The Scum of the days

See also: the Scum of the days (homonymy)

the Scum of the days is a Romance of Boris Vian published in 1947. Composed in 1946, written with the backs of printed AFNOR, where he worked then, the original edition, dedicated to his first Michelle wife, will be published on March 20th, 1947 with the Gallimard/NRF editions. It quotes, in this novel, of the whimsical places of composition (the New-Orleans, Memphis, Davenport) to the the United States of America, where it forever put the feet. Although supported by Raymond Queneau and Jean-Paul Sartre, which will publish of them extracts in N° 13 of October 1946 of the “Modern times”, it will not have any success of alive sound. Its principal characters (see below) will evolve/move in a universe poetic and diverting, with for central themes the love, the disease, death, in a envoûtante atmosphere of music of Jazz, of wet climate and Marécage ux, which points out the Bayou S of Louisiana.

Summary

Before very summarized, a preamble is absolutely necessary. The reader opening this novel is directly confronted with the play of the inversions which underlies the total step: in an Absurd universe and stranger, the narrator introduces a character particularly banal and indefinite, also the summary which follows will appear it overall deprived of depth. The novel is centered on the Hake character, which " have a fortune sufficient to live suitably without working for the autres" ; a friend named Chick, which does not have this chance, since, being Engineer, it is very poor (contrary to the workmen!). The third male character is the cook style of Hake, Nicolas. This last will fall in love with Isis, a friend of Hake. One day, Chick becomes acquainted with a girl, Alise, which is relationship of Nicolas. Hake, jealous, also wishes to know a girl to him, and fall in love with Chloé at the time of one celebrates. It Marie with her and gives part of its money to Chick so that he marries Alise. Chloé falls ill: it has a Nénuphar which pushes in its Lung. To cure it, Colin buys flowers to him and sends it to mountain. When it returns, the water lily is not there any more, but it cannot to use now that only one lung. Hake must seek a work to buy flowers, when Chloé falls sick again, of the other lung. Their house reduces gradually and becomes each sadder and obscure time, in spite of the efforts of their small gray Mouse with black moustache to give it in state. As Chick likes more Partre that Sorb-apple, this one keep silent the philosopher with " the Tear off-heart " , name which will be the title of the novel éponyme that it will then publish, and burns the bookstores close to it, but it dies in the flames. During this time, the police force kill Chick because it does not pay its taxes. Chloé dies and must be buried like the poor

Characters

Hake: It is an easy young man who likes the jazz and the love and which hates violence and work. “It had the round head, the small ears, the right nose, the dye gilds. ” “It was almost always of good mood, the remainder of time it slept” (p.20). One can say that it resembles much Vian itself. It finds the great love in the person of Chloé, an insane love which will make it lose all that it has moreover expensive. This character also appears as being somewhat denied.

Chloé: It incarnates the beauty and femininity. It is the woman perfect for Colin, young person, pretty, soft and attracting, but fragile. Its name comes from a piece in arrangement of Duke Ellington called “Chloé”.

Chick: He is the best Hake friend, he is impassioned and insane philosophy of Jean Sol Partre even if he does not include/understand anything. It is because of Partre that it will be sometimes egoistic. Contrary to Colin, it must work to live. He is the Sorb-apple boyfriend, but will like Partre more that she. Its name also has, like that of Chloé a relationship with the jazz, and constitutes a personal anecdote of Vian.

Sorb-apple: It is a sentimental and pleasant young woman. She is passionately in love with Chick and full with compassion for Chloé but realiserealises sometimes that its life would have been simpler if she had married Colin.

Nicolas: He is the uncle of Alise and to cook it Hake. He does not form part of the same social class as the other characters. He is at the same time a faithful friend of Hake and good lover of Isis.

Isis: It is resulting from the upper middle classes and the only one has to have a family, it is in love with Nicolas, and can benefit from the pleasures of the life without being too demanding.

Topics

the love : All the forms of love are present in this book. Insane love between Hake and Chloé. Impossible love between Chick and Alise and physical love between Nicolas and Isis.

the work world : Boris Vian denounces in this work the inhuman work conditions. Each person employed is brought back to the row of a Machine.

the music : The Jazz is omnipresent all along the novel. There are many references to the musicians and compositions of Jazz. For example several " Z" jazz are inside the words (ex: Doublezons, zonzonner) and the name of Chloé come from the arrangement of Duke Ellington entitled " Chloé ".

the religion : Boris Vian criticizes the religion through a marriage and a burial. During the marriage, the church is presented like avid money. The burial is the opposite of the marriage, because Colin then does not have any more money, one throws the coffin by the window, the two carriers are dirty, the driver sings with conceal-head, the monks make a short appearance without have taken the sorrow to get dressed correctly, the coffin is balanced in the pit. The Christ, in the church, becomes animated and requires of Colin why it did not give more money for the burial.

unreal the : Although Boris Vian bases his novel on a certain reality, the unreal one appears rather quickly. Especially based on Hake and the progressive loss of its richness. Its house narrows literally with the wire of the chapters. Time is also malleable and accelerates, one spends spring to the autumn.

the marsh : The word " scum " in the title of this novel symbolizes foam and moisture in the last half of the book, where there are many references to the marsh. The Hake apartment seems to be transformed into marsh (the Hake steps make wet and pasty noises). One finds the humid atmosphere of the bayous of Louisiana, cradle of the jazz which Boris Vian likes.

the star-system : Boris Vian denounces the worship of the person with the character Partre Jean-Ground.

superficiality : Boris Vian criticizes the superficiality of the company. The friendship between Hake and Chick is surface because even if Hake helps Chick, Chick is benefitted from its friendship by requiring money of him to buy things of Partre. Vian denounces the superficiality of the characters throughout his novel. He also makes fun of the mode, by taking as example the phenomenon " Jean Ground Partre".

the disease : Character: First of all, Chloé is the most affected character by the disease, because it is it which carries it. All the other characters are also affected, but more particularly, Colin and Nicolas, which live near it. We can note that the Hake behavior changes much. There is on the one hand, its appearance neglected and of another share, its loss of desire for living. There is also Nicolas, who, lets to him appear a sudden ageing: “You have aged ten years for eight days. - Seven years, rectified Nicolas.”

Action: The topic of the disease appears for the very first time at XXIIe chapter, that is to say at the end of the ceremony of marriage of Hake and Chloé. The initial sign of the disease is the sudden cough which monopolizes Chloé at its exit of the church. Then, at the time of the wedding night, we can note a second sign, that is to say by the snow which is placed directly on its chest. This night spent, Chloé carries now the disease, the water lily. After a complete analysis, it is clear that water represents an important symbol. Let us think of the water lily, this one pushes in water, it thus needs water to live. Consequently, Chloé should not absolutely drink water in this account, because this would make it possible the water lily to grow. Moreover, it must always be surrounded by not-watery flowers to fight this water lily: “- He also says that it is all the time necessary to put flowers around it, Colin added, to make fear with the other… ”. In short, Vian wanted to establish a symbolic system around water. Rather to illustrate water as being a symbol of life, it decided to reverse it, water is now a sign of death, disease, sadness.

Space: In this account, the Hake apartment is the place intended for the disease. In a coloured way, Chloé represents the water lily and its room the marsh. Because in several passages of the account, it is known as that the room has took a form of sphere or rather, of marsh: “The wood of the parquet floor squirted under its steps. ”. It is as said, as the apartment reduces, that moisture settles and that the light decreases. A kind of marshy insulation it is established with the disease, the water lily: “She still remembered the feeling of the cold parquet floor like a marsh.”.

Time: The disease is to detect immediately after the marriage and it is known as in the account that it is the end of the winter (page 105) that is to say the beginning of spring. Once again the symbolic system of water is very present since snow melts, the plants reappear and as we noted, the diseases are established. Moreover, the author approaches the topics of heat and the coldness conversely to the common thought. Contrary to our reality, heat is associated with the disease, whereas the cold is regarded as a remedy: “You will take cold! alise exclaimed. Cover yourself! - Not, murmured Chloé, one needs it, it is the treatment. ”.

Adaptation

This novel is very freely inspired by the book the Comrades of Erich Maria Remarque, putting in scene a history of love with an young girl reaches Tuberculose to which the hero in love will sacrifice his inheritance to no purpose. The whole of course altered with the " sauce" inimitable of Boris Vian.

The novel was adapted in Film in 1968 by Charles Belmont, with Jacques Perrin, Marie-France Pisier, Sami Frey, Alexandra Stewart, Annie Buron, Bernard Fresson.

The Russian type-setter Edison Denisov drew a Opéra from it.

External bond

rather complete site on the novel - http://ecume.jours.online.fr

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