Lá-Bas

Fülszöveg

LA-BAS
(DOWN THERE) J.K.HUYSMANS
This novel is the classic of salanism. It caused a sensation when
it liist appeared in 1891 becausc of its extraordinarily detailed
and vivid descriptions of the Black Mass. These descriptions are
also authentic, for J. K. Huysnians, who has been called the S
greatest of the French decadents, hatl lirst-hand knowledge of the ^
Satanic practices, witch cults and the whole of the" occult under- ^
world thriving in late nineteenth-century Paris.
At its center is Durtal, a writer obsessed with the life of one of g-
the blackest figures in history, Gilles dc Rais. The legendary =
crimes, trial and confession of this enormous and grotesque ^
fifteenth-century child murderer, sadist, necrophile and practi- B
tioner of all the black arts unfold in episode after horrifying ^
episode. Mystical thematic threads connect this greatest of all revelers in evil with Durtal's own passionate pursuit, the reflection o
of a religious quest that was to... Tovább

Fülszöveg

LA-BAS
(DOWN THERE) J.K.HUYSMANS
This novel is the classic of salanism. It caused a sensation when
it liist appeared in 1891 becausc of its extraordinarily detailed
and vivid descriptions of the Black Mass. These descriptions are
also authentic, for J. K. Huysnians, who has been called the S
greatest of the French decadents, hatl lirst-hand knowledge of the ^
Satanic practices, witch cults and the whole of the" occult under- ^
world thriving in late nineteenth-century Paris.
At its center is Durtal, a writer obsessed with the life of one of g-
the blackest figures in history, Gilles dc Rais. The legendary =
crimes, trial and confession of this enormous and grotesque ^
fifteenth-century child murderer, sadist, necrophile and practi- B
tioner of all the black arts unfold in episode after horrifying ^
episode. Mystical thematic threads connect this greatest of all revelers in evil with Durtal's own passionate pursuit, the reflection o
of a religious quest that was to lead Huysmans from uncertain ^
agnosticism back to Catholicism.
Durtal, the mouthpiece for the strange personality of Huysmans,
leads a hermit-like existence cloistered from his fashionable O
contemporaries. Surrounding him are others equally cut off, H:
sharing a nostalgic longing for the Middle Ages. There is a =
simply rejigious bell-ringer, a learned astrologer, a medical doctor
versed in homeopathy and occult lore, and a fourth person—a g-
sheltered, unsatisfied bourgeoise by day and mysterious succubus =
by night. They take refuge where they can from the forces of O
modern times—in a bell tower, in abstruse knowledge and in <
diabolism.
Huysmans' ability to mesmerize his readers with torrents of sound
and image is itself suspiciously akin to the magic arts. His ^
intoxication with the abominable and the depraved is magnified ^
by his extreme sensitivity. He combines grimly realistic detail <
with esoteric knowledge, and searches relentlessly for the divine w
in the depths of evil and in the furthest reaches of human =
experience. The republication of this novel, along with the §
previous publication of Against the Grain (Dover 22190-3) will ™ make him accessible to the larger audience who will surely find
him both important and fascinating, as have Oscar Wilde, O
Havelock Ellis, and many other major literary figures. §
Unabridged, unaltered republication of the 1928 edition. 287pp. bYs X Si/2- Paperbound.
ISBN 0-486-22837-1 $5.95 in U.S.A.
3 Vissza