J. K. Huysmans

En Route (Dodo Press) J. K. Huysmans

Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (1848-1907) was a French novelist who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans, he is most famous for the novel À Rebours. His style is remarkable for its idiosyncratic use of the French language, wide-ranging vocabulary, wealth of detailed and sensuous description, and biting, satirical wit. The novels are also noteworthy for their encyclopaedic documentation, ranging from the catalogue of decadent Latin authors in À Rebours to the discussion of the symbology of Christian architecture in La Cathédrale (1898). Huysmans' work expresses a disgust with modern life and a deep pessimism, which led the author first to the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer then to the teachings of the Catholic Church. His first major publication was a collection of prose poems, heavily influenced by Baudelaire, called Le Drageoir à Épices (1874). His next works were in a similar vein: sombre, realistic and filled with minutely detailed evocations of Paris, the city Huysmans knew intimately. His other works include Marthe (1876), Les Soeurs Vatard (1879), Croquis Parisiens (1880), En Route (1895) and Les Foules de Lourdes (1906).