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Marcel Aymé (; 29 March 1902 – 14 October 1967) was a French
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...
and
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...
, 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 A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
, and his mother, Emma Monamy, died when he was two years old, after the family had moved to
Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
. 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 Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
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 publishing children's stories, novels, and collections of stories. In 1935 he also started writing movie scripts. In theatre, 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 Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...
Quarter of
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.


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 honour at Place Marcel-Aymé, in the Montmartre Quarter. The statue is based on 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 clandestin'' *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 Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...
'' (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 ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...
'' 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 Henri Decoin (18 March 1890 – 4 July 1969) was a French film director and screenwriter, who directed more than 50 films between 1933 and 1964. He was also a swimmer who won the national title in 1911 and held the national record in the 500 ...
, 1935) * '' The Mutiny of the Elsinore'' (dir. Pierre Chenal, 1936) * '' Portrait of Innocence'' (dir. Louis Daquin, 1941) * '' The Suitors Club'' (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 Yves Robert (; 19 June 1920 – 10 May 2002) was a French actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. Life and career Robert was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France. In his teens, he went to Paris to pursue a career in acting, starting w ...
(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 Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...
'', directed by Claude Berri (1990, based on the novel ''
Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...
'') * ', 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 Ben Lewin (born 1946) is an Australian Film director, film and television director. Early life and education Ben Lewin was born in Poland. As a child, he emigrated with his family to Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. At the age of six, he con ...
(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)
* *
Marcel Aymé
at publisher 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''

(fan site) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayme, Marcel 1902 births 1967 deaths People from Joigny French children's writers French humorists French fantasy writers 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 Legion of Honour refusals Prix Blumenthal Prix Renaudot winners