Marcel Aymé

Marcel Aymé (29 March 1902 – 14 October 1967) was a French novelist and playwright, who also wrote screenplays and works for children.

Biography

Marcel André Aymé was born in Joigny, in the Burgundy region of France, the youngest of six children. His father, Joseph, was a blacksmith, and his mother, Emma Monamy, died when he was two years old, after the family had moved to Tours. Marcel was sent to live with his maternal grandparents in the village of Villers-Robert, a place where he would spend the next eight years, and which would serve as the model for the fictitious village of Claquebue in what is perhaps the most well-known of his novels, '' La Jument verte''. In 1906 Marcel entered the local primary school. Because his grandfather was a staunch anti-clerical republican, he was looked down upon by his classmates, many of whose parents held more traditional views. Accordingly, Marcel was not baptized before reaching the age of eight, nearly two years after the death of his grandfather in 1908. Orphaned once more when his grandmother died two years later, he briefly lived with other family members before moving to Dole, a small town of the Franche-Comte region, to stay with an aunt and attend the Collège de l'Arc, where he demonstrated more ability in mathematics than in literature. His years at school there were an unpleasant experience he would never look back on fondly.

Despite ongoing issues with his health that had begun when he was a child, Aymé was able to perform his military service, which began in 1919, as part of an artillery unit in the occupied Rhineland. In 1923 he moved to Paris where he worked unsuccessfully at a bank, an insurance company, and as a journalist. Though he failed in his career as a reporter, his stint at the newspaper allowed him to discover his love of writing.

His first published novel was ''Brûlebois'' (1926), and in 1929 his ''La Table aux crevés'' won the Prix Renaudot. After the great success of his novel ''La Jument verte'' (1933), translated into English as ''The Green Mare'', he concentrated mostly on writing and published children's stories, novels, and collections of stories. In 1935 he also started writing movie scripts. In theater, Marcel Aymé found success with his plays ''Lucienne et le boucher, Clérambard'' (1949), a farce, and ''Tête des autres'' (1952), which criticized the death penalty.

He died in 1967 and was buried in the Cimetière Saint-Vincent in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris.

Work

One of Aymé's most famous short stories is '' Le passe-muraille'' or "The Walker-Through-Walls". At the age of 42, Dutilleul suddenly discovers that he has "the remarkable gift of being able to pass through walls with perfect ease". What begins as a novelty that gives him pleasure ends up pushing Dutilleul toward ever more sinister pursuits.

Legacy

Visitors to Paris can see a monument in his honor at Place Marcel-Aymé, in the Montmartre Quarter. The statue is based upon his short story "Le passe-muraille" ("The Walker through Walls").

Bibliography

Novels

*1926 ''Brûlebois''
*1927 ''Aller Retour''
*1928 ''Les Jumeaux du diable''
*1929 '' La Table aux crevés'' (translated as ''The Hollow Field'')
*1930 ''La Rue sans nom''
*1931 ''Le Vaurien''
*1933 '' La Jument verte'' (translated as ''The Green Mare'')
*1935 '' Maison basse'' (translated as ''The House of Men'')
*1936 '' Le Moulin de la Sourdine'' (translated as ''The Secret Stream'')
*1937 ''Gustalin''
*1939 ''Le Bœuf clandestine''
*1941 '' La Belle image'' (variously translated as ''The Second Face'', ''The Grand Seduction'', and ''Beautiful Image'')
*1941 '' Travelingue'' (novel translated as ''The Miraculous Barber'')
*1943 '' La Vouivre'' (translated as ''The Fable and the Flesh'')
*1946 '' Le Chemin des écoliers'' (novel translated as ''The Transient Hour'')
*1948 ''Uranus'' (novel translated as ''The Barkeep of Blémont'')
*1960 '' Les Tiroirs de l'inconnu'' (novel translated as ''The Conscience of Love'')

Short story collections

French

*1932 ''Le Puits aux images'' (contains, in addition to the title story, "La Retraite de Russie," "Les Mauvaises Fièvres," "Noblesse," "A et B," "Pastorale," "Les Clochards," "L'Individu," "Au clair de la lune," "La Lanterne," "Enfants perdus")
*1934 ''Le Nain'' (contains, in addition to the title story, "La Canne," "La Liste," "Deux victimes," "Rue Saint-Sulpice," "Bonne vie et mœurs," "L'Affaire Touffard," "Le Mariage de César," "Trois faits divers," "L'Armure," "Sporting," "La Clé sous le paillasson," "Le Dernier")
*1934-1946 '' Les Contes du chat perché'' (translated as ''The Magic Pictures'' and ''The Wonderful Farm'')
*1938 ''Derrière chez Martin'' (contains "Le Romancier Martin," "Je suis renvoyé," "L'Élève Martin," "Le Temps mort," Le Cocu nombreux," "L'Âme de Martin," "Rue de l'Évangile," "Conte de Noël," "La Statue")
*1943 ''Le Passe-muraille'' (contains, in addition to the title story, "Les Sabines," "La Carte," "Le Décret," "Le Proverbe," "Légende poldève," "Le Percepteur d'épouses," "Les Bottes de sept lieues," "L'Huissier," "En attendant")
*1947 ''Le Vin de Paris'' (contains, in addition to the title story, "L’Indifférent," " La Traversée de Paris," "La Grâce," "Dermuche," "La Fosse aux péchés," "Le Faux Policier," "La Bonne Peinture")
*1950 ''Les Bottes de sept lieues''
*1950 ''En arrière'' (contains, in addition to the title story, "Oscar et Erick," "Fiançailles," "Rechute," "Avenue Junot," "Les Chiens de notre vie," "Conte du milieu," "Josse," "La Vamp et le Normalien," "Le Mendiant")
*1967 ''Enjambées'' (first posthumous collection contains seven stories, all of which appeared earlier except for "La Fabrique")
*1987 ''La fille du shérif''

English

*1958 ''Across Paris and Other Stories''
*1961 ''The Proverb and Other Stories'' (contains, in addition to the title story, "Three News Items," "Knate," "The Retreat from Moscow," "Josse," "Backwards," "The Boy Martin," "The Life-Ration," "The Bogus Policeman," "Couldn't-Care-Less," "La Bonne Peinture," "The Last")
*1972 ''The Walker-through-walls and Other Stories''
*2012 ''The Man Who Walked through Walls'' (contains, in addition to the title story, "Sabine Women," "Tickets on Time," "The Problem of Summertime," "The Proverb," "Poldevian Legend," "The Wife Collector," "The Seven-League Boots," "The Bailiff," "While Waiting")

Plays

* 1948 ''Lucienne et le boucher'' (''Lucienne and the Butcher'')
* 1950 '' Clérambard'' translated by Norman Denny
* 1951 ''Vogue la galère'' (adapted into a a film in 1973)
* 1952 ''La tête des autres'' (''Other People's Heads'')
* 1954 ''Les quatre vérités''
* 1954 ''Les sorcières de Salem'' (''The Salem Witches'', adapted from ''The Crucible'' by Arthur Miller)
* 1955 ''Les oiseaux de lune'' ('' The Moon Birds'')
* 1957 ''La mouche bleue'' (''The Blue Fly'')
* 1957 ''Vu du pont''
* 1961 ''Louisiane''
* 1961 ''Les Maxibules'' (''The Maxibules'')
* 1963 ''La consommation''
* 1963 ''Le placard'' (''The Wall Cupboard'')
* 1965 ''La nuit de l'iguane'' (''The Night of the Iguana'', adapted from ''The Night of the Iguana'' by Tennessee Williams)
* 1966 ''La convention Belzébir'' (''The Belzébir Convention'')
* 1967 ''Le minotaure''

Screenwriter

* ''Crime and Punishment'' (dir. Pierre Chenal, 1935)
* ''The Green Domino'' (dir. Herbert Selpin and Henri Decoin, 1935)
* '' Les mutinés de l'Elseneur'' (dir. Pierre Chenal, 1936)
* ' (dir. Louis Daquin, 1941)
* ' (dir. Maurice Gleize, 1941)
* '' Strange Inheritance'' (dir. Louis Daquin, 1943)
* ' (dir. Louis Daquin, 1943)
* ''Papa, Mama, the Maid and I'' (dir. Jean-Paul Le Chanois, 1954)
* ''Papa, maman, ma femme et moi'' (dir. Jean-Paul Le Chanois, 1955)
* '' Your Money or Your Life'' (dir. Jean-Pierre Mocky, 1966)

Filmography

* '' Street Without a Name'', directed by Pierre Chenal (1934, based on the novel '' La Rue sans nom'')
* ''Mr. Peek-a-Boo'', directed by Jean Boyer (1951, based on the short story '' The passer-through-walls'')
* ''The Beautiful Image'', directed by Claude Heymann (1951, based on the novel ''La Belle image'')
* ', directed by Henri Verneuil (1951, based on the novel '' The Hollow Field'')
* '' La Traversée de Paris'', directed by Claude Autant-Lara (1956, based on the short story ''Traversée de Paris'')
* ''Way of Youth'', directed by Michel Boisrond (1959, based on the novel ''Le Chemin des écoliers'')
* '' The Man Who Walked Through the Wall'', directed by Ladislao Vajda (West Germany, 1959, based on the short story '' The passer-through-walls'')
* '' The Green Mare'', directed by Claude Autant-Lara (1959, based on the novel '' The Green Mare'')
* ', directed by (1961, TV film, based on the short story ''Le Nain'')
* ', directed by Philippe Agostini (1967, TV film, based on the short story ''La Bonne Peinture'')
* ', directed by Jacques Pierre (1969, TV film, based on the novel ''Le Boeuf clandestin'')
* '' Clérambard'', directed by Yves Robert (1969, based on the play ''Clérambard'')
* '' Vogue la galère'', directed by Raymond Rouleau (1973, based on the play ''Vogue la galère'')
* ', directed by Pierre Tchernia (1977, TV film, based on the short story '' The passer-through-walls'')
* ', directed by Pierre Tchernia (1979, TV film, based on the short story ''La Grâce'')
* ', directed by Georges Wilson (1989, based on the novel ''La Vouivre'')
* ''Uranus'', directed by Claude Berri (1990, based on the novel ''Uranus'')
* ', directed by (1990, TV film, based on the short story ''Les Bottes de sept lieues'')
* ', directed by Pierre Tchernia (1991, TV film, based on the short story ''L'Huissier'')
* ''The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish'', directed by Ben Lewin (1991, based on the short story ''Rue Saint-Sulpice'')
* ', directed by (2002, based on the short story ''Le Temps mort'')
* ', directed by (2013, TV film, based on the novel ''Le Boeuf clandestin'')
* ', directed by (2016, TV film, based on the short story '' The passer-through-walls'')

See also

* List of French writers

References

External links

SAMA: Société des Amis de Marcel Aymé (in French)
*

Author page
at Pushkin Press

Le roman selon les romanciers: bibliographie critique de l'Université McGill (French)
Inventory and analysis of Marcel Aymé's non-novelistic writings about the novel
* Link to severa

including ''The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls'' or ''Le Passe-Muraille''


(personal web site)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayme, Marcel
1902 births
1967 deaths
People from Joigny
French children's writers
French humorists
French fantasy writers
Writers from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
20th-century French novelists
20th-century French male writers
French male novelists
French dramatists and playwrights
French male screenwriters
20th-century French screenwriters
People of Montmartre
Légion d'honneur refusals
Prix Blumenthal
Prix Renaudot winners