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Autumn in Peking

by Boris Vian, Paul Knobloch (Translator)

4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 · rating details · 792 ratings · 34 reviews

Boris Vian was a jack of all trades - although unfortunately his name was Boris and "Boris of all trades" never took off as a turn of phrase. But nevertheless Vian was a great songwriter, playwright, singer, jazz critic and, of course novelist so it should have been Boris instead of Jack. Vian's 1947 novel Autumn in Peking (L'Automne � P�kin) is perhaps Vian's most slapsti...more

Paperback, 265 pages

Published January 1st 2004 by Tam Tam Press (first published 1947)

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Jan 13, 2013 Sandra rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

E' il secondo Vian che leggo.
Appena lette le prime pagine l'atmosfera, il linguaggio, le tematiche "vianesche" sono emerse e mi hanno catturato ancora una volta.
Sembrava che nulla fosse cambiato.
Ci sono i temi cari allo scrittore: l'amore, la morte, la forte critica sociale e religiosa, affrontati nella solita maniera "surreale" di Vian.
Invece, procedendo nella lettura, tutto è diverso rispetto a "la schiuma dei giorni".
Là l'amore tra Chloè e Colin è un amore totalizzante e profondo che riempie...more

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Jul 13, 2009 Marcus Mennes rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: sociopaths

Autumn in Peking – Boris Vian

A few years ago I met a thirty something Frenchman in a youth hostel in Bariloche, Argentina and he confessed to me he had read everything by Boris Vian – including many works yet to be translated into English – but had read them a long time ago, during his University years, and that he hasn’t revisited them since. Vian represents a period author for my French friend; specifically young adulthood. Similar to say Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac, Ayn Rand, or Hermann Hesse...more Autumn in Peking – Boris Vian

A few years ago I met a thirty something Frenchman in a youth hostel in Bariloche, Argentina and he confessed to me he had read everything by Boris Vian – including many works yet to be translated into English – but had read them a long time ago, during his University years, and that he hasn’t revisited them since. Vian represents a period author for my French friend; specifically young adulthood. Similar to say Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac, Ayn Rand, or Hermann Hesse for young readers in the U.S. (if indeed these are still viable youth magnets today...?). I know when I was 19 years old I carried around a rumpled paperback of Hesse’s “Narcissus and Goldmund” in my back pocket as I strode across the college green. As a young man I was drawn to tales of vagabonds traveling the open road, as well as works of a jaded literary humor, i.e. “Catcher in the Rye” “The Crying of Lot 49” “Cat’s Cradle” etc.

I didn’t discover Vian until my late 20’s, and, I suppose as I am currently still immature for my age, I can state with sincere confidence how much I continue to appreciate and enjoy entering the hip, weird, edgy world of Boris Vian’s fictions. The publisher Tam Tam Books has made it their mission to bring Vian to the English speaking world, and their efforts deserve our gratitude:

http://www.tamtambooks.com/

http://tamtambooks-tosh.blogspot.com/

Although Paul Knobloch conjures admirable magic with his inspired, fun, readable translation, a work like “Autumn in Peking” with the author’s idiosyncratic wordplay, fantasy and innuendo, questions the validity of literary translation, at least on a linguistic level. In his preface the translator admits “Translation is a tricky business, and translating Vian can be downright daunting.”The story itself with its otherworldly setting and absurd events translates well, and the Tam Tam edition is a fantastic romp. Vian’s imagination lives in translation, and since I’m someone that doesn’t read French, I can only speculate as to the depth and nuance present in the original text.

I’ll try to avoid cheap comparisons in this review, but the single work Vian’s “Autumn in Peking” most reminds me of isn’t a book at all, but Terry Gilliam’s film “Brazil.” It’s large, imaginative, subversive, slapstick...pick your adjective, the book is that clever. For the Vian newbie, I’d recommend beginning with his surrealistic masterpiece “Foam of the Daze” but for the adept, the Vian veteran, or just someone that enjoys a challenging work of imaginative writing, “Autumn in Peking” is a fascinating, extended belly laugh of a book...
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May 10, 2012 Marija Atanasova rated it 2 of 5 stars

ЦЕЛИ И ЗАДАЧИ: Читателот да го почувствува животот од еден поинаков, апсурдно-комичен агол и следствено да го сфаќа помалку сериозно.Не затоа што не носи тешки моменти, напротив, ги има во изобилство; туку затоа што барањето логика во нештата е исто толку бесмислено како градењето железница среде пустина.

ОЧЕКУВАНИ ИСХОДИ: Читателот ќе научи да танцува низ животот со леснотија и ќе ги прифаќа потешкотиите со кои се соочува со доза на црн хумор и цинизам.

НАСТАВНИ СРЕДСТВА И ПОМАГАЛА: Неуспешна вар...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Frank Dedge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: français

(French version, titled l'Automne à Pékin)

The fact that Boris Vian wrote this book the same year he wrote l'Écume de Jours probably didn't help in its promotion. Which is a shame really as it is equally well-written and interesting in its literary madness.

Beginning with its misleading title (nowhere is Peking nor autumn mentioned in the book), the story continue in the spirit of l'Écume (or is it preceding it?), combining apparent naivety or simplicity of the characters with a layer of psycholo...more

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Sep 20, 2010 Fábio Ventura rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Foi com grande curiosidade que peguei numa obra de Boris Vian, um autor francês com um estilo muito próprio e dono de uma criatividade prodigiosa. Um verdadeiro homem dos sete ofícios, morreu precocemente aos 39 anos, em 1959. Mesmo assim, as suas obras foram um grande contributo para a literatura mundial. “Outono em Pequim” é uma dessas obras e, curiosamente, não fala nem do Outono nem de Pequim. E aí começa a nossa “relação” com este livro.
A obra conta-nos a história de um grupo de pessoas qu...more Foi com grande curiosidade que peguei numa obra de Boris Vian, um autor francês com um estilo muito próprio e dono de uma criatividade prodigiosa. Um verdadeiro homem dos sete ofícios, morreu precocemente aos 39 anos, em 1959. Mesmo assim, as suas obras foram um grande contributo para a literatura mundial. “Outono em Pequim” é uma dessas obras e, curiosamente, não fala nem do Outono nem de Pequim. E aí começa a nossa “relação” com este livro.
A obra conta-nos a história de um grupo de pessoas que, em circunstâncias diferentes, acaba no deserto da Exopotâmia, onde um Sol emite raios negros e onde se tenta construir uma linha de caminhos-de-ferro por cima de ruínas faraónicas e que não leva a lado nenhum. A história divide-se em duas partes, sendo que é sempre visível a diferença entre as motivações das personagens: o percurso de cada personagem até chegar ao deserto e a interacção entre todas elas nesse local.
Todo o livro é dominado pelo absurdo e surreal, daí ser inevitável uma comparação com as obras de Lewis Carrol. Cada elemento que, à primeira vista, pode parecer demasiado irreal, representa uma metáfora e essas várias interpretações que daí resultam são um dos pontos mais fortes do livro. Além disso, Vian consegue equilibrar um humor negro e nonsense no meio dessas pequenas mensagens.
As personagens, mais do que protagonistas de uma história conceptual, são personagens-tipo que simbolizam os vícios e estereótipos de vários grupos sociais. Boris Vian, através da excentricidade de cada uma das personagens, satiriza os padres, os colarinhos azuis, os médicos, os homens de negócios, a mulher devassa, etc. E talvez por coexistirem tantas personagens nesse deserto fantasioso, nenhuma delas é devidamente aprofundada porque não são o foco da história.
No entanto, o ponto mais forte do livro, o surrealismo, acaba também por ser o seu ponto menos bom. Há alguns aspectos que, à partida, não representam nada e não têm uma razão de ser e outros aspectos brilhantes, mas que não são devidamente explorados. Além disso, a certa altura o foco da história passa para as conturbadas relações amorosas de algumas personagens, perdendo-se o fio condutor de até então.
É um livro muito curioso e nada convencional. Há várias mensagens que o leitor pode retirar do livro, como a aceitação do destino, as relações humanas destrutivas, a obsessão ou o materialismo. Este conceptualismo inerente à obra de Vian e o absurdo das suas ideias exigem uma grande abertura de mente e interactividade por parte do leitor. Por isso, acredito que não agrade a um leitor mais casual. No entanto, é inevitavelmente um livro muito original e que vai impressionar quem procura algo diferente. Da minha parte, fiquei interessando em ler mais da curta carreira de Vian.

(Opinião publicada no blog Bela Lugosi is Dead)(less)

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Jan 21, 2008 Nathaniel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: originally-in-french

Boris Vian is not a predictable author. I loved “Heartsnatcher,” barely tolerated “Foam of the Daze” and “I Spit on Your Graves” was not intended to be a vehicle for his talents. For the first sixty odd pages of “Autumn in Peking” (a title with absolutely no bearing on the contents of the book), I was fairly convinced that I’d embarked on another nonsense festival that probably holds together better when all of the (supposedly brilliant) wordplay of the author has not been killed or made wooden...more Boris Vian is not a predictable author. I loved “Heartsnatcher,” barely tolerated “Foam of the Daze” and “I Spit on Your Graves” was not intended to be a vehicle for his talents. For the first sixty odd pages of “Autumn in Peking” (a title with absolutely no bearing on the contents of the book), I was fairly convinced that I’d embarked on another nonsense festival that probably holds together better when all of the (supposedly brilliant) wordplay of the author has not been killed or made wooden by translation.

I was sustained at first (and rewarded throughout) by the way that Vian animates things in playful and unexpected ways: “She was wearing a short skirt and Angel’s gaze made its way over her shiny, golden knees and insinuated itself between her two long and streamlined thighs. It was hot there, and refusing to listen to Angel, who wanted to pull back, the gaze decided to do its own thing and move further on up. Angel became increasingly embarrassed and regretfully closed his eyes, leaving his look to die on the young girl’s skirt. Its cadaver remained there until the girl ran her hand over her skirt and unknowingly knocked it to the ground when she stood up several minutes later.” This is Vian at his irreverent best. He is not content with a clever comparison or a frisky metaphor; he grounds his flights of fancy in narrative reality and bends every rule of physics and style to accommodate them. Sometimes, this can be annoying; as can the vaguely Futurist obsession with technical and mechanical terms. But it is often refreshing, comic and memorable.

After the first sixty pages of the book, all of the characters to whom we have been introduced are en route to Exopotamie, the convenient referent-free, desert backdrop of “Autumn in Peking.” In this non-place, a grab bag of satirical characters (the doctor, the priest, the blue collar worker, the playboy, the detestable manager, etc.) pursue their obsessions, set about trying to build a useless and destructive railroad or attempt to excavate a vaguely pharonic set of ruins. All of these pursuits have elements of absurd comedy; but the plot advances, primarily, around the question of who will sleep with whom.

Late in the scheme of things, Vian deepens his focus on Angel (male) who pines for Rochelle (female) who is constantly and obviously fornicating with Anne, a playboy who does not feel any deep loyalty to Rochelle. Angel is made to represent the over-precious, emotionally wrecked, obsessive suitor, out of touch with the realities of a sexual relationship, while Anne occupies the diametrically opposed, all too calloused self-serving position. Other characters of note attempt to bridge the gap between them and propose a more balanced way of being in the world.

The drama around the love triangle advances the book’s central argument that things are ruined when they are treated as nothing more than objects—whether of obsession or of use. (Vian’s writing style itself is busy proving the same thing with its irreverence towards concepts and expectations.) Living, breathing, chairs die when they are not appreciated as objects and women fall apart and spoil when they are simply used and in the broader world, work, for its own sake, is a doomed and shameful joke.

Anne will close the curtains, lovably: “For just about every living man, there exists one of these office types, a parasite man. That’s the justification of the parasite man, this letter that’ll straighten out the business of the living man. So he drags it out to prolong his existence, and the living man doesn’t know about it . . . If every living man got up, searched the offices for his own personal parasite, and killed him . . .”

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Nov 29, 2009 Ioana rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Ah, spuse abatele, cu totii omoram pe cineva in fiecare zi. Nu inteleg de ce a refuzat un loc de sihastru. Religia a fost plasata pt a-i plasa pe criminali."

"Oricum ar fi fost sa fie, tot urma sa fim dezamagiti, spuse Petitjean. Se dovedeste ca suntem dezamagiti in adancul carnii. E mai greu de suportat, dar va trece cu bine."

"Sa iubesti o femeie inteligenta e o placere de pederast"
Baudelaire, Fusees

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Mar 18, 2013 Rodrigo Soares rated it 4 of 5 stars

O absurdo em toda a sua plenitude! É preciso uma grande abertura de espírito para conseguir aceitar todas as situações que vão caindo na narrativa, além de que é preciso estar muito atento a tudo o que vai acontecendo para não se perder o fio à meada!

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Jan 26, 2011 Guillermo Grebe-Lira rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lo compré por casualidad sin conocer al autor, su agudeza, su inteligencia y el sentido de lo absurdo me cautivaron, y una vez terminado este libro afanosamente busqué otros libros de boris vian y saber quien había sido, su vida, etc.

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Sep 03, 2011 Natalia rated it 4 of 5 stars

This books starts weird. And then it gets even weirder. If you like surreal and witty kind of humor, and if you are not afraid of a little challenge, I think there's a pretty good chance you will love this novel.

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Nov 01, 2012 Inna rated it 2 of 5 stars

The most strange book that I have ever read. However if you think out of the box about it, we all live in this desert... Interesting way to describe crazy world and even love.

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Jul 15, 2012 Raúl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fantástico. Hay que poseer mucha imaginación para crear un mundo como el descrito en esta obra.
Escrito con lenguaje culto, pero con gran espontaneidad, lleva lo absurdo, más allá que cualquier predecesor.
Me ha hecho gracia las citas absolutamente fuera de lugar, que encabezan los capítulos...

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Aug 06, 2011 Eric added it · review of another edition

Papa, c'est encore loin l'Exopotamie? Tais toi et creuse !

Et puis, tout de meme, quelle leçon de comptabilité :

"-On va construire un chemin de fer (?)
-Mais il n'y a pas de voyageurs, dit Athanagore
-Vous trouvez que ça arrange les chemins de fer, vous, les voyageurs ?
-Non, dit Athanagore. Evidemment non.
-Donc il ne s'usera pas, dit Amadis. Ainsi, dans les calculs des frais d'exploitation, on n'aura jamais à tenir compte de l'amortissement du matériel. Vous vous rendez compte ?
-Mais ce n'est qu'u...more

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May 01, 2013 André Benjamim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

http://thoughloversbelostloveshallnot...

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Aug 09, 2011 moceanu rated it 1 of 5 stars

I'm a big fan of Vian, which is why I didn't expect this to be so boring and unfunny.

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Aug 02, 2011 Sónia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

completamente surreal!...gostei, talvez nao tanto como estava à espera...mas vale muito a pena

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Aug 13, 2012 Oto rated it 4 of 5 stars

complètement fou comme livre, mais un vrai plaisir

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Jun 09, 2009 Alberta rated it 4 of 5 stars

George Herms helped me pick this book from the TamTam Books table. I'm looking forward to reading it. Thanks, Tosh for publishing it!

p. 179:

"I'm not looking to be precise," said Angel, "because I truly detest trying to express something that i feel so clearly. What's more, I don't give a damn about being able or not being able to convey my point of view to others."

Somehow this book seemed dated, but not in a bad way. More like Waiting for Godot or something from that time. Too bad Vian will not...more

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Nov 29, 2012 Alan Fricker rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A favourite.

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Aug 07, 2012 Dolmar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Lahierbaroja

Shelves: francia

He empezado la obra como si, a la velocidad de la luz, sorteara miles de obstáculos en una carrera muy divertida. Ese desquicio se frenó poco a poco, dando paso a una risa más tranquila y apreciando cierta crítica social, detrás de esas escenas tan estrafalarias. No hay detalle que a Vian se le haya escapado. La he encontrado perfecta, 5 estrellas.

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May 18, 2012 Sara Hajdu rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not his best one

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Aug 31, 2011 Lena Spoz rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've red it 5 times, it's great book!

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Aug 12, 2012 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book it started out so hilarious and absurd with such vibrant descriptions.

In the end it seemed like a writing exercise that started well but went nowhere.

"A second 975 came and stopped smack-dab in front of Amadis. The exhausted vehicle huffed and puffed and was jam packed full of riders. A fat lady got off, followed by a cake knife that was being carried by tiny half-dead old man.

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Sep 08, 2007 Tosh rated it 5 of 5 stars

Although I am the publisher of this masterpiece, I still feel I can write about it - because I came upon it as a reader. I think Vian's "Autumn in Peking" is one of the great novels of French literature. it's hysterical for one thing, and on the other I find it moving in how Vian portrays his characters struggling to get the train tracks down... For what purpose?

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Feb 17, 2010 Quigui marked it as to-read

O outono em Pequim by Boris Vian

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Apr 05, 2012 Deby rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great

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Jul 09, 2011 Anton Baranchuk is currently reading it

Romantic and sarcastic at the same time but wildly beautiful with exotic word play. Something like "electricity was dripping from the wire". Somewhat overloaded text, which makes it hard to read.

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Feb 17, 2008 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: recommended

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 21, 2012 Netts rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Deeply profound nonsense and the one you should learn French for, because I cannot see how a translation could possibly capture half its wicked elegance.

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Nov 16, 2010 Willie the Coyote rated it 4 of 5 stars

Niente da capire. Da leggere con un sorriso disincantato, senza lasciarsi prendere dallo sconforto...

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About Boris Vian

Boris Vian was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer. He is best remembered for novels such as L’Écume des jours and L'Arrache-cœur (translated into English as Froth on the Daydream and Heartsnatcher, respectively). He is also known for highly controversial "criminal" fiction released under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan and some of his...more

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“- Je l'ai tué, dit Angel.
- Non, dit Petitjean. Vous l'avez poussé et il est mort en arrivant sur les cailloux. C'est un hasard.” — 4 people liked it

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