VIAN Boris Vercoquin et le plancton. Roman.

First edition, no mention of print run.  

Written between 1943 and 1944, Vercoquin et le plancton is Boris Vian’s first book. It was published by Gallimard thanks to Jean Rostand, who presented the manuscript to Raymond Queneau, a member of the publishing house’s reading committee. Queneau liked the book and decided to publish it in the collection La plume au vent, which he edited. In July 1945 Vian signed his first author’s contract and the book was published in 1946.

This farce-like novel recounts the experiences of Vian’s youth, a sort of chronicle spiced up with adventures of the author and his friends during the Occupation. Although it is often said that the title of the novel has nothing to do with its content, that it is intrinsically linked to Vian’s hermetic and humorous spirit, in reality it is undoubtedly to be read as a metaphor.  

Vercoquin et le plancton presents an opposition between the world of adults and that of adolescents that is reflected not only in its narrative but also in its formal organisation. While the first and fourth parts are reserved for the world of teenagers, the second and third present the characters in contact with the adult world. This confrontation is undoubtedly what the title seems to suggest, with humour and a touch of childishness.  

« Vian trouvait le sérieux risible et voyait dans le rire une chose sérieuse. Dans son arbre généalogique littéraire figurent les noms de Rabelais, Swift, Carroll, Jarry, Queneau » (Bibliothèque de la Pléiade)

« Ingénieur, trompettiste de jazz, acteur, chanteur, parolier, pasticheur de romans noirs américains, critique, auteur de nouvelles et de pièces de théâtre, Boris Vian (1920-1959) ne fut jamais reconnu de son vivant pour ce qu’il était avant tout : un grand romancier au style exubérant, mêlant l’absurde à l’émotion, le paradoxe à la fantaisie ». (Claire Julliard)  

A fine copy, preserved in an elegant slipcase.