J.-K. Huysmans – författare

Den hyperestetiske ädlingen Jean Floressas des Esseintes drar sig i äckel och fasa undan sin brutaliserade och nyttoorienterade tid och skapar sig en själstillvänd och njutningscentrerad tillvaro som eremit på den franska landsbygden. I en serie tablåer, i det närmaste prosapoetiska reflektioner, tar läsaren del av des Esseintes intressen; litteratur, konst, parfymer, inredning, exotiska blommor allt genomströmmas av ädlingens ambition att gå ”mot strömmen”, att ställa sig utanför samhället. Denna utgåva är generöst försedd med illustrationer.

”Vilket symptom på tidsandan det ändå är! fortsatte han. Samhället måste verkligen vara smutsigt, om Gud inte längre har rätt att vara kräsen, om han tvingas plocka upp vad han hittar och får nöja sig med att kalla människor som jag!” I En Route återstiftar vi bekantskapen med dekadensförfattaren J.-K. Huysmans (1848-1907) alterego Durtal, den plågade enslingen från Là-Bas, som bryter upp från Paris och med allt sitt självhat, sin leda och sin vämjelse över en idiotisk samtid beger sig till ett trappistkloster för att skrubba rent själen. I bländande färgstarka och överdådiga tablåer beskrivs musiken, konsten och arkitekturen som drar honom till tron, och in i ”själens dunkla natt” …

Les Soeurs Vatard, described by its author as a "lewd but exact" slice of life, was J.-K. Huysmans' second novel. Huysmans abandoned poetry and turned to the novel at a time when the works of Emile Zola were intensely controversial; Les Soeurs Vatard is dedicated to Zola by "his fervent admirer and devoted friend."In it, Huysmans vividly depicts the scene that for his generation of French writers stood for the contemporary world: the brutal, teeming life of the industrial quarters of Paris in the 1870s. Huysmans' Vatard sisters are "Désirée, an urchin of fifteen, a brunette with large, pale eyes that were somewhat crossed, plump without being fat, attractive and clean; and Céline, the carouser, a big girl with clear eyes and hair the color of straw, a solid, vigorous girl whose blood raced and danced in her veins." The two are part of that "bizarre race of young women" who work as bookbinders, whose lives revolve around the gaslighted bindery works, the gaudy shop windows, and cheap wineshops that Huysmans describes with minute and colorful detail. His precisely observed sketches show that Naturalism as practiced by Buysmans had none of Zola' s emphasis on "scientific" determinism, but centered primarily on the faithful rendering of what he described as "living persons in real milieus."The Vatard Sisters is the first English translation of Les Soeurs Vatard.

Les Soeurs Vatard, described by its author as a "lewd but exact" slice of life, was J.-K. Huysmans' second novel. Huysmans abandoned poetry and turned to the novel at a time when the works of Emile Zola were intensely controversial; Les Soeurs Vatard is dedicated to Zola by "his fervent admirer and devoted friend."In it, Huysmans vividly depicts the scene that for his generation of French writers stood for the contemporary world: the brutal, teeming life of the industrial quarters of Paris in the 1870s. Huysmans' Vatard sisters are "Dsire, an urchin of fifteen, a brunette with large, pale eyes that were somewhat crossed, plump without being fat, attractive and clean; and Cline, the carouser, a big girl with clear eyes and hair the color of straw, a solid, vigorous girl whose blood raced and danced in her veins." The two are part of that "bizarre race of young women" who work as bookbinders, whose lives revolve around the gaslighted bindery works, the gaudy shop windows, and cheap wineshops that Huysmans describes with minute and colorful detail. His precisely observed sketches show that Naturalism as practiced by Buysmans had none of Zola' s emphasis on "scientific" determinism, but centered primarily on the faithful rendering of what he described as "living persons in real milieus."The Vatard Sisters is the first English translation of Les Soeurs Vatard.

"Là-Bas" is an 1891 novel by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans. The story concerns Durtal, a man disgusted by the shallowness and decadence of the world within which he lives. Turning to the study of the Middle Ages as a form of escapism, he learns of the notorious 15th-century child-murderer Gilles de Rais. Through this research, he discovers that Satanism is not something lost and forgotten to the annuls of time, but instead alive and thriving in contemporary France. Intrigued, Durtal commences a serious investigation of the mysterious and dangerous occult. Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (1848 - 1907) was a French novelist who wrote under the pseudonym J.K. (Joris-Karl) Huysmans. He best known for his novel "À rebours" (1884). Other notable works by this author include: "Marthe" (1876), "Les Soeurs Vatard" (1879), and "En ménage" (1881). Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in a modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on the history of erotic literature.