Prix Mystère de la critique
1 appearances
-
Edition 3 (1974) Winner
Boileau-Narcejac
ぼわろー＝なるすじゃっく
Bowarō-Narusujakku
Aliases:
Pierre Boileau / Thomas Narcejac
Pen Names:
Alain Bouccarèje（Early joint pen name）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1906-04-28 （Paris）
- Died
- 1998-06-07 （Nice） age 89
- Nationality
- French
- Languages
- French
- Residence History
- Paris, France → Rochefort-sur-Mer, France → Nantes, France → Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France → Nice, France
Career
- Occupations
- writer, crime fiction writer, screenwriter
- Active Years
- 1951-1998
- Affiliations
- Lycée Georges-Clemenceau (Nantes)
- Influenced By
- Georges Simenon, Cornell Woolrich
- Influenced
- Alfred Hitchcock, Henri-Georges Clouzot
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Bordeaux | — | literature and philosophy | — | — | France |
| University of Poitiers | — | literature and philosophy | — | — | France |
| University of Paris | — | literature and philosophy | — | — | France |
University of Bordeaux
literature and philosophy
Country:
France
Degrees obtained by Thomas Narcejac
University of Poitiers
literature and philosophy
Country:
France
Degrees obtained by Thomas Narcejac
University of Paris
literature and philosophy
Country:
France
Degrees obtained by Thomas Narcejac
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Prix du Roman d'Aventures | Le repos de Bacchus | — | — | winner |
| 1948 | Prix du Roman d'Aventures | La mort est du voyage | — | — | winner |
| 1965 | Grand Prix de l’Humour Noir | Et mon tout est un homme | — | — | winner |
Prix du Roman d'Aventures
1938
Work:
Le repos de Bacchus
Result:
winner
Prix du Roman d'Aventures
1948
Work:
La mort est du voyage
Result:
winner
Grand Prix de l’Humour Noir
1965
Work:
Et mon tout est un homme
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Celle qui n'était plus
1952 crime fictionA wife and lover plot to kill her husband, leading to horrifying twists in this psychological thriller.
psychological suspensevictim perspectiveatmosphere of fear
Adaptations
- [film] Les Diaboliques / Henri-Georges Clouzot (1955)
- [film] Diabolique / Jeremiah S. Chechik (1996)
Translations
- She Who Was No More
D'entre les morts
1954 psychological thrillerA man obsessed with a woman resembling his dead lover descends into vertigo and nightmare.
obsessiondisorientationsupernatural dread
Adaptations
- [film] Vertigo / Alfred Hitchcock (1958)
Translations
- Vertigo
Les Louves
1955 crime fictionSuspense involving dangerous women.
femme fatalepsychological warfare
Adaptations
- [film] Les Louves / Luis Saslavsky (1957)
Translations
- The Prisoner
Bibliography
- Celle qui n'était plus
- Les Visages de l'ombre
- D'entre les morts
- Les Louves
- Le mauvais oeil
- Au bois dormant
- Les magiciennes
- L'ingénieur aimait trop les chiffres
- À cœur perdu
- Maléfices
- Maldonne
- Les victimes
- Le train bleu s'arrête treize fois
- Et mon tout est un homme
- La mort a dit : Peut-être
- La Porte du large
- Delirium, suivi de L'Île
- Les Veufs
- La Vie en miettes
- Opération Primevère
- Frère Judas
- La Tenaille
- La lèpre
- L'âge bête
- Carte vermeil
- Les intouchables
- Terminus
- Box-office
- Mamie
- Les Eaux dormantes
- La Dernière Cascade
- Schuss
- Mister Hyde
- Champ clos
- Le Contrat
- J'ai été un fantôme
- Le Bonsaï
- Le soleil dans la main
- La main passe
- Les nocturnes
Adaptations
- Les Diaboliques (1955)
- Vertigo (1958)
- Faces in the Dark (1960)
- Eyes Without a Face (1960) (screenplay)
- Adieu Vinyle (2023)
Translations of Works
- She Who Was No More (English)
- Vertigo (English)
- Faces in the Dark (English)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- victim novel (le roman de la victime)plot ingenuityskillful psychological evocation
- Recurring Motifs
- unease and disorientationmounting feardark side of reason
Health
-
loss of one eye幼少期prevented seafaring career
-
medical condition1940-1942led to release from POW camp
Legacy
Credited with creating a distinctly French crime fiction subgenre focused on local settings and psychological suspense. Internationally known for film adaptations by Hitchcock and Clouzot.
In Popular Culture
- Source novel for Hitchcock's Vertigo
- Source novel for Clouzot's Les Diaboliques
- Thomas Narcejac Street in Nantes
Quotes
-
I felt that the best kind of detective novel could not be written by any one person, since it involved the improbable blending, in a single individual, of two opposite personalities: the technician’s and the psychologist’s.
Source: Description of writing style
Trivia
- French writing duo of Pierre Boileau (1906–1989) and Pierre Ayraud (aka Thomas Narcejac, 1908–1998).
- Boileau provided plots, Narcejac handled atmosphere and characterization.
- Met at the 1948 Prix du Roman d'Aventures awards dinner.
- Narcejac lost one eye in a childhood accident, forgoing a seafaring career.
- Boileau met Jean-Paul Sartre in a WWII POW camp.
- Narcejac taught philosophy and literature at Lycée Georges-Clemenceau in Nantes until 1967.