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A review by margaretann84
The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter: Scenes de la Vie de Boheme by Henri Murger
5.0
Stream-of-Consciousness Review Shamelessly Lifted from my Seasonal Reading Challenge Post:
I'd like to apologize in advance for the massive rambling review-type thingy below. It's late and my brain is kinda fuzzy, but I'm too excited about the wonderfulness of the book to sleep without posting.
I actually read a version from Project Gutenberg, so I'm not sure which edition I read from the list of copies on GR, but it was an unabridged translation, so the page number should be roughly correct.
This book was hilarious. I loved it, and I spent a lot of time picking out bits and figuring out the counterparts of various characters in Rent (which was based off La Boheme, which was based off this book). Musette was pretty much the same as Maureen (her Rent counterpart), and the four main guys were all pretty much the same: Marcel/Mark was the artist (because they didn't have movies back in 1851), Colline/Collins was a philosopher, Schaunard/Angel was a musician (Angel--DuMotte-Schaunard~! Also, "Today 4 U" is lifted from one of the chapters in the book, only it's a parrot and a piano instead of an akita (Evita!) and some drums, but the point is the same!), and Rodolphe/Roger was a writer (this is the biggest stretch, but Roger spent most of the musical trying to write his "one song," so it works).
The biggest and most interesting change was with Mimi. Her Rent character was a composite of her story character (coquettish woman who likes a good time) and a character named Francine, whose story is told in arguably the saddest chapter of the book. "Light My Candle" comes directly from Francine's first meeting with Jacques, who becomes her lover--her candle blows out and she asks Jacques for a light, and they end up getting to know each other and fall in love (though, rather than losing her "stash," Francine drops her key somewhere in the room). Their love is doomed, however, as Francine is dying from tuberculosis, and she and Jacques only have about six months together. Mimi in the story also dies, but her death is due to a naturally weak constitution and (romantically) a broken heart. Both of these stories were combined to make the Rent character of Mimi (although, if I remember my synopsis correctly, Mimi from La Boheme isn't too much different from the one in Rent, aside from not being an exotic dancer).
Oh! And one other awesome thing: after the sexy-awesome rap-ish part of "La Vie Boheme," the characters joke around with random crazy lists of things that other characters are going to present (like Collins says, "In honor of the death of Bohemia, an impromptu salon will commence immediately following dinner. Maureen Johnson, just back from her spectacular one-night engagement at the Eleventh Street lot, will perform Native American tribal chants backwards through her vocoder while accompanying herself on the electric cello--which she ain't never studied."). That whole section of the song is lifted from one of the chapters, too! Well, the idea of it anyway. The characters send out invitations for a party they're going to hold, and the invitations list similarly random, crazy entertainments. I enjoyed that part.
And if it weren't 230am, I'd go watch Rent again! Seriously, though--if you like the musical, definitely read the book. It's awesome.
Favoritest quote ever (or at least from this book):
"First reader: I told you that this was not a very lively story.
What would you have, reader? We cannot always laugh."
I'd like to apologize in advance for the massive rambling review-type thingy below. It's late and my brain is kinda fuzzy, but I'm too excited about the wonderfulness of the book to sleep without posting.
I actually read a version from Project Gutenberg, so I'm not sure which edition I read from the list of copies on GR, but it was an unabridged translation, so the page number should be roughly correct.
This book was hilarious. I loved it, and I spent a lot of time picking out bits and figuring out the counterparts of various characters in Rent (which was based off La Boheme, which was based off this book). Musette was pretty much the same as Maureen (her Rent counterpart), and the four main guys were all pretty much the same: Marcel/Mark was the artist (because they didn't have movies back in 1851), Colline/Collins was a philosopher, Schaunard/Angel was a musician (Angel--DuMotte-Schaunard~! Also, "Today 4 U" is lifted from one of the chapters in the book, only it's a parrot and a piano instead of an akita (Evita!) and some drums, but the point is the same!), and Rodolphe/Roger was a writer (this is the biggest stretch, but Roger spent most of the musical trying to write his "one song," so it works).
The biggest and most interesting change was with Mimi. Her Rent character was a composite of her story character (coquettish woman who likes a good time) and a character named Francine, whose story is told in arguably the saddest chapter of the book. "Light My Candle" comes directly from Francine's first meeting with Jacques, who becomes her lover--her candle blows out and she asks Jacques for a light, and they end up getting to know each other and fall in love (though, rather than losing her "stash," Francine drops her key somewhere in the room). Their love is doomed, however, as Francine is dying from tuberculosis, and she and Jacques only have about six months together. Mimi in the story also dies, but her death is due to a naturally weak constitution and (romantically) a broken heart. Both of these stories were combined to make the Rent character of Mimi (although, if I remember my synopsis correctly, Mimi from La Boheme isn't too much different from the one in Rent, aside from not being an exotic dancer).
Oh! And one other awesome thing: after the sexy-awesome rap-ish part of "La Vie Boheme," the characters joke around with random crazy lists of things that other characters are going to present (like Collins says, "In honor of the death of Bohemia, an impromptu salon will commence immediately following dinner. Maureen Johnson, just back from her spectacular one-night engagement at the Eleventh Street lot, will perform Native American tribal chants backwards through her vocoder while accompanying herself on the electric cello--which she ain't never studied."). That whole section of the song is lifted from one of the chapters, too! Well, the idea of it anyway. The characters send out invitations for a party they're going to hold, and the invitations list similarly random, crazy entertainments. I enjoyed that part.
And if it weren't 230am, I'd go watch Rent again! Seriously, though--if you like the musical, definitely read the book. It's awesome.
Favoritest quote ever (or at least from this book):
"First reader: I told you that this was not a very lively story.
What would you have, reader? We cannot always laugh."