Against Nature is Huysmanss great fin-de-sicle novel anticipating many of the strains of modernism in its appreciation of Baudelaire; Moreau; Redon; Mallarme and Poe. It will be the biggest fiasco of the year - but I dont care a damn! It will be something nobody has ever done before; and I shall have said what I had to say. As J -K Huysmans announced in 1884; Against Nature was fated to be a novel like no other. The hero; des Esseintes; is a neurasthenic aristocrat who has turned his back on the vulgarity of modern life and retreated to an isolated country villa. Here; accompanied only by a couple of silent servants; he pursues his obsessions with exotic flowers; rare gems; and complex perfumes and embarks on a series of increasingly strange aesthetic experiments; starting with the decision to give his giant pet tortoise a jewel-encrusted shell... "Huysmans study of obsession and aesthetics got up no end of reviewers noses on its 1884 publication. Itrsquo;s not hard to see why: decadent aristocrat Jean Floressas des Esseintes; afflicted by nerves so grievous they cause his spine to freeze when he sees a servant wringing out washing; takes turns kicking out at classical poets; modern novelists and the church. The poor are grotesque; the rich are decaying and the bourgeoisie simply insufferable. Only Dickens; Baudelaire and the odd enema provide respite. Cloistered in an opulent house in the suburbs of Paris; Des Esseintes undertakes a series of experiments in living which prove to be an absolute hoot. He decorates an unfortunate tortoise with precious stones; tries to go to England; but only makes it as far as a nearby pub; and attempts to turn an urchin into a killer by buying him credit at a brothel. This largely plotless mix of bilious satire; broad comedy and literary criticism may have lost some of its immediacy; but it remains a captivating; contradictory work of art."James Smart in The Guardian
#497197 in eBooks 2012-07-12 2012-07-12File Name: B008TVLSR6
Review
