Froth on the Daydream and ‘Jean-Sol Partre’

Froth on the Daydream and ‘Jean-Sol Partre’

(‘Jean-Sol Partre’ in Movie, “Mood Indigo”, Google image)

Today’s post is going to introduce a novel written by Boris Vian, a genius who was highly praised by Sartre who lived during his time, fascinated by the Jazz and Love. This is my favorite novel as well, «Froth on the Daydream (L'Écume des jours)». When Sartre says “Existence preceding essence”, Boris Vian will say this: “This story is entirely true, because I imagined it from one end to the other”. He knew how to imagine things; he cooks (existence) the details and makes one great cuisine (essence). And he shows those refreshing and cheerful taste through the novel «Froth on the Daydream». Also this novel was recently reviewed by a movie version of this book as “Mood Indigo” directed by Michel Gondry, French director.

 (Mood Indigo, movie poster)

 (Mood Indigo, Movie Trailer)

«Froth on the Daydream» is almost like one great epic poem, and the poem is ‘a priori’ according to Vian, i.e. beyond or preceding our experience. Today is different from yesterday, and tomorrow is as well different from today. Life is full of what we have been never experienced. And Colin and Chloe’s Love Cocktail is made that way. Cocktail piano (which making ‘pianocktale’), eel dish and the cloud which surrounds them exist. As positioning poetic diction, this novel made its own existence. Water lily grows inside of Chloe’s lung and Colin tries to suffocate the water lily filling up her room with all flowers. Colin ruins his all fortune by buying Chloe flowers and his friend Chick helps his bankruptcy with collecting all books of ‘Jean-Sol Partre’ borrowing Colin’s money. “Le Vomi (Sartre's original, La Nausée)”, “La Lettre et le Néon(The Letter and Neon)” a pun on L'Être et le Néant (Being and Nothingness) and etc. However...

"What you do in life, you?”

“I learn things”, Colin said. “And I love Chloe.”

-

Boris Vian, L'Écume des jours

(Colin, *I hope this doesn’t spoil anything*)

What matters in Colin’s world is not the wealth nor earning money but something new, something to learn and LOVE. The world is fading from the color of vivid to the colorless, the illusions which are made by the poem to get water lily to grow inside body. Colin’s profane language on his job interview or his ‘metal flower’ which cultivated by his body heat, both are not just unrealistic or blue-sky. Philosophy explains to us; however, literature just shows us as it is. The story which Vian imagines and creates is the matrix or web of symbolic words. The poetic gap between words scrape the unshown or concealed part out with symbolical magic of poetic words. Philosophy is perhaps eager to analyze the world and recreate the world (or some others tries to ‘fix’ the world); rather, literature (or art) would like to create a new material of the world while cutting out its own part with its own scalpel of sharp imagination.

(Duke Ellington, Chloe)

Insofar as we imagine something reading the legacy of Vien and others, as we create something like Chloe’s doodles which left with her all deep affections, the world seems like ‘happy ending’ even there are full of miserable diseases, pointless death, meaningless rampant violence and the power of ‘gold coin’. Really? Of course, here, the logical criticism is possible. How come we only immerse ourselves into own existence without having concern about this violent world? Is it OK to us to do nothing but love or fascinated with Jazz? Is there any justice needed in our human world? Boundless independent existentialism and plurality isn’t imply us clearly to our limits or avoid-going-point? Is there any ‘thing’ in nothingness? The nothingness is our essence and every unnecessary gesture is just arouse nothing but nausea? Every act we do is just for existential struggle within this bad faith and every desperate agony is pointless and ungrounded sorrowful wish to become some kind of root?

(Empty chair, Google image)

Impromptu musical performance of Jazz is originated in its repetitive but always transiting rhythm. Impromptu performance is not entirely ‘a priori’ or anew thing, it is but empirical and gradually modifying following repetitive rhythm as its parody. However that novelty produced is existential. And if and only if this coincidental birth (project) of freshness within its historicality is existential. No less than nothingness but only to hope there become someone appearing in our life as love, what most matter and significant in our life is present itself as froth on the Daydream. It is what we haven’t expected, might be a hope to certain ‘a priori’. Even this world is struggling in penury and every relationship is floating under the frozen ice, we cannot condemn the anticipation of certain Jazz. The essence of our being might not located in as deep or profound as we thought. As we can ‘experience’ in the novel «Froth on the Daydream», in some places, some people die fallen in the auditorium following ‘Jean-sol Partre’. However, despite all those grief, further it seems like we cannot have one single answer, there always are certain Jazz and certain Love. 

(Mood Indigo, Story of Chloe)