The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre Book

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 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.