It was truly a man-orchestra, reaching for everything unknown. This is the creator of novels, poems, an actor playing the trumpet. A man of complex fate became a classic of French literature only after death.
Fatal hoax
There were rumors about the Russian roots of the writer, but few knew that Boris Vian himself launched this legend. And his mother gave him the Russian name, who adored the opera Boris Godunov. In his piggy bank there were 24 pseudonyms, among which Vernon Sullivan - the most famous and scandalous.
According to legend, his alter ego is African American, whose free views became an obstacle to print in his homeland, and Vian helped translate novels in the noir style. At that time, adventurous works with bloody and sexual details were popular. Four novels came out from under his pen, one of which, “I Will Come to Spit on Your Graves,” held onto the top of the sales for a long time. The fatal bestseller even burned fighters for morality. The scandal, after the discovery of a genuine author, gained such momentum that Viana was tried. Then they acquitted him, but they put an end to his writing career. The works that came out of his pen were not accepted by society, which brought suffering to talent. And until the last day he was remembered as a hoaxer, who had long led the venerable public by the nose. The fatal work destroyed not only the reputation, but also of himself. Boris Vian died at the premiere of the film adaptation, for which he did not give permission, from a heart attack at 39 years old.
Tragedy of talent
Only after death did the writer become famous: his books are read with pleasure by the youth of Europe, and in France they are studied in school curricula. This was the tragedy of the talented master. In the novel The Foam of Days, Boris Vian described his life philosophy. Reviews of his main work were contradictory, and intellectual prose was not deafening success, like pulp fiction. It’s a pity that Viana and Sullivan are often confused. The gifted author only adjusted to the general mood of the public, deliberately releasing vulgar novels and drowning out the pain inside.
“Foam of Days” balances on the verge between absurdity and reality thanks to the author’s special attitude. In the writer's fantasies, life conquers death, and love resists gray everyday life. He was interested in the happiness of an individual, not the crowd. Contemporaries called the book "the most painful love affair." The reader is confronted with amazing sincerity, pain and suffering.
Boris Vian: biography
The future classic was born in 1920 in a small town near Paris. Angina, transferred by Boris at the age of two, caused heart complications. Doctors predicted the boy a short life. At age 15, he contracted typhoid fever, which further undermined his health.
His father did not work, but received income from invested capital. He was a very educated person, reading a lot and knowing several languages. Mother played the piano and harp beautifully, loved music and instilled this love into her little son. When the boy was 9 years old, the country was overtaken by a crisis, and a measured, comfortable existence came to an end. In order to somehow save the financial situation, the family rents out his villa and dissolves the servants. Father translates texts and sells homeopathic remedies, but it does not bring a lot of money. After his murder by robbers in 1944, the estate goes under the hammer, and the family moves to a rented apartment. Before leaving, Boris Vian plays a farewell solo on the trumpet.
Three years before the sad event, the young man marries Michelle Legalis, but the mother does not approve of the bride's choice and even discourages her from a honeymoon. According to a long tradition, women did not work in the family, but there was not enough money, and Michelle got a job in a magazine. In 1942, the son of the spouses Patrick is born.
With his new wife, ballerina Ursula Kübler, Boris Vian spends the last years of his life. The photo where they are captured together is amazingly gentle and touching.
Jazz Life
The main hobby of Vian's life is jazz, which he studied on his own. Boris and his two brothers organize a family orchestra, and then become a member of the popular ensemble of Claude Abadi. Musicians enjoyed improvisations and did not play to order. Despite the ban of doctors, Vian does not give up his passion for music and plays the trumpet with great skill. The ensemble receives recognition in 1946 at a tournament in Paris, where it won the Grand Prix.
In the 50s, Vian acted as a chansonnier and left a rich legacy: 400 songs and several records.
The many faces
Boris Vian, as a keen nature, tried himself in various fields. He painted paintings that he signed with an anagram of his own name - Bison Ravi (an enthusiastic bison). After learning English, he translated detective stories and science fiction. Especially for Boris, a heading was created in the popular Tan Modern magazine in which he shared fictitious events with an understandable hint of modern realities. He broadcast, starred in films, and in the film "Great Age" he played with pleasure himself.
The funeral of the writer took place on June 27, 1959. Relatives, Ursula with a bouquet of bloody roses, crowds of admirers and not a single grave digger. Then it turned out that on that day they were on strike.