The Damned: La-Bas (Penguin Classics)

Rating:
Summary: A bit wearing.
Review: La-Bas is more like an actual novel than Against Nature, inasmuch as it has actual characters other than the protagonist, as well as a plot, of sorts. I think this is also why it doesn't work as well; in spite of the more novelistic elements, it still retains much of the earlier work's self-indulgence, giving the work as a whole something of a watered-down feel: the characters aren't that interesting.

In reading this book, you will learn more about historic views of demonology than you probably ever wanted to know, with characters earnestly expounding on possessions, curses, and exorcisms; this is given an extra edge by the fact that Huysmans himself was apparently a firm believer in it. It's interesting for a while, but the fact is, it does get old. Against Nature jumped from topic to topic quickly enough that tedium never really had time to set in; not so here, unforunately.

The back cover copy claims that "...when he [Durtal, the protagonist] meets the exquisitely evil Madame Chauntelouve, he is drawn into the twilight world of black magic and erotic devilry of fin-de-siecle Paris." This makes the book sound far more interesting than it actually is. The twilight world in question basically consists of people sitting around and talking about the aforementioned subjects, and the infamous black mass at the end is pretty tame by modern standards. I can see how this stuff could have been shocking a century ago, but now I think it likely to arouse, if anything, historical interest more than anything else. I would say that the most interesting part of the book consisted of the sections on the child murderer Gilles de Rais, about whom Durtal is trying to write a biography. They were vivid, frequently fairly gruesome, and they provided a good, violent, fire and brimstone view of Medieval Europe.

Still, criticisms aside, if you want more of Huysmans than Against Nature, you might find La-Bas (I can't help but note that 'The Damned,' as a translation of the title, is stretching it pretty far) a worthwhile read. Word.

Rating:
Summary: Despite minor flaws pretty ingenuis
Review: This novel about a writer (Durtal), struggling with his biography of Gilles de Bais aka Bluebeard is a real melting pot of influences and styles.
I confess I skimmed the introduction, and my literary chronology is rusty, but I believe Huysmans was a contemporary of Flaubert, or an immediate successor at any rate. There is some of Flaubert's style and grace in this work at any rate and the fact he is mentioned in La Bas, The Damned makes me believe he was an influence on the author's literary career. Another influence strongly prevalant throughout is Hermetic thought andschool of philosophy both explicity, and implicitly. The protaganists friend is given the nom de plume of de Hermies(hmmmm). Not to start reviewing other reviewers words, but in order to not be repetive, so perusers of this review aren't going didn't I just read that I will limit myself to say other reviews make salient points i.e. shallowness of characterization, and the fact that to a jaded 21st century reader this book isn't that erotic or shocking.
Huysmans shows real genius though as I started to say above, before I digressed in the marriage of styles and influences. Besides the harmonious resonance of hermeticism prominant in the text the is an almost gothic romance undertone as well as other styles and themes making this a quite intelligent, and poetic novel.