Thoughts on "Froth On The Day Dream"

INTRODUCTION

Imagine you sit in a restaurant in a dry evening, trees protesting not to dance to the tune of nature, birds do not show their face or voice out. You started your eating adventure with much hope only to be shattered by poor reception, ergonomical errors on the side of hotel management, weary faces of servers, unhindered cacophony and to top it all, poor food.

All makes it one nightmarish dining experience already accentuated by your boring day at work.

So when u are almost restless to get out of this nightmare, without you being aware, you order an ice cream.

You take the spoon absentmindedly. The lavish and bricolage of colours that try appeasing you through their glass encase does not bring you back to present. You seem to have inserted your spoon inside your mouth. Just when the moment it tries to embrace your tongue fully and play with your saliva, you suddenly wake from your slumber.

Like a bucket full of ice water that has been made to dance on your face parts, your eyes turn reddish and you are finally aware that you are sitting inside a restaurant and eating an ice cream!

You, without giving much thought to its physical charm, pierce the spoon into the toppings and not getting deeper, curve it up and rise it to your mouth in a momentarily attained bourgeois fashion, to eat another of this supposedly heavenly mixture.

Holy smokes!! You are sent mild ride around clouds, rainbows and a extended play of orgasmic sensations starts to emanate from u that is matched otherwise, only by pure arts!

Just when you are about to plunge into the last and the main part, you feel as if you are biting something sour, as sour as it can get. But, this villain, a wrong note in a culinary masterpiece has left a lasting sensation through it’s wicked charm on u, contrary to what should have happened, you keep tasting it to finish it, not out of obligation, but beyond human understanding, just like few people’s addiction for souring quality in lemon.

You finish it with a sympathetic feeling for the toppings which had covered this dark wicked pieces.

Still the taste lingers, you yet to recover from it and come back to your senses. You walk out of the the restaurant only to run back to the menu card to find the name of the ice cream u had just enjoyed and you tip the server who nods happily.

You walk out with such indescribable joy that u had never had felt before like this when walking out of a restaurant.

This is how it was, while reading “Froth on the Daydream”

FROTH ON THE DAYDREAM

This is not like other books, where you walk into a store with your headphones adorning your ears, neck and you casually take out your favorite Author’s latest bestseller or one that has been suggested by your so called “bibliophile” friend (well sorry for the digression), which you can flaunt it to your like minded friends later.

No! This is pure serendipitous act, one sent by holy god to you, probably the cover may have attracted you or the title (which is in fact very interesting title i have come across) or the description, synopsis or reviews may have invited you.

It may most certainly going to be there lying in your shelf, without being touched by you post your buying. Someday you do take it out to see what this could offer, only to be blown away completely for it’s various swinging moods, words, imagery.

But that is how this book has lived and will live. Such is it’s bittersweet fate is.

Anyways, the book takes a usual love story with people meeting accidentally with minor connections, falling in love at first sight.

Vian for the most part has hinted at a fairy land setting with characters living like they pass their time at beaches.

Characters are near perfect sketches of ideal humans without any slight cynicism.

He makes inanimate objects to take life by responding to characters mood, like a shrinking villa, mouse acting like humans do.

What makes this usual love story fresh or interesting is the fact that vian knows to play with words, to create powerful imagery and to spray dash of light humour (very wodehousian humour. In fact the author was a big fan of wodehouse).

The tone is muffled even when he could have played it more emotionally.
But, we feel for the characters because they are so genuine, that I found comparing them to Ozu’s unbelievable, humble characters.

Novel takes a 180 degree turn in last quarter, when finally those hovering in the air had to come to ground reality, face and cope with it , only to be consumed by the fate finally.

It ends in a most bizzare fashion, that was reminiscent of bergman’s seventh seal climax, when these characters hike a hill when one of their guy passes away.

There are more wonderful things that one can find in the novel, like the marvellous creation of vian called “pianococktail”, works in its own mechanism, a point where music and drinks flavour marry.

Vian was not only a novelist and a jazz pioneer but also interestingly, he was also exceptional engineer and pianococktail was one of his engineering masterpiece.

Photos:
1.Boris Vian
2.Book "Froth On The Day Dream"
3.A Still (Famous final moments) from Bergman's "Seventh Seal"
4.Le Piano Cocktail

End notes:
Credits for photos
https://abbysroad.wordpress.com/tag/pianococktail/
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1528480.Froth_on_the_Daydream
http://legomenon.com/symbols-of-death-art-analysis-seventh-seal-meaning.html
http://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movies/friday-at-fifa-boris-vian-la-vie-jazz