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Joris-Karl HuysmansAgainst the Grain, or Against Nature (September 5, 2009)

LibriVox recording of Against the Grain, or Against Nature, by Joris-Karl Huysmans, Read by Martin Geeson.

“THE BOOK THAT DORIAN GRAY LOVED AND THAT INSPIRED OSCAR WILDE”. Such is the enticing epigraph of one early translation of Huysmans’ cult novel of 1884, which is also routinely called the Bible of Decadence. Accurate descriptions, both, of this bizarre masterpiece which has reverberated ever since through high and popular culture.

“Against Nature” (or in this version “Against The Grain”) explores to the furthest limit the life of the world-rejecting aesthete living a reclusive existence devoted entirely to artificial paradises of his own devising. This is no solemn tract, however: the book’s anti-hero Duc Jean Floressas Des Esseintes spectacularly fails to achieve his life’s work, as all his attempts to create worlds of perverse experience through synaesthesia and interior decoration prove ludicrously unsatisfying and injurious to health. An innocent tortoise also falls casualty to his theories, in the wonderful fifth chapter.

This is probably a novel best savoured one chapter at a time, and not only because John Howard’s clunky translation makes indigestible listening. Those who can skip whole chunks without guilt would do well to avoid chapters 4, 7, 12 and 14. Revel, however, in the wonders of 5, 8, 9 and 11. Encounter the jewel-encrusted chelonian, the butch lady acrobat, the nightmarish orchids that cause the hero to exclaim “All is Syphilis”…

Alas, this translation lacks a chapter, and two brief incidents are also suppressed on account of their sexual perversity. Enjoy what remains. (Summary by Martin Geeson)

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Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Philippe Horak - - November 3, 2009
Subject: Fantastic recording, fantastic novel!
Described as "A Novel Without a Plot" J. K. Huysman's "Against the Grain (À Rebours)" is a relatively simple story. It concerns the seclusion of Des Esseintes, the last member of a once powerful and noble family. Having lived an extremely decadent life, Des Esseintes finds himself disgusted with human society and retreats to a house in the countryside where he is intent upon spending the rest of his days in intellectual and aesthetic contemplation. Because of its decadent content "Against the Grain" created quite a stir when it was first published in 1884 and in breaking from the Naturalist school of literature Huysman's work established itself as a major piece of the Symbolist aesthetic.
The story is very powerful, full of irony and humour. Martin Geeson’s reading of the novel is sensational! Thank you very much!

Reviewer: zz_07 - - October 28, 2009
Subject: excellent reading.
thanks very much!