Joris-Karl Huysmans Libri

"Le serate di Médan" è una delle più clamorose provocazioni lanciate da Émile Zola contro i "sacri" ideali militaristi e patriottardi tanto cari alla società francese del XIX secolo. Pubblicato nel 1880, all'indomani della disastrosa disfatta di Sedan che segnò di colpo la fine di Napoleone III e del Secondo Impero, il libro si propone, con spietata ironia, di fare "opera di verità" sull'insensata follia della guerra (di ogni guerra) con un linguaggio di grande novità, improntato a un crudo, sulfureo realismo ricco di sfumature provocatoriamente grottesche, che non mancarono di suscitare le indignate proteste della stampa e della borghesia benpensante. Nelle "Serate di Médan" la guerra viene vista "dal basso", in sei racconti esemplari - sei brevi capolavori firmati dal "maestro" Zola e dai suoi sodali Maupassant, Huysmans, Céard, Hennique e Alexis - in cui, senza mezzi termini, ci si fa beffe degli impennacchiati eroismi da parata e delle belle frasi altisonanti: storie di crudeltà e follia che, purtroppo, appaiono ancora quanto mai attuali. Con questa antologia (la prima della storia della letteratura ideata su una base tematica) Zola ribadisce la propria posizione di "maestro" della scuola naturalista, sottolineando fin dal titolo che il lavoro è frutto di un cenacolo di giovani artisti che lo riconoscono come tale (Médan è il villaggio nei pressi di Parigi che lo scrittore aveva eletto a sua residenza).

First published in 1883, but never before translated into English, this collection of J.-K. Huysmans’ art criticism reveals the author of Against Nature to be as combative in his aesthetic opinions as he was in his literary ones. At a time when the Impressionists were still being ridiculed, or worse still ignored, Huysmans defiantly proclaimed Degas to be the best painter in France. He filled his pages with analyses of the works of artists whose genius and popularity have been confirmed by time: Gustave Caillebotte, Paul Gauguin, Mary Cassatt, Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, Odilon Redon and Gustave Moreau. Huysmans intersperses his reviews of these independent artists with those of the annual Official Salon, whose conventional and dryly academic works he lambasts with his customary gusto and invective. This is the first complete translation of L’Art moderne, and includes 200 black and white illustrations, notes and a glossary of artists.

Exploring the harsh realities of fin-de-siècle French bourgeois society, this melancholy tale delves into class struggles and interclass inequality in 19th century France. Through the lens of family fortune disputes, Huysmans critiques the greed and moral dilemmas faced by the bourgeoisie, highlighting their stark contrast to the lives of the less fortunate. A Dilemma presents a mordant reflection on class prejudice, with Aaron J. Clarke's translation bringing this poignant narrative to contemporary readers in Australia, emphasizing its enduring relevance.

The protagonist, Durtal, is drawn to a church after years of neglect, where the haunting Vespers for the Dead profoundly affects him. His journey is fueled by deep-seated family history and a yearning for meaning, ultimately leading him to explore various churches during Holy Week. The experience reveals a blend of disgust for life and a powerful connection to art and music, as he perceives the churches as both ruined palaces and desolate cemeteries, reflecting his inner turmoil and search for solace.

The misfortunes of Jean Folantin, a downtrodden clerk working for the Ministry of the Interior in Paris, form the subject of J.-K. Huysmans' blackly comic novella, Drifting (a vau-l'eau). At first glance, Folantin's problems seem to be a world away from those of Jean Floressas des Esseintes, the aristocratic anti-hero of Huysmans' Decadent classic Against Nature, written just two years later in 1884. But the two men share more than just a first name: like des Esseintes, Folantin is in the throes of an existential crisis: alienated from a Paris undergoing rapid modernisation, the pace of social change leaves him feeling out of place, impotent, a small cog in an impersonal commercial world. Through the distorting lens of Huysmans' dark sense of humour, the dyspeptic Folantin is transformed into a modern-day Ulysses, and his tortuous quest through the streets of Haussmann's Paris to find a capable housekeeper and a decent meal reaches its conclusion in one of the most daring anti-climaxes -- literally speaking -- in the whole of nineteenth century fiction. This new translation by Brendan King includes, for the first time in English, a contemporary profile of Huysmans' life and work in which the author plays both interviewer and interviewee, and which was published pseudonymously for the journal, Les Hommes d'aujourd'hui (Men of Today) in 1885.

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

"Against Nature is the perfect illustration of Oscar Wilde's famous paradox that life imitates art, and not the other way around. 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 body-blow to Zola's brand of literary realism, and almost single-handedly redefined the literary and artistic canon of the nineteenth century in the process. To a rising generation of readers, writers and artists across Europe, Huysmans' novel was the instruction manual of a movement that was to become emblematic of fin-de-siecle France: Decadence. The novel tells the story of its decadent aristocratic anti-hero, Jean Floressas des Esseintes, who, bored by the aesthetic and carnal pleasures the Parisian beau monde has to offer, decides to sell up and move to an isolated house in the suburbs. There he constructs a world of artifice that exactly minors his super-subtle, perverse and painfully neurotic sensibility. The result is one of the most bizarre, intriguing and influential books of the period. Whether read as an existential fable, psychological analysis, style manual, cultural critique or social satire, the novel remains as audacious and original today as when first published."--BOOK JACKET

Exploring the life of a reclusive aristocrat, the narrative delves into his disdain for conventional society and his pursuit of aestheticism. The protagonist, Des Esseintes, retreats to a lavishly decorated home, immersing himself in art, literature, and sensory experiences while rejecting the modern world. Through rich descriptions and philosophical musings, the novel critiques the bourgeois values of the time and celebrates the beauty of art and individualism, making it a cornerstone of the Decadent movement.