The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre

I’ll admit it. I cried.

To write some back-cover copy, “This is a finely wrought tale of love lost, found, and then lost again.” And then misplaced somewhere in that damn garage. No, seriously, this is quite a lovely book. I chose The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre because I thought it was going to be the portrayal of an artist (the inventor of photography, Louis Daguerre) going mad, wandering Paris and experiencing hallucinations. Something I hope to do someday. I was mistaken. The “mercury visions” in the title are primarily referring to the surreal quality of the Daguerreotypes, the photo imprinting method Daguerre invented, which use mercury as a fixative. Daguerre does in fact go a bit mad from mercury poisoning, but he show more doesn’t hallucinate so much as fall into a state of mild to moderate dementia. Even so, I wasn’t disappointed. This is a well-crafted book.

An example Daguerreotype:



The story takes place in the first half of the 19th century in France. Smith manages to conjure this period convincingly and imbues it with a rich atmosphere. Baudelaire plays a supporting role, and I even believed that characterization.

Other than exploring love—specifically what happens when love is abandoned for needs that are more practical—the primary subject matter of the book is the place of photography in the world of art, and art’s value in general. For Daguerre, photography was a way to achieve fame and even immortality for both himself and for moments in time. Many artists consider art to be their route to immortality. And yet ironically, believing the world is about to end, Daguerre is driven to capture a final list of photographs in order to stash them in the crypts under Paris to preserve them after the Apocalypse. (As you might suspect, the Apocalypse is cancelled due to lack of advertising.) Who thinks of Daguerreotypes now? The implication is that art is a rather inadequate means to immortality. There is no way to achieve immortality when life is so fleeting. Instead, we’re better off pursuing love because that at least might fulfill us during our existence. A rather romantic notion, certainly.

However, Smith indicates several times that Daguerre would not have achieved the success and fame that he had if he hadn’t been scorned early in life by his great love. The implication is that love can actually make us complacent and less successful. We throw ourselves more aggressively into “achievement” perhaps if we fail at love. Some might; I suspect others give up pursuing their goals when they find misery in love. For Daguerre, it was like revenge—look how great I became. You could have had me yet chose not to. I appreciate the mixed messages about love, but one of the clear suggestions in this novel is that choosing financial gain over love is a sure route to life-long emptiness.

I can’t say that I agree with any one portrayal of love as representative for all—for others love fulfilled can also lead to lifelong misery—but it’s believable for the characters portrayed within this work and it’s a worthwhile cautionary tale to ponder. The ending is rather tragic and beautiful and unexpected, too.

Despite this being the type of book that I don’t seek out (realist, historical, and in some ways a love story), I looked forward to picking it up and got lost in it. Recommended. show less

I'd ready The Last Painting of Sara de Los and loved it, so I happened upon this book and excitedly picked it up. Again, the writing is beautiful, the story compelling, and creatively imagined. As not a lot is known about the life of Louis Daguerre, Smith invented one for him: connecting him with Parisian contemporaries, analyzing a potential path to and side effects of inventing the daguerreotype, and adding a romantic interest. Very readable, though not quite as complex as The Last Painting. I'll definitely read his other books too!

I seem to be on a bit of a historical fiction kick lately, the latest of which is Dominic Smith's debut novel The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre (Washington Square Press, 2007), which takes as its main protagonist Louis Daguerre, with cameo appearances by Charles Baudelaire and other historical personalities. The book is framed around Daguerre late in life, driven mad by mercury poisoning and convinced that there are certain things he must photograph before the world ends.

Among the items on his "Doomsday List" is Isobel Le Fournier, who, we learn, was Daguerre's first (and only) love. Much of the novel is given over to flashbacks of their early days together and the circumstances of their parting, as well as his attempt to find her show more again before it's too late.

While there were few surprises about the trajectory this book took, I liked the descriptions of Daguerre's photographic experiments and processes, and as characters he and Isobel worked nicely together. The descriptions of the difficult times in France during the late 1840s were well done, and Smith can turn a good phrase.

http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2010/02/book-review-mercury-visions-of-louis.htm... show less

A fairly conventional historical novel--no surprises here. Daguerre, realizing his days are numbered (he has been poisoned by the mercury used in the photography process), goes on a final quest: to photograph the king, to photograph the ideal woman in the nude, and to photograph the woman he fell in love with when he was only 14. Along the way, we meet Baudelaire and other artists of the day and get caught up in several mini-revolutions. Not an unenjoyable novel--but not particularly memorable either.

This book was simply magnificent! It had everything. History, Drama, Romance, Mystery. I can't think of a book I enjoyed more. (And that's no small comment if you check my list). I didn't want to put it down until the end where I forced myself to put it down so it would last longer. I've been a photojournalist for 17 years and I was delighted to read this tale about the birth of my profession.

I had had high hopes for this book but I was sorely disappointed.

The storyline dragged like slow torture and the characters seemed barely two-dimensional.

There was great potential in both the storyline and the characterization, however the author missed both marks by a long shot.

So many times I wanted to just give up and put this one away but I kept reading thinking (hoping, wishing) it would get better. And it did, but only through fleeting passages. Then back to the same old labored reading.

I gave this 2 stars instead of 1 because there were definite resolutions to the two main conflicts presented in the story. Had it not been for those much-sought-after resolutions, the whole thing would've been a complete waste of time.

If you can show more hold out so long as to find out how the conflicts get resolved, then more power to you. If not, no big deal. You won't have missed much. show less

For a historical fiction piece, it captures my imagination and musings of earlier French tinkerers and the inventions that cannot attain true love.