The cast of the novel The Hammock and the Hummingbirds applauds the masters who inspired it.

Discover · the inspirations

🌍 We didn’t invent a thing — the inspirations behind The Hammock and the Hummingbirds

Honour to the sources of inspiration, a bow to the masters. Nobody creates out of nothing.

Everyone who fed me

One line per creator — click on their work to discover it

The creator		The work
Profession	Creator	Format	Work	Quote	Ch.
Profession	Creator	Format	Work	Quote	Chapter
director	A Knight's Tale	film	Brian Helgeland		20 · 20 bis · 32
President of the United States	Abraham Lincoln		his life		6
musician	AC/DC	song	You Shook Me All Night Long		20
setting	Al Capone		Prohibition, 1930s America		23
philosopher	Alain	book	Alain on Happiness	read	6 · 36 · 41 · 44
writer, director and actor	Alexandre Astier	show	Kaamelott — 6 books, 458 episodes on M6, from 2005 to 2009; he created, wrote, directed and scored it · the video · why Vogler? (masterclass)	read	6 · 8 · 19 · 20 · 20 bis · 22 · 38 · 41 · 46
director	’Allo ’Allo!	film	David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd · the video · the video		5 · 27 · 32
writer	Alphonse Allais	book	his works		6
setting	Amazon Prime		its page		28
	Apocalypse Now		its page		6
setting	Apple Store		its page		11
director	Aquaman	film	James Wan, with Jason Momoa		11 · 27
musician	Aretha Franklin	song	Think, in The Blues Brothers
musician	Art Tatum	song	Tea for Two		23
writer	Arthur Conan Doyle	book	A Study in Scarlet — Sherlock Holmes’s first case		6
myth	Asgard		Norse mythology		9
footballer	Beckham		David Beckham, Real Madrid legend		5
comedian	Benny Hill	show	The Benny Hill Show · the video		30
literary journalist	Bernard Pivot	book	Les Mots de ma vie (The Words of My Life)		47
singer	Beyoncé	song	her official website		5
musician	Billie Holiday	song	Strange Fruit		23
director	Snow White	film	Walt Disney		31
setting	BMW		not linked		4
actor and singer	Bourvil	show	The Sucker (Le Corniaud), by Gérard Oury		27
director	Braveheart	film	trailer		3
novelist	Bridget Jones	book	Bridget Jones’s Diary, by Helen Fielding		3
	Brigitte Bardot		Saint-Tropez		32
myth	Brokkr and Sindri		Norse mythology		8
setting	Bugatti Atlantic		classic car		23
setting	Buick Roadmaster		classic car		23
setting	Cadillac Eldorado		classic car		23
cartoon	Calimero	series	Calimero is back!		6 · 15
writer	Cervantes	book	Don Quixote		25 · 46
	Charles de Gaulle		his page	read	6
general and President of the French Republic	Charles de Gaulle		his life		6
general and President of the French Republic	Charles de Gaulle	speech	I have understood you (Je vous ai compris)		6
writer	Charles Perrault	book	Bluebeard	read	22
musician	Charlie Parker	song	Lover Man		23
setting	ChatGPT		its page		2
setting	Chevrolet Fleetline		classic car		23
comedians	Chevallier and Laspalès	sketch	Le train pour Pau (The Train to Pau)		16
adventurer	Christopher Columbus	account	his four voyages to the Indies, 1492-1504		8
script analyst, Hollywood	Christopher Vogler	book	The Writer’s Journey		1 · 20 bis · 41 · 45 · 46
director	Moonlighting	film	Glenn Gordon Caron — the black-and-white episode “The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice”, 1985, a tribute to 1940s film noir, introduced		38 · 44
comedian	Coluche	show	The complete sketches · the video	read	6 · 22 · 31
writer	Daniel Pennac	book	the Malaussène saga, all 8 volumes — The Scapegoat · The Fairy Gunmother · Write to Kill · Monsieur Malaussène · Des chrétiens et des	read	7 · 24 · 30 · 35 · 45
musician	Dizzy Gillespie	song	A Night in Tunisia		23
writer	Dominique Lapierre	book	The City of Joy
musician	Duke Ellington	song	Mood Indigo		23
physicist	Einstein	book	The World as I See It		27 · 39
comedian	Élie Kakou	show	the Fortunée Sarfati sketch, quoted in chapter 3 — in his complete shows		3 · 32
musician	Ella Fitzgerald	song	A-Tisket, A-Tasket		23
musician	Elton John	song	I'm Still Standing		38
novelist	Emily Brontë	book	Wuthering Heights		5
adventurer	Éric Tabarly	account	his victories aboard Pen Duick		5
proverb	Errare humanum est		to err is human		6
comedian	Florence Foresti	show	her show	read	3
musician	Francis Cabrel	song	Animal		32
writer	Françoise Mallet-Joris	book	Allegra		41 · 44
dancer	Frankie Manning	film	the Savoy lindy hop — in 1935 he invented the first air step, with his partner Freda Washington; you can see him dance in Hellzapoppin’, 1941,
writer	Fynn	book	Mister God, This Is Anna
myth	Freyja		Norse mythology		32
comedian	Gad Elmaleh	show	his show	read	42
director	Game of Thrones	film	David Benioff and D. B. Weiss		10
lawyer and activist	Gandhi	book	Freedom at Midnight, by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins		39
dancer	Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen	film	Singin' in the Rain, 1952		38
	General von Klinkerhoffen	series	’Allo ’Allo!		4
	George Orwell		1984 — Big Brother		31
statesman	Georges Clemenceau		his life		6
children’s writer	Gianni Rodari	book	The Grammar of Fantasy	read	18 · 20 bis · 37 · 45 · 46
setting	Google Translate		its page		32
cartoonist	Goscinny and Tabary	drawing	Iznogoud		31 · 33 · 34
cartoonist	Gotlib	drawing	Rubrique-à-Brac
setting	Guantánamo		its page		19
writer	H. G. Wells	novel	The Invisible Man		3
philosopher	Heraclitus	book	Fragments		39
actor	Hugh Grant	films	Notting Hill		4
setting	IKEA		its page		45
	There’s great art in my lateness		the video		6
setting	IMAX		its page		43
director	Indiana Jones	film	Steven Spielberg		42
musician	Indochine	song	L'Aventurier		8
setting	Interpol		its page		12
musician	Isaac Hayes	song	Theme from Shaft		20
musician	Jacob Collier & Chris Martin	song	Fix You		20 bis · 22 · 46 · 47
actress	Jacqueline Maillan	show	Au théâtre ce soir (Theatre Tonight)	read	34 · 42
musician	Jacques Dutronc	song	Le monde est un cactus		30
poet	Jacques Prévert	book	Paroles	read	6 · 23 · 34 · 39
cartoonist and animator	Jacques Rouxel	show	The Shadoks	read	24 · 27 · 28 · 31 · 32 · 33 · 41
setting	Jaguar XK 120		classic car		23
	James Bond		his page		3 · 31
novelist	Jane Austen	book	Sense and Sensibility · Pride and Prejudice		16 · 22
writer and actor	Jean Poiret	show	La Cage aux Folles (The Birdcage)	read	3 · 38 · 42
comedian and film-maker	Jean Yanne	show	Dictionary of the Words Only Me What Knows Them	read	6 · 20 · 24
adventurer	Jean-Pierre Hallet	account	Congo Kitabu — his travels from 1948 to 1960 and the Efe pygmies
director	Jeff Bridges	film	his career as a singer		3 · 11 · 23
puppeteer	Jim Henson	show	The Muppet Show, 1976 — produced by Lew Grade, ITC Entertainment · the video	read	27 · 40 · 47
dancer	John Carney	film	Begin Again, 2013		20
director	Jonathan Livingston Seagull	film	Hall Bartlett, based on Richard Bach
mythologist	Joseph Campbell	book	The Hero with a Thousand Faces		1 · 45
myth	Jötunn, the giants		Norse mythology		3
	Juan Manuel Fangio	documentary	Fangio: The Man Who Tamed the Machines, on Netflix		3
novelist	Jules Verne	book	Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas		3 · 8 · 44
writer	Kafka	book	The Trial		29
myth	Kali		Hindu mythology		32
novelist	Karine Baridon		The Hammock and the Hummingbirds	read	22
director	Koh-Lanta	film	Adventure Line Productions		10
director	Ice Age	film	Chris Wedge		27
	The Parisian Agency		the series on Netflix		3
setting	The eruption of Tambora		1815 — it caused “the year without a summer” of 1816		32
director	Man from Atlantis	film	the series		42
director	That Man from Rio	film	Philippe de Broca, with Jean-Paul Belmondo		28
setting	The Barcolana		sailing regatta, Trieste		32
setting	The DGSI (French intelligence)	website	the official website		3
fabulist	La Fontaine	book	Fables		44
setting	Kieler Woche (Kiel Week)		sailing regatta, Kiel		32
director	Death Watch	film	Bertrand Tavernier
setting	Swiss neutrality		the counter-model		34
setting	La Porquerolle's Classic		classic sailing-yacht regatta around the Îles d’Hyères — created in 2003 for the centenary of the Moonbeam of Fife
setting	The “Crois-y Nicole” advert		its page		22
moralist	La Rochefoucauld	book	Maxims	read	33
setting	Route 66		its page		20
setting	French Social Security (la Sécu)		its page		44
setting	The SNCF (the French railways)		its page		12
proverb	Revenge is a dish best served frozen		twisted		16
myth	The Völva		Norse mythology		8 · 9
setting	BASE jumping		the leap into the void — at Kjerag, in Norway, 1,100 m above the Lysefjord, the most beautiful spot in Europe
myth	The berserker		Norse mythology		8 · 9 · 17 · 32
director	Puss in Boots	film	Chris Miller		44
setting	Covid		a period reference		17 · 34
setting	Glastonbury Festival		its page		8
setting	The GIGN (French special forces)		its page		42
setting	Monopoly		its jail square		31
myth	The Nøkk and the Nykur		Norse mythology — the water spirits		9
fairy tale	Tom Thumb		its page		38
setting	Pavlov’s reflex		in a quip from the mother		26
myth	Valhalla		Norse mythology
director	The Old Gun	film	Robert Enrico
setting	Wingsuit flying		flying in a winged suit — you glide at over 300 km/h
setting	The Care Bears		their page		10
setting	The César Awards		their page		24
setting	Niagara Falls		their page		36
director	Jaws	film	Steven Spielberg		32
director	If Tomorrow Comes	film	Sidney Sheldon, from his novel If Tomorrow Comes — with Madolyn Smith and Tom Berenger
setting	Twin flames		the twin flames concept		13
character	Major Achbach	video clip	Don’t Look Now… We’re Being Shot At! (La Grande Vadrouille), the “Interrogation” clip (STUDIOCANAL)		14
	The Lumière brothers		La Ciotat		32
comedy trio	Les Inconnus	show	Les Trois Frères (The Three Brothers)		15
setting	Starling murmurations		their page		8
dancer	The Nicholas Brothers	film	Stormy Weather, 1943 — the staircase number to Cab Calloway’s “Jumpin’ Jive”
setting	Northern specialities		surströmming, hákarl, lutefisk, aquavit, frikandel, broodje kroket, drop, kopstootje		20
setting	The Tall Ships Races		tall-ship race		32
setting	TED Talks		their page		19
myth	The Valkyries		Norse mythology		32
setting	LinkedIn		its page		1 · 45
	Lord Acton		his page	read	31
musician	Louis Armstrong	song	Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen		38
actor	Louis de Funès	show	Don’t Look Now… We’re Being Shot At! (La Grande Vadrouille), by Gérard Oury		27
setting	Louis XIV		the Sun King, to whom K compares her Viking		28
director	MacGyver	film	Lee David Zlotoff		15
adventurer	Magellan	account	the first voyage round the world, 1519-1522		28
	Magnum		opening credits		3
novelist	Margaret Mitchell	film	Gone with the Wind		16
writer	Mark Twain	novel	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer		3
setting	Marvel		its page		44
musician	McFadden & Whitehead	song	Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now		38
expression	Mektoub (it is written)		its page		6 · 22
actor	Mel Gibson	films	Braveheart		3
dialogue writer	Michel Audiard	show	Monsieur Gangster (Les Tontons flingueurs)	read	4 · 16 · 30 · 31 · 37 · 39 · 41
musician	Michel Berger	song	La groupie du pianiste, sung by France Gall		19
sculptor	Michelangelo		his sculptures at the Galleria dell’Accademia		1
adventurer	Mike Horn	account	Latitude Zero — 40,000 km along the equator		19 · 28
setting	Mr Freeze		a pun on ice		21
philosopher	Montaigne	book	Essays	read	6 · 40
comedy troupe	Monty Python	show	Always Look on the Bright Side of Life	read	20 · 27
director	Mr Bean	film	Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis
setting	Netflix		its page		41 · 43
philosopher	Nietzsche	book	Thus Spoke Zarathustra		6
musician	Nino Ferrer	song	Le Sud · Oh hé hein bon · La désabusion
	North of North		with Jay Ryan		46
director	Notting Hill	film	Roger Michell, with Hugh Grant
myth	Odin		Norse mythology		4 · 5 · 32
expression	We’re not tired!		its page		22
adventurer	Osa and Martin Johnson	account	I Married Adventure		8
writer	Oscar Wilde		his life		6
cartoonist	Osvaldo Cavandoli	drawing	La Linea	read	15 · 27 · 31 · 41
setting	Pac-Man		its page		19
psychologist	Patricia Garfield	book	Creative Dreaming — the dreaming peoples: Senoi, Native Americans, Tibetans
neurobiologist	Paul D. MacLean	theory	the triune brain		19
novelist	Paulo Coelho	book	The Alchemist		35
journalist and presenter	Philippe Bouvard	show	Les Grosses Têtes, on RTL radio — he hosted it for 37 years, from 1977 to 2014
comedian	Pierre Dac	show	L’Os à moelle (The Marrow Bone)	read	15 · 19 · 39
comedian	Pierre Desproges	show	Let’s Live Happily While Waiting for Death	read	31 · 33
musician	Pink Floyd	song	The Great Gig in the Sky		35
philosopher	Plato	book	The Apology of Socrates		6
setting	Porsche 356		the little rounded Porsche, the brand’s first car, 1948-1965
novelist	Proust	book	Swann’s Way		5
director	Four Weddings and a Funeral	film	Mike Newell, with Hugh Grant	read	2 · 6 · 11
musician	Queen	song	We Are the Champions · We Will Rock You		20
	R. L. Stevenson		Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde		12 · 19
myth	Ragnarök		Norse mythology		4
musician	Ray Charles	song	Hit the Road Jack		38
comedian	Raymond Devos	show	Matière à rire, the complete collection	read	25 · 28 · 35
cartoonist	René Gruau	drawing	the Christian Dior posters — Miss Dior, the Bar jacket, Rouge Baiser
director	Rob Reiner	film	When Harry Met Sally…		16
director	Robert Zemeckis	film	Back to the Future		15
writer and aviator	Richard Bach	book	Jonathan Livingston Seagull		21
	Richelieu		his page		34
dancer	Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins	film	West Side Story, 1961 — Something's Coming		38
magician	Robert-Houdin	book	The Secrets of Conjuring and Magic		20
	Rocky		his page		19
comedian	Roland Magdane	show	his show	read	24
setting	Rolls-Royce Phantom		vintage car		23
writer	Romain Rolland	book	Life of Michelangelo	read	47
setting	Rotterdam and Naples		its page		21
setting	Route du Rhum		the race		5
proverb	If there’s no wind, take the oars		Italian proverb		18
setting	Sail Amsterdam		tall-ship gathering — you can see the tjalks and skûtsjes, the flat-bottomed Dutch barges that sit on the mud at low tide		32
writer and aviator	Saint-Exupéry	book	Wind, Sand and Stars		20 · 46
director	Dick Dastardly and Muttley	film	William Hanna and Joseph Barbera		27
musician	Serge Gainsbourg	song	Le Poinçonneur des Lilas (The Ticket Puncher of Les Lilas)		24
director	Shrek	film	Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson		44
philosopher	Socrates	book	The Apology of Socrates, written by Plato		6
novelist	Somerset Maugham	book	The Razor’s Edge		6
theatre director	Stanislavski	book	An Actor Prepares		27
musician	Stephan Eicher	song	Déjeuner en paix		30
musician	Stevie Wonder	song	his music		20
poet	Sully Prudhomme	book	The Broken Vase (Le Vase brisé), Stances et poèmes	read	17
setting	Chernobyl		its page		40
musician	The Beatles	song	Yellow Submarine
director	The Big Lebowski	film	the Coen brothers, with Jeff Bridges		11
musician	The Police	song	Roxanne		14 · 16
musician	Thelonious Monk	song	'Round Midnight		23
inventor	Thomas Edison		his life		6
myth	Thor		Norse mythology — and his hammer Mjöllnir		8 · 9 · 32
director	Titanic	film	James Cameron		3 · 28
adventurer	Titouan Lamazou	account	Zoé Zoé Femmes du monde (Women of the World) — 150 portraits, six years of travel		20 · 28
myth	Tyr		Norse mythology		32
	A sensual wave		the video		3
myth	The Vedas	book	the Rig Veda		4
proverb	Verba volant, scripta manent		spoken words fly away, written words remain		6
director	Vision On / Déclic	film	Tony Hart and Pat Keysell — 260 episodes on the BBC, from 1964 to 1976, made without words for deaf children; shown in France in Les Visiteurs		20
writer and philosopher	Voltaire	book	Candide	read	6 · 29 · 44
setting	Volvo 240 estate		“the flying brick”, designed by Jan Wilsgaard — the boxy car of the 80s, built from 1974 to 1993, 2.9 million made
musician	War	song	Low Rider		20
	Winston Churchill		his page		31
	Wonder Woman	film	trailer		5
director	Woody Allen	film	Take the Money and Run		4
	Yogi Berra		his page		39

“read” opens the author’s line. The chapter number opens the page where it appears.

Watch

In 2013, an 18-year-old boy recorded a 40-year-old Stevie Wonder song at his parents’ house. He hid nothing: Stevie Wonder’s name was right there in the title. The video went viral, Quincy Jones spotted it, and that’s where Jacob Collier’s career began.

It was because the song was well known that we could hear what he’d brought to it.

Watch the video

This book is made the same way. We read, listened, laughed, cried — and digested. It stands on the shoulders of giants: here are the nods, the tributes and the sources that fed it. Click, discover, enjoy.

So thank you to my masters, the ones I’ve read, listened to and worn threadbare. They asked me for nothing, and they gave me everything. Not one of them ever had me as a pupil. Which, no doubt, is what saved them.

Draw

🎨 A tribute to René Gruau

The line, the solid black, the single colour, the gesture held in one stroke: that’s him. These 6 images are exercises after his work — the pose, the framing and the spirit come from him; Coraline has taken his models’ place.

A tribute to René Gruau: Coraline in a long feathered black dress and white gloves, one hand on her hip, in front of a dark door. — Coraline in a black dress

A tribute to René Gruau

ImageKarine Baridon

A tribute to René Gruau: Coraline reclining on a chaise longue, black dress splashed with green and pink, long black gloves. — Coraline on the chaise longue

A tribute to René Gruau

ImageKarine Baridon

A tribute to René Gruau: Coraline in a white dress and orange coat, a large feathered black hat and long black gloves, leaning on a mantelpiece. — Coraline in the black hat

A tribute to René Gruau

ImageKarine Baridon

A tribute to René Gruau: close-up of Coraline’s face under a large black hat, a gloved hand against her cheek, orange splashes. — Coraline in the black hat, close up

A tribute to René Gruau

ImageKarine Baridon

A tribute to René Gruau: Coraline stretched out on a red deckchair, a big yellow hat over her eyes, in flat blocks of colour. — Coraline in the yellow hat

A tribute to René Gruau

ImageKarine Baridon

Create, support, carry on

“We didn’t invent a thing — we just dared to dance with all of it.” 🦋

Like a work? Read the novel it fed. A work inspires you? Make your own, your way, and share your creation in the gallery.

Here, every link is a gift. No commission, on any book, ever. If you buy a Pennac, it all goes to Pennac — and that’s just as it should be. The only thing that earns me anything is my book and my work. Supporting the book or signing up for a workshop is support you give freely.

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🌍 We didn’t invent a thing — the inspirations behind The Hammock and the Hummingbirds

Everyone who fed me

One line per creator — click on their work to discover it

Watch

Draw

🎨 A tribute to René Gruau

Coraline in a pastel striped dress

Coraline in a black dress

Coraline on the chaise longue

Coraline in the black hat

Coraline in the black hat, close up

Coraline in the yellow hat

Create, support, carry on