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Don't be fooled by that sweet pink cover like I was. This is one of the most heart-sinking and nihilistic novels I've ever read. Even the mouse can't take the pain and grief he ends up topping himself. And yet, it all started off so warm and fuzzy, so fun and lively, so cool and hip. Boy meets girls. Love blossoms. But that's not the only thing blossoming. That lung. That water lily. Damn! I was duped. Really duped. I went from a bright summer's day to a miserable cold night. From a candy floss cloud to one gigantic heavy black one. Paris transforms itself from a fanciful paradise to a suffering dystopia. As if seeing Colin's wealth and happiness whittle down to nothing, forcing him to take on a number of increasingly Kafkaesque, nightmarish jobs in order to try and keep Chloe alive was bad enough. Then along comes an ending that tore me to absolute bits! I've never read anything quite like it, especially when you throw in the level of surrealism and baroque humor. I knew things were going to be different as soon as an eel poked its head out of the end of a tap because it was drawn towards the scent of pineapple toothpaste - and ended up in a pie with mushrooms. Some could argue that Vian's absurdist style produces an emotional detachment between the characters and the reader, but I simply didn't see it that way at all. Along with the tragic love story of cute couple Colin & Chloe, there is the other story of their friends Chick & Alise. They are obsessed with the writings of Jean-Sol Partre. She confronts the writer with a heart-extractor. Just one of the many bizzare scenes that are littered throughout the narrative. The further we go, the darker they get. When I heard there is a 2013 film (didn't even know about the 1968 original) my immediate thoughts were of Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children, Amélie), but Michel Gondry doesn't sound like a bad choice. As for the book - genius, soul-destroying, extraordinary!