The many-faced hoaxer Boris Vian

It was truly a man-orchestra, stretching to everything unknown. He is the creator of novels, poems, an actor playing on the trumpet. A man of complex destiny became a classic of French literature only after his death.

Fatal hoax

There were rumors about the Russian roots of the writer, but very few people knew that this legend was launched by Boris Vian himself. A Russian name was given to him by his mother, who adored the opera Boris Godunov. In his piggy bank there were 24 pseudonyms, among which Vernon Sullivan - the most famous and scandalous.

His alter-ego, according to legend, is an African American whose free views have become a barrier to the press in his homeland, and Vian helped translate novels in the style of noir. At that time, adventurous works with bloody and sexual details enjoyed popularity. From his pen came 4 novels, one of which, "I'll come to spit on your graves," for a long time kept the sales leaders. Fatal best seller even burned fighters for morality. The scandal after the discovery of the authentic author gained such speed that Viana was tried. Then they were acquitted, but on his writing career he was put in a cross. The works that came out from under his pen were not accepted by society, which caused suffering to the talent. And until the last day he was remembered as a hoaxer, who for a long time was leading a respectable audience. The fatal work has ruined not only reputation, but also itself. Boris Vian died at the premiere of the film adaptation, which he did not give permission for, from a heart attack in 39 years.

The tragedy of talent

Only after his 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 programs. This was the tragedy of a talented master. In the novel "Foam Days" his life philosophy was described by Boris Vian. The reviews of his main work were contradictory, and intellectual prose did not enjoy deafening success, as a tabloid. It's a pity that Viana and Sullivan are often confused. The gifted author only adjusted to the general mood of the public, releasing deliberately vulgar novels and drowning the pain inside.

"Foam days" balances on the verge between absurdity and reality due to a special attitude of the author. In the writer's fantasies, life conquers death, and love resists the gray days. He was interested in the happiness of an individual, not the crowd. Contemporaries called the book "the most pressing romance about love." The reader is faced with surprising sincerity, pain and suffering.

Boris Vian: Biography

A future classic was born in 1920 in a small town near Paris. Angina, suffered by Boris at the age of two, caused complications in the heart. Doctors predicted the boy a short life. At the age of 15 he fell ill with typhoid fever, which further undermined his health.

His father did not work, but he received income from invested capital. He was a very educated man who read and knew a lot of languages. Mother perfectly played the piano and harp, adored music and instilled this love to her young son. When the boy was 9 years old, the country was hit by a crisis, and a steady and comfortable existence came to an end. To somehow save the financial situation, the family leases out their villa and dismisses the servants. The father translates texts and sells homeopathic remedies, but it does not bring much 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 Lehliz, but the mother does not approve of the choice of the bride and even dissuades her from the honeymoon. In the family, according to a long tradition, women did not work, but there was not enough money, and Michelle took a job in a magazine. In 1942 Patrick's son was born.

With his new wife, ballerina Ursula Kubler, she spends the last years of her life, Boris Vian. The photos, where they are imprinted together, are surprisingly tender and touching.

Life in the style of jazz

The main passion for Vian's life is jazz, which he himself trained. Boris with two brothers organizes a family orchestra, and then becomes a member of the popular ensemble of Claude Abadi. The musicians enjoyed the improvisations and did not play to order. Despite the prohibition of doctors, Vian does not abandon his passion for music and plays the trumpet with great skill. The ensemble gets recognition in 1946 at the tournament in Paris, where he won the Grand Prix.

In the fifties, Vian acted like a singer and left a rich legacy: 400 songs and a few records.

The many-sided master

Boris Vian, as an addict nature, tried his hand at various pursuits. He painted pictures, which he signed with an anagram of his own name - Bison Ravi (enthusiastic bison). After learning English, he translated detective stories and science fiction. Especially for Boris in the popular magazine "Tan Modern" was created a rubric in which he shared fictitious events with a clear hint of modern realities. He conducted radio programs, acted in films, and in the film "Beautiful Age" he played himself with pleasure.

The funeral of the writer was June 27, 1959. Relatives, Ursula with a bouquet of blood roses, crowds of admirers and not a single gravedigger. Then it turned out that on that day they were on strike.