR Signed, Picpus (Maigret, #23)
TR Félicie (Maigret, #24)
TR Maigret à New York (Maigret, #27)
TR Il morto di Maigret (Maigret, #29)
TR Maigret et la Vieille Dame (Maigret, #33)
TR Le memorie di Maigret (Maigret #35)
TR Maigret in Montmartre (Maigret #36)
TR Maigret Rents a Room (Maigret #37)
TR Maigret and the Gangsters (Maigret #39)
TR Maigret's Revolver (Maigret #40)
TR Maigret and the Man on the Bench (Maigret #41)
TR Maigret Afraid (Maigret #42)
TR Maigret Goes to School (Maigret #44)
TR Maigret et la jeune morte (Maigret #45)
TR Maigret and the Headless Corpse (Maigret #47)
TR Maigret Sets a Trap (Maigret, #48)
TR Maigret's Failure (Maigret #49)