Froth on the Daydream

Froth on the Daydream is a novel by Boris Vian, written in 1946 and published in 1947. It sits between fantasy, science fiction and romantic comedy, with a tone that moves between the playful and the tragic. Although told as a linear narrative, its world is surreal: objects and animals seem to mirror human emotions, and reality bends as the story proceeds. Vian sets scenes in imaginary places in the United States, such as New Orleans or Memphis, which he never visited, reinforcing the sense of a space built from jazz and imagination.

The protagonist is Colin, a wealthy young man who lives without working and devotes himself to pleasure, music and comfort. His best friend, Chick, lacks that fortune and struggles to make a living, while Colin's cook, Nicolas, brings common sense and a romantic bond with Isis. The core of the story is Colin's love for Chloe, whom he meets at a party and marries in a lavish ceremony. To help Chick marry Alise, Colin gives him part of his fortune. Soon afterwards, Chloe falls ill with a strange condition: a water lily grows in her lung, and it can be treated only by surrounding her with flowers. The treatment drains Colin's resources, and he takes poorly paid jobs while his home shrinks and grows darker.

The novel weaves several plot lines together: the love stories of two couples, the progressive decay of domestic spaces, Chick's obsession with an invented philosopher who parodies Sartre, and a series of violent and absurd events. Vian uses these elements to write about love, illness and death, but also about labour exploitation, the cult of intellectual celebrity and religion, which he satirises in the wedding and the funeral.

The book was not a success during Vian's lifetime, although it gained the support of figures such as Raymond Queneau and Jean-Paul Sartre, who published excerpts in Les Temps Modernes. Over time it became one of the best-known novels of postwar French literature. It has been adapted to film several times, by Charles Belmont in 1968, by Go Riju in 2001 as Kuroe, and by Michel Gondry in 2013, and has also inspired an opera and music.