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Loading... Against the Grainby Joris-Karl Huysmans
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. One of the strangest, most satisfying novels I have ever read. It pays to have an understanding of French, and at least an idea of the Latin authors referenced constantly throughout the book. ( )A definitive Decadent text. There's no real plot to speak of, but that's not the point. The novel charts the dissolute anti-hero's mission to emmerse himself in an artificial, sensual world of his own creation. My favourite chapter is when he decides to travel to England, and stops off in Paris before his train leaves to dine at an English restaurant. He decides that this 'artificial' England is better than the real thing, and returns home satisfied. It's probably not a book you should start off with if you're unfamiliar with the Decadent movement and its ethos, but I love it. Also, it's the 'dangerous book' that Dorian Gray reads, and which contributes to his downfall. What's not to love? Designed to repulse its audience with whimsical decadence this book has a sardonically modern appeal today. I picked out this book in the bookstore because of it's intriguing cover. Something about the expression of the man's face seemed lost and almost crazed. The novel did not disappoint me, and in Des Esseintes, Huysman's created a character who remains agonizingly out of reach. The descriptions throughout are magnificent, (a sort of exciting Dickens), and I found the protagonist at all times lovable and nauseating. The novel is beautifully crafted, but simultaneously seems to be teetering on the edge of total collapse and disintegration. That it doesn't is all part of its peculiar charm. 1452 Against the Grain (A Rebours), by J. K. Huysmans translated by John Howard (read 20 May 1977) This is Huysmans' most famous work. It is pretty plotless. The Floressas Des Esseintes is a dissipated rake, who seeks every pleasure, and at the end of the book he sighs: "O Lord, pity the Christian who doubts, the skeptic who would believe, the convict of life embarking alone in the night, under a sky no longer illumined by the consoling beacons of ancient faith." It is a fantastic book: whole chapters given up to scholarly lists of Latin works (before the tenth century), colors, odors, etc. So much to know, so little time to know it. no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0140447636, Paperback)A wildly original fin-de-siècle novel, Against Nature follows its sole character, Des Esseintes, a decadent, ailing aristocrat who retreats to an isolated villa where he indulges his taste for luxury and excess. Veering between nervous excitability and debilitating ennui, he gluts his aesthetic appetites with classical literature and art, exotic jewels (with which he fatally encrusts the shell of his tortoise), rich perfumes, and a kaleidoscope of sensual experiences. The original handbook of decadence, Against Nature exploded “like a grenade” (in the words of its author) and has enjoyed a cult readership from its publication to the present day.(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:16 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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