Original title L'Homme pressé Language French Published in English 12 February 2015 Originally published 3 September 1941 Page count 332 Adaptations The Hurried Man (2005) | Translator Euan Cameron Publication date 3 September 1941 Pages 332 Publisher Éditions Gallimard Country France | |
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Similar Venises, Lewis and Irene, Fouquet ou le soleil offusque, Ouvert la nuit, Hecate and Her Dogs | ||
The Man in a Hurry (French: L'Homme pressé) is a 1941 novel by the French writer Paul Morand. It tells the story of a busy Paris antiques dealer who does not seem to be able to relax and settle down, not even when he finally falls in love, gets married and has a child. According to Morand, the main character is largely autobiographical. An English translation by Euan Cameron was published by Pushkin Press in 2015.
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Reception
Bill Spence of The Press wrote in 2015: "This novel is a joy to read and has been superbly translated for the first time in English. Euan Cameron brings out the true flavour of French literature. It is an unusual, witty book that is so apt for our way of life in a technological age." Kirkus Reviews wrote the same year: "The translation's prose is refined and worldly, the atmosphere European, the overall effect that of a jeu d'esprit. Where the book rises above that is in the depiction of the minimatriarchy Pierre marries into. The four women's curious behavior recalls moments in Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels and Eugenides' Virgin Suicides."
Film adaptations
The book has been the basis for two film adaptations. Édouard Molinaro's The Hurried Man, starring Alain Delon, premiered in 1977. It recorded admissions of 730,581 in France.
A television film directed by Sébastien Grall, also titled The Hurried Man, was released in 2005.