Chapters 1-2: 0:00—Water drinking. 6:06—Murger’s success. 7:33—Francis’s success. 12:00—Man with a glove. 16:13—Berserkers. 19:56—Mid-century French art. 24:07—A blank canvas. 25:12—The painting of democrats. 28:23—Size matters. 31:23—Interlude.

Chapters 2-4: 31:57—A house call. 35:00—Behind the curtain. 40:10—Unsatisfyingly elliptical. 43:33—Muddied by pride. 45:49—An artistic freemasonry. 47:51—The doctor’s funeral. 51:04—Art & vanity. 52:23—Thirsting for greatness. 56:29—Francis browbeaten. 1:00:57—Browsing literature. 1:06:04—Interlude.

Chapters 5-6: 1:06:37—Family life. 1:08:30—Russians in Paris. 1:12:58—Initiation & integrity. 1:17:35—Bread & water drinkers. 1:18:32—Art movement. 1:20:03—Francis, Antonie & the Princess. 1:23:41—Fire & water drinkers. 1:25:05—Francis’s fate. 1:25:40—A glass one-third full. 1:27:25—Anything but amusing. 1:35:36—Closing.

Text: Henry Murger, The Water Drinkers and Other Sketches of Paris in the Romantic Era. Translated by Zack Rogow. Black Widow Press, 2025.

Interludes: Georges Bizet, Symphony in C Major (1855), performed by the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano della RAI, conducted by André Cluytens, Milan, February 3, 1961.

Image: Engraving of Henry Murger, 1854 (Wikimedia).

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