Earlier this year - after being very highly recommended by a friend who lived in France for several years - I read l'Ecume Des Jours (Foam of the Daze) written by celebrated French author Boris Vian in 1947.
It's a lovely little novel set in a very imaginative, surrealist world where jazz, beautiful women and 'Jean-Sol Partre' reign above all.
The novel is full of great imagery and ideas, including talking mice, a sensitive environment that is reactive to emotions, fatal illnesses caused by flower-inhabited lungs, and a rather revolutionary 'pianocktail' machine which creates cocktails from the music played on a piano. I'm not really sure if the world that Vian creates is ultimately more beautiful than it is scary; I'm inclined to think otherwise, but it certainly is lovely to visit.
Not being French, I can't/won't attempt to comment on a well-loved novel by an author considered to be a national treasure, but I will say that it is a nice and surprising read, and that the upcoming film adaptation by Michel Gondry seems to be very well-suited to the director's oeuvre.
Just look at that imagery! Vian and Gondry were surely made for each other (although throughout his life Boris Vian was always staunchly against film adaptations of his novels - so I do wonder if he were alive if he would still remain adamant).
Being a fan of graphic design I did a search of Foam of the Daze book covers and posters and found that through its many re-prints there have been a number of beautifully designed covers.
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| A poster from a French theatre production |
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| Illustration by Mary Birdy |
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| A poster for 1968 film adaptation by Charles Belmont |
Michel Gondry's 2013 adaptation is being released in English as Mood Indigo and stars Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh and Omar Sy. I look forward to seeing if Gondry envisions the world in the same way that I did when I read the book.
"......how do you spend your time?"
"I spend the better part of my day," said Colin, "contemplating the night."
- L'Ecume Des Jours, Boris Vian 1947
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