Reading huysmans is to have the origin of wilde of the artist as critic explained to one. Against the grain, or a rebours, was written by joris huysmans in 1884, and it tells. We suggest that readers not undertake this book until they have attained the age of 65. He was a career civil servant who wrote ten novels, most notably a rebours more about joriskarl huysmans. This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of against nature by joriskarl huysmans. These paintings inspired huysmans to write vivid, descriptive prose in response. Rebours, the novel by joriskarl huysmans from 1884, as a critique of public urban life on the one hand, and as an experiment in private life on the other hand. The 20thcentury american critic edmund wilsons survey of the symbolist movement, axels castle 1931, is considered a classic of modern literary analysis and. Burdened as they are with mere information, the chapters contain passages that one will reread now and then.
In a rebours, this moment can be temporal, in the space of time in which the poem is read, or spacial, if looking at the poem on a page and noting the phrases, or moments, that shine amongst the rest. Jean des esseintes, an eccentric, reclusive, ailing aesthete. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Huysmans spiritual autobiography camille paglia is vastly disturbing and hilariously funny. Against the grain or a rebours, in french is the most famous work by french novelist and art critic joriskarl huysmans. Leon bloy, a fellow writer and fellow catholic, described it as continually dragging mother image by the hair or the feet down the wormeaten staircase of terrified. May 01, 2003 infamous as the inspiration for the novel which slowly corrupts oscar wildes dorian gray, joriskarl huysmans against nature a rebours is translated by robert baldick with an introduction by patrick mcguinness in penguin classics. Against the grain a rebours by joriskarl huysmans 1884 the bestknown example of findesiecle decadence, this novel has been banned and expurgated for years. Huysmans 1884 preface written twenty years after the novel i suppose all men of letters are like myself in this, that they never reread their works once they have appeared. It has been translated into english as against the grain and, more recently, as against nature. Complete summary of charles marie georges huysmans against the grain.
Reading huysmans is to have wilde ruined for one at least the wilde of the dreadful salome, and the appalling verse, which is worse. Decadent novel a rebours, or, against nature the british library. Such is the enticing epigraph of one early translation of huysmans cult novel of 1884, which is also routinely called the bible of decadence. Joriskarl huysmans 18481907 is recognized as one of the most challenging and innovative figures in european literature and acknowledged as principal architect of the findesiecle imagination. She was living, more refined and savage, more execrable and exquisite. A rebours translated against nature or against the grain 1884 is a novel by the french writer joriskarl huysmans. Huysmans 1884 preface written twenty years after the novel i suppose all men of letters are like myself in this, that they.
Depending on the study guide provider sparknotes, shmoop, etc. Robert baldick, biographer of huysmans 1955 and translator of his most famous novel, a rebours, described his style as one of the strangest literary idioms in existence. With focused humor and sardonic sense of taste, huysmans s unfolds the story of des essaintes, the hermetic aristocrat on the borders of paris, as he tries to seal himself in aesthetic rituals. Landow created the html design and formatted the text, adding french accents. May 04, 2016 a rebours, a hothouse and inverted walden, an adventure in escape, is adolescent literature, and should be read for the first time at that age. He was a career civil servant who wrote ten novels, most notably a rebours. As early as in huysmanss novel a rebours, des esseintes was a kind of modern monk who distanced hmself from the madness and turmoil of the superficial world but found no peace. What houellebecq learned from huysmans the new yorker. While a rebours is an incredibly influential, genredefying novel, to say that it is the book that launched the symbolist movement, art nouveau, the decadents, and eventually, i suppose, modernism, is, at very least, a gross over statement. This web version of john howards translation of joriskarl huysmanss a rebours, whose title is rendered both against the grain and against nature, uses the project gutenberg ascii text produced by harrison ainsworth release date. The project gutenberg ebook of against the grain, by joris. Its narrative concentrates almost entirely on its principal character and is mostly a catalog of the tastes and inner life of jean des esseintes, an eccentric, reclusive aesthete and antihero who loathes 19thcentury bourgeois society and tries to retreat into an.
As des esseintes hides away in his museum of high taste, huysman offers the reader a treasury of cultural delights and. Somehow both decadent and protomodern, it straddles the 19th and 20th centuries with its deft combination of languid aestheticism and worldweary alienation, bound up in a dyspeptic, rapturous, cynical, obsessive and intensely selfrevealing package. Des essientes is a weedy aristocratic aesthete with an unlimited budget who retires from the world in order to build his. Huysmans work was known for his idiosyncratic use of the french language, extensive vocabulary, detailed and sensuous descriptions, and biting, satirical wit. A rebours 1884 is a novel by the french writer joriskarl huysmans. The protagonist, and actually the only character worth mentioning, is duc jean des esseintes, a thirtyyear old child of. All references within the text are from joriskarl huysmans, against nature, trans. Huysmans great a rebour perhaps better translated against the grain, is a mordantly brilliant plunge into the depths of modern decadence. The premise of the novel is simple and follows the seclusion of jean des. It has been translated into english as against the grain and, more recently, as. Since des esseintes received no visitors, and since the postman never even ventured into these uninhabited parts, having no occasion to deliver any papers, magazines or letters, the servants hesitated before opening the door. It provides a thorough exploration of the novels plot, characters and main themes, including dandyism, art and the decadent movement. However it is important to recognise huysmans s debt to baudelaire, as many of the themes and motifs of his book the egotism, perversity, artificial sensations, finding beauty in le mal, the sense of ennui and fatigue were formulated by baudelaire.
Against nature a rebours, joriskarl huysmans 1884 huysmans against nature is a novel about one man the rich but jaded aristocrat des esseintes and the isolated life he crafts for himself a life governed by aesthetic considerations and the desire to subvert, and even supersede, nature. In both its style and its subject, the work epitomizes the decadence of late 19thcentury french elite culture. This web version of john howards translation of joriskarl huysmans s a rebours, whose title is rendered both against the grain and against nature, uses the project gutenberg ascii text produced by harrison ainsworth release date. Huysmans 2014, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay. Joriskarl huysmans was born as charlesmariegeorges huysmans on februry 5, 1848 in paris. Closely arrayed, side by side, in the old frames which their broad shoulders filled, they startled one with the fixed gaze of their eyes, their fierce moustaches and the chests whose deep curves filled the. Against the grain, or a rebours, was written by joris huysmans in 1884, and it tells the story of a young duke named jean des esseintes who indulges in a life of debauchery in paris but suffers. The czech artists benes knupfer, august bromse, and joseph vachal portrayed the monk as sullen and tortured. His father, of dutch origin, died when he was eight. Nov 12, 2015 joriskarl huysmanss 1884 handbook of decadence, a rebours, tells the story of a naturehating aesthete named jean des esseintes. Against nature is the perfect illustration of oscar wildes famous paradox that life imitates art, and not the other way around.
The afternoon was drawing to its close when a carriage halted in front of the fontenay house. A rebours against nature by jk huysmans, translated by robert baldick 1884. Not quite as solitary or friendless as his alter ego, huysmans was a. A translation by robert baldick against nature in the penguin series is convenient to read and widely. Against the grain, novel by joriskarl huysmans, published in french as a rebours in 1884. It was also translated into english as against nature. Against the grain, by joriskarl huysmans 1884 miss darcys. A year of rob doyles mostloved books sat, apr 20, 2019, 06. Huysmans, against nature presentation handout oscar. A rebours against nature joriskarl huysmans 1848 1907. Decadent novel a rebours, or, against nature the british. While today a rebours is held up as the quintessential decadent literary work as it was largely recognized by huysmans contemporary. A brief analysis of huysmans catholic work published in michel salomons book art et litterature, in 1901. Dec 31, 2016 the protagonist of joriskarl huysmans a rebours against nature, in my translation, though the original title has a wider connotation.
Resisting the traditional model of nineteenthcentury fiction, joriskarl huysman produced in 1884 a novel unlike any other of his time. A huisman or huijsman is an archaic term for a farmer. A wildly original findesiecle novel, against nature contains only one character. A rebours against nature joriskarl huysmans 1848 1907 joriskarl huysmans, a frenchman of dutch ancestry, wrote the defining work of the decadent movement, a movement which began around the time of baudelaires les fleurs du mal 1857, filtered into and flourished in late 19th century england and finally petered out after the trial of oscar wilde 1895. Joriskarl huysmans was too eccentric, in his person, in his interests, and in his literary activity, ever to be at the center of the intellectual life of his times. Librivox recording of against the grain, or against nature, by joriskarl huysmans, read by martin geeson. At 20 he began a long career in the ministry of the interior, writing. Feb 02, 2014 joriskarl huysmanss a rebours, which loosely translates to against nature or against the grail is marked by many as the defining work of the decadent movement, which began around the time of baudelaires les fleur du mal 1857 and sifted into and thrived in the late 19th century england finally petering out after the trial. After a lifetime of parisian decadence, and out of a.
That is the trap into which des esseintes falls in huysmans experimental novel, called a rebours in the french, variously translated in english as against the grain or against nature. First published in paris in 1884 when the naturalistic school of which huysmans himself was a major figure was at its height, it delivered a bodyblow to zolas brand of literary realism, and almost single. But there is a lure in the creeping undulation of huysmanss prose. Against nature is the story of des esseintes, an aesthete who attempts to escape paris and, along with it, the vulgarity of modern life. She more energetically awakened the dulled senses of man, more surely bewitched and. It provides a thorough exploration of the novels plot, characters and main themes, including murder, satanism and decadence. After passing the baccalaureate, he took an administrative post in the ministry of interior. Use the force to ace this quiz on the words of the day from may 4 to may 10. Against nature by joriskarl huysmans book analysis. Against nature by joriskarl huysmans inclass presentation, october 17, 2012 by kjo biographical information. Against nature huysmans oscar wilde and the french decadents. Linking the picture of dorian gray and huysmans a rebours. As huysmans writes, the kernel of the desecuritising representation is the refusal to define the political community as ultimately a question of distancing from or eliminating the enemy.
Joriskarl huysmans 1848 1907, translated by john howard the book that dorian gray loved and that inspired oscar wilde. Closely arrayed, side by side, in the old frames which their broad shoulders filled, they startled one with the fixed gaze of their eyes. The protagonist of joriskarl huysmans against nature 1884, des esseintes, is a dandy who demonstrates a strong dislike towards the bourgeoisie, who, in his view, is exclusively preoccupied with swindling and moneymaking huysmans 57. At 20 he began a long career in the ministry of the. Like it was here that she was indeed woman, for here she gave rein to her ardent and cruel temperament. Originally a staunch supporter of naturalism in art, his tastes changed over the years. Des esseintes is the false iconoclast, the man who is obsessed with being different for its own sake, but who does not know himself.
Joriskarl huysmans, original name charlesmariegeorges huysmans, born feb. Huysmans was the only son of a french mother and a dutch father. Sep 24, 20 a rebours was indeed part of a poisonous decadent french literature, and was identified by arthur symons as the breviary of the decadence. Huysmans article about huysmans by the free dictionary. Huysmans or huijsmans is a dutch occupational surname. Howards translation of joriskarl huysmanss a rebours, whose title. The 20thcentury american critic edmund wilsons survey of the symbolist movement, axels castle 1931, is considered a classic of modern literary analysis and joriskarl huysmans a rebours 1884. Posted on february 3, 2014 updated on february 3, 2014. Des esseintes is the false iconoclast, the man who is obsessed with being different for. Against nature by joriskarl huysmans about the book. Born in paris in 1848 and acknowledged as a principal architect of the findesiecle imagination, joriskarl huysmans was a career civil servant who wrote ten novels, most notably a rebours 1884 and labas 1891. It provides a thorough exploration of the novels plot, characters and main themes, including dandyism, art.