Marcel Aymé

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Le Passe-muraille de Jean Marais, Place Marcel-Aymé Paris

Marcel Aymé (March 29, 1902 - October 14, 1967) was a French novelist, children's writer , humour writer and also a movie and theater playwright.

1 Biography
2 Work
3 Novels and short stories
4 Theater plays
5 Memory
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Biography

Marcel Aymé was born in Joigny, in the Yonne département (Bourgogne). He studied in the Collège de Dole, and worked among other as a journalist in Paris. In literature, his first novel was Brûlebois (1926) and in 1929 La Table aux crevés won the Prix Renaudot. After the success of his novel La Jument verte (1933), he concentrated mostly on literature. He published children's stories, novels and collections. 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.

Tombe de Marcel Aymé. Cimetière Saint-Vincent, Paris.

[edit] Work

One of Aymé's most famous short stories is Le Passe-Muraille or The Walker-Through-Walls, for which there is a sculpture in Paris (see image above) that features the story's main character, Dutilleul. At the age of 42, Dutilleul suddenly discovered he "had the remarkable gift of being able to pass through walls with perfect ease." What begins as a novelty that gives him pleasure, the ability pushes Dutilleul toward more sinister pursuits.

[edit] Novels and short stories

Brûlebois, novel (1926)
Back and Forth (Aller-retour), novel (1927)
The Devil's Twins (Les Jumeaux du Diable) , novel (1928)
The Table of Corpses (La Table-aux-crevés), novel (1929)
The Street Without a Name (La Rue sans nom), novel (1930)
The Good-for-nothing (Le Vaurien), novel (1931)
The Well of Images (Le Puits aux images) (1932)
The Green Mare (La Jument verte), novel (1933)
The Dwarf (Le nain), short stories (1934)
The Wonderful Farm (Les contes du chat perché), 17 short stories (1934-1946) - re-edited as Œuvres romanesques complètes, by Gallimard, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, vol. III.
The Low House (Maison basse), novel (1935)
The Mill on the Sourdine (Le Moulin de la Sourdine), novel (1936)
Gustalin, novel (1937)
Behind Martin's Place (Derrière chez Martin), short stories (1938)
The Clandestine Beef (Le Boeuf clandestin), novel (1939)
The Beautiful Picture (La Belle Image) (1941) - also translated by Norman Denny as The Grand Seduction ISBN: 0722113110
Travelingue, novel (1941)
The Sorceress (La Vouivre), novel (1943)
The Man Who Walked Through Walls (Le Passe-Muraille ISBN: 2070369617), short stories (1943)
The Schoolboy Way (Le chemin des écoliers), novel (1946)
The Wine of Paris (Le Vin de Paris), short stories (1947)
Uranus, novel (1948)
Going Behind (En arrière) (1950)
The Drawers of The Unknown Man (Les tiroirs de l'inconnu), novel (1960)
The Sherif's Daughter (La fille du shérif) (1987) - posthumous collection of short stories, compiled by Michel Lecureur

[edit] Theater plays

Lucienne and the Butcher (Lucienne et le boucher) (1948)
Clérambard (1950)
Vogue la galère (1951)
Other People's Heads (La tête des autres) (1952)
Les quatre vérités (1954)
The Salem Witches (Les sorcières de Salem) (1954), adapted from the American play by A. Miller
The Moon Birds (Les oiseaux de lune) (1955)
The Blue Fly (La mouche bleue) (1957)
Vu du pont (1957)
Louisiane (1961)
The Maxibules (Les Maxibules) (1961)
La consommation (1963)
The Wall Cupboard (Le placard) (1963)
The Night of Iguana (La nuit de l'iguane) , adapted from the American play by T. Williams (1965)
The Belzébir Convention (La convention Belzébir) (1966)
Le minotaure (1967)

[edit] Memory

His works have inspired a number of movies, television shows and comic strips.

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).