MAN WHO WATCHED THE TRAINS GO BY

Of Simenon´s many novels, certain titles stand out as classics. This terrifying reconstruction of a madman´s mind is one of them. Known in the little Dutch town of Groningen as a respectable family man, Kees Popinga is the managing clerk of a reputed shipping firm. But when the company collapses under dubious circumstances just before Christmas, taking all his money with it, something snaps in Popinga´s mind. From the shell of this model citizen emerges a calculating paranoiac, capable of random acts of violence - even murder.

The fugitive Popinga makes his way to Paris, playing a bizarre game of cat and mouse with the police - determined to force a hostile world to recognize his newfound criminal genius. In The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By, Simenon creates a compelling portrait of a man pushed too far, vividly reconstructing the effect on a mind in the spiralling grip of madness.