L'herbe rouge, originally published in 1950 is a short novel in a kind of science-fiction idiom, full of L'herbe rouge, originally published in 1950, is a short novel in a kind of science-fiction idiom, full of Vian's usual paradoxes and black humour (and a talking dog). But it turns out to be much less about the strange machine that engineer Wolf and his assistant Saphir Lazuli are building, or indeed the red grass that is growing around it, than about what is going on in the two men's subconscious — a kind of Freudian version of Don Giovanni.

The machine sends Wolf off on a punishing psychoanalytical tour, during which he is questioned in depth about his parents, his education, his religious beliefs and his sexuality. At the same time, Lazuli is trying to deal with a disturbing sexual problem: whenever he's on the point of making love to his beautiful girlfriend Folavril, he senses the presence of a sad-faced man in a dark suit watching them. We soon get the feeling that this isn't going to end well.

The novel comes together with the short-story collection Les lurettes fourrées, written in 1948-1949 and published posthumously in 1962. There are three stories: "Le Rappel" has the engaging eccentricity that its action takes place during the time the main character is falling from the Empire State Building (including a stop for coffee partway); "Les Pompiers" is about what to do when the fire brigade can't fit you in until the day after tomorrow; and "Le Retraité" is a dark satire about the way violence and intolerance can escalate for no reason. ( )