It is also against the grain in the sense that almost everything des esseintes does and nearly all the opinions he expresses are the antithesis of popular taste. For example, one chapter consists entirely of smell hallucinations so vivid that they exhaust the books central character, des esseintes, a bizarre, depraved aristocrat. Des esseintes, the protagonist and basically the only character of this book, is a man of noble descent who has tried everything in life. It concerns the seclusion of one des esseintes, the last member of a once powerful and noble family.
A rebours is a curious, ridiculous and puerile book which a few spirits will always cherish with an indulgent and amused affection. In the spirit of sharing, i tweeted my own picture of two books id bought that day. 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 singlehandedly redefined the literary and artistic canon of the. Jean des esseintes is the last member of a powerful and once proud noble family. May 04, 2016 a rebours was an unusual but interesting book to read. Oct 23, 2012 while a rebours contains a 5page section purely focused on the various perfumes that des esseintes ingests, it is important to note that dorians major ruminations on arts, literature and fashion only come after he has read the little yellow book that represents huysmans masterpiece. The project gutenberg ebook of against the grain, by joris. A rebours was hugely influential on the socalled decadent writers of the 1890s in france and britain, with the critic arthur symons describing it as the breviary of the decadence.
Against the grain, novel by joriskarl huysmans, published in french as a rebours in 1884. The narrative is almost entirely a catalogue of the neurotic des esseintes aesthetic tastes, musings on literature, painting and religion, and. He has lived an extremely decadent life in paris which has left him disgusted with human society. At the time the book was published in 1884, it created a tremendous stir among the naturalists, emile zola in particular, as they believed huysmans had struck the death knell of that brand of realism. Already in 1890, 6 years after the publication of a rebours, it is of great influence on the picture of dorian gray, the novel by. Gratis joris karl huysmans a rebours pdf piu popolare. It has been translated into english as against the grain and, more recently, as 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 singlehandedly redefined the literary and artistic canon of. Des esseintes is the false iconoclast, the man who is obsessed with being different for its own sake, but who does not know himself. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. All the novel is concentrate in one eccentric character and its inner life. 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. Joriskarl huysmanss 1884 handbook of decadence, a rebours.
A rebours 1884 is a novel by the french writer joriskarl huysmans. About against nature a rebours the infamous inspiration for the novel which slowly corrupts oscar wildes dorian gray is translated by robert baldick with an introduction by patrick mcguinness in penguin classics. Things that he had dimly dreamed of were suddenly made real to him it was a poisonous book. A rebours is against nature in the sense that des esseintes has concluded that man has outdone nature at her own game, so he contrives to surround himself with artifice.
Des esseintes would gladly have accepted the tedious nonsense which those marionettes exchange with each other offstage. Des esseintes wants to experience life in measured and verifiable doses, and he is, as such, a pathological and dangerous case. Jan 01, 2014 a rebours presents des esseintes s renunciation of life and lineage as the final exhaustion of the frenchmans senses over years of fantastic debauchery. As des esseintes hides away in his museum of high taste, huysman offers the reader a treasury of cultural delights and anticipates many aspects of twentieth century modernism. The novel is subtitled a novel without a plot, and there was little plot for the average reader of the 1880s to sink his teeth into. As joriskarl huysmans predicted in 1884, against nature a rebours was fated to be a novel like no other. Against nature is the story of des esseintes, an aesthete who attempts to escape paris and, along with it, the vulgarity of modern life.
The protagonist, des esseintes, exhibits the debilitating symptoms of neurasthenia, a generalized psychosomatic disorder that came into. Huysmans against the grain a rebours is a relatively simple story. Against the grain alternately translated as against nature is a slim novel 110 pages where french author joriskarl huysmans 18481907 employs a torrent of baroque descriptions and unending streams of rococo linguistic curlicues to write about a bored, jaded aristocrat by the name of des esseintes. The czech artists benes knupfer, august bromse, and joseph vachal portrayed the monk as sullen and tortured. The novel tells the story of the young dandy and aesthete, jean, duc des esseintes, who becomes disgusted with the society of his day and tries to escape from it by constructing a. I think ive been so focussed on introducing aspects of the movement that are less wellknown that i have slightly neglected the classics.
As brilliant nietzsche scholar rick roderick pointed out. One would follow des esseintes s example of selfisolation to their peril. A rebours presents des esseintes s renunciation of life and lineage as the final exhaustion of the frenchmans senses over years of fantastic debauchery. Against the grain joriskarl huysmans audiobook and ebook. Though the book is widely believed to have no structure whatsoever, it does tell a relatively simple story. Without telling anyone, he absconds to a house in the countryside. Against nature is the perfect illustration of oscar wildes famous paradox that life imitates art, and not the other way around. He has lived among the intellectuals and found them petulant and arrogant. Feb 02, 2014 a rebours against nature joriskarl huysmans title joriskarl huysmans originally thought he would title the book seul alone, but later changed the title when the book was published. Even though you reject it for being too polarizing, and judgemental, the wrong way is a clear, simple title that is not crude or vulgar. Either translated as against nature or against the grain, the title refers to the central process of the book, in which an aristocrat, des esseintes, completely withdraws himself from. Decadent novel a rebours, or, against nature the british library. However it was only my interest in the period the novel was set, the flashbacks to des esseintes previous life and curiosity about what he was trying to achieve that encouraged me to finish it. Subtitled a novel without a plot, the narrative concerns des esseintess.
Aug 02, 2011 a rebours is a novel by a french writer translated. Resisting the models of classic nineteenthcentury fiction, it focuses on the attempts of its antihero, the hypersensitive neurotic and aesthete des esseintes, to escape paris. The last scion of an aristocratic family, des esseintes loathes nineteenth century bourgeois society and tries to retreat into an ideal artistic world of his own creation. While a rebours contains a 5page section purely focused on the various perfumes that des esseintes ingests, it is important to note that dorians major ruminations on arts, literature and fashion only come after he has read the little yellow book that represents huysmans masterpiece. You do get glimpses in this novel of des esseintes hedonistic lifestyle before he seeks rest. Brendan king against nature is the perfect illustration of oscar wildes famous paradox that life imitates art, and not the other way around. 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. In both its style and its subject, the work epitomizes the decadence of late 19thcentury french elite culture. Against nature follows the protagonist duc jean floressas des esseintes, the last descendant of an old aristocratic family that has been weakened by generations of consanguineous marriages.
Des esseintes abandons his life of profligacy, rather, in favor of a more sophisticated and perverse existence. He has lived an extremely decadent life in paris, which has left him disgusted with human society. Jan 30, 2008 des esseintes, the protagonist and basically the only character of this book, is a man of noble descent who has tried everything in life. A wildly original findesiecle novel, against nature contains only one character. None of them ever change at any point during the story. Landow created the html design and formatted the text, adding french accents. It lies embedded in the end of the nineteenth century like a jewelled and perfumed corpse, stiff, cold, putrescent, overladen with rigid and heavy colours. The french title under which the book was published is a rebours which has been translated to against nature or against the grail. A student of the perfumers art, esseintes has developed several devices for titillating his jaded senses.
A rebours was an unusual but interesting book to read. It was the strangest book that he had ever read, writes wilde of his doomed character dorian gray. Jean des esseintes, an eccentric, reclusive, ailing aesthete. In passing the authors noted that he was inspired by the main character in this novel. The decadents reacted against victorian sexual repression, rationalism and naturalistic fiction in the direction of excess, romanticism and writing exploring. A rebours is a novel by the french writer joriskarl huysmans. Look for real publishers and solid information about the edition and translation. It provides a thorough exploration of the novels plot, characters and main themes, including dandyism, art. The last scion of an aristocratic family, des esseintes loathes nineteenth century. Decadent novel a rebours, or, against nature the british. Either translated as against nature or against the grain, the title refers to the central process of the book, in which an aristocrat, des esseintes, completely withdraws himself from society to immerse himself in concentrated sensations in private. It was also translated into english as against nature.
The book became a central work in the decadent movement. Against the grain joriskarl huysmans audiobook and. However, a rebours is a oneofa kind work, one upon which a school of literature could not realistically be fashioned. He is most famous for this novel a rebours 1884, published in english as against the grain or against nature. Against the grain a rebours joriskarl huysmans read. The book became a central work in the decadent movement, as described by arthur symons. Nov 12, 2015 joriskarl huysmanss 1884 handbook of decadence, a rebours, tells the story of a naturehating aesthete named jean des esseintes. Originally published in french under the title a rebours in 1884 and translated into english in 1926, against nature, also known as against the grain, is a book by joriskarl huysmans and is well described by its subtitle a novel without a plot. Linking the picture of dorian gray and huysmans a rebours. 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. Its basically a book that recommends other books, and authors, and plants, and aromas there are really good chapters, and really boring ones. It was also translated into english as against nature in both its style and its subject, the work epitomizes the decadence of late 19thcentury french elite culture.
As des esseintes hides away in his museum of high taste, huysman offers the reader a treasury of cultural delights and. Charlesmariegeorges huysmans february 5, 1848 in paris may 12, 1907 in paris was a french novelist who published his works as j. First published in paris in 1884 when the naturalistic school of. A rebours is a novel by a french writer translated. More than a century after his death, joriskarl huysmans, best known for his novel a rebours, has found a modern soul mate in the form of another french novelist, michel houellebecq.
A rebours is basically a series of works of art that the author likesdislikes and the why, taking chapters and chapters to explain. Yet this decision was neither one of resignation nor penitence. One of the major npcs in horror on the orient express is the duc des esseintes. The only main character, des esseintes has lived a life that mirrors dorian gray, and dorian indeed reads this book in the picture of dorian gray penguin classics. He is disgusted by what he sees as the materialism and mediocrity of the society around him and seeks refuge in art and literature, but his attempts to. However, a rebours is a oneofa kind work, one upon which a school of. What houellebecq learned from huysmans the new yorker. All we get the entire book is a long list of the guys opinions on french literature. Resisting the traditional model of nineteenthcentury fiction, joriskarl huysman produced in 1884 a novel unlike any other of his time. Even the true defenders of the book at the time loved it because it was terrible. The wrong way was taken by des esseintes, and its effects were described in huysmanss book.
Des esseintes brain is no different than ours, so you might think wed get a book about a fun mental breakdown or some wacky antics springing forth from the guys cabin fever, but we get nothing at all. I cant believe i havent discussed this book already. Des esseintes is the last member of a powerful and once proud noble family. A while ago, our esteemed book editor, phil kirby, put a picture of his latest book purchase on twitter. Against nature by joriskarl huysmans book analysis.