The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter - Scènes de la vie de bohème - Henri Murger
The Bohemians in question are Marcel, the artist, Rodolphe, the poet, Colline, the philosopher, and Schaunard, the musician. The four friends form a group in which they are (supposedly) the heads of their fields in the Bohemian world.
The stories are so quaint and romanticised - what I believe Paris to be like when influenced by my own Paris Syndrome (though, thankfully this hasn't been ruined, as I haven't been in the city for more then a few hours).
The romanticism covers the bohemians poverty from lack of food and wood for the fire, even resulting in burning old manuscripts of plays to keep warm. Finding love and muses whom they entice with their poet nonsensical language and their heartbreak when they realise their love wasn't the divine.
Even though they lived through hard times, often not having money to eat for days, Murger's stories are written in such a captivating way that I crave to experience the bohemian life.
The chapters, which are more like scenes, focus on the players at different times if their journey. For someone with pretty bad concentration when it comes to ready a hefty book and remembering every detail, this style is really useful. Though originally that stories didn't hit off past a certain circle, until a young, up-and-coming playwright Barrière combined the stories into a play, citing Murger as co-author.
This was later turned into the brilliant opera La Boheme by Puccini which has been a very popular opera for many years now.
The Bohemians in question are Marcel, the artist, Rodolphe, the poet, Colline, the philosopher, and Schaunard, the musician. The four friends form a group in which they are (supposedly) the heads of their fields in the Bohemian world.
The stories are so quaint and romanticised - what I believe Paris to be like when influenced by my own Paris Syndrome (though, thankfully this hasn't been ruined, as I haven't been in the city for more then a few hours).
The romanticism covers the bohemians poverty from lack of food and wood for the fire, even resulting in burning old manuscripts of plays to keep warm. Finding love and muses whom they entice with their poet nonsensical language and their heartbreak when they realise their love wasn't the divine.
Even though they lived through hard times, often not having money to eat for days, Murger's stories are written in such a captivating way that I crave to experience the bohemian life.
The chapters, which are more like scenes, focus on the players at different times if their journey. For someone with pretty bad concentration when it comes to ready a hefty book and remembering every detail, this style is really useful. Though originally that stories didn't hit off past a certain circle, until a young, up-and-coming playwright Barrière combined the stories into a play, citing Murger as co-author.
This was later turned into the brilliant opera La Boheme by Puccini which has been a very popular opera for many years now.
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