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Joris‐Karl Huysmans

  • J.-K. Huysmans
  • Жорис-Карл Гюисманс
Sort Name
Huysmans, Joris‐Karl
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Type
Person
Gender
Male
Date of birth
1848-02-05
Place of birth
Paris
Date of death
1907-05-12
Place of death
Paris

Wikipedia

Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (US: , French: [ʃaʁl maʁi ʒɔʁʒ ɥismɑ̃s]; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (French: [ʒɔʁis kaʁl -], variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel À rebours (1884, published in English as Against the Grain and as Against Nature). He supported himself by way of a 30-year career in the French civil service.

Huysmans's work is considered remarkable for its idiosyncratic use of the French language, large vocabulary, descriptions, satirical wit and far-ranging erudition. First considered part of Naturalism, he became associated with the Decadent movement with his publication of À rebours. His work expressed his deep pessimism, which had led him to the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. In later years, his novels reflected his study of Catholicism, religious conversion, and becoming an oblate. He discussed the iconography of Christian architecture at length in La cathédrale (1898), set at Chartres and with its cathedral as the focus of the book.

Là-bas (1891), En route (1895) and La cathédrale (1898) are a trilogy that feature Durtal, a character on a spiritual journey who eventually converts to Catholicism. In the novel that follows, L'Oblat (1903), Durtal becomes an oblate in a monastery, as Huysmans himself was in the Benedictine Abbey at Ligugé, near Poitiers, in 1901. La cathédrale was his most commercially successful work. Its profits enabled Huysmans to retire from his civil service job and live on his royalties.

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Editions

NameFormatISBNRelease Date
Against the GraineBook?2022-10-04
Against the GraineBook?2022-10-04
НаоборотPaperback978-5-17-147895-72022
Romans et nouvellesHardcover97820726998252019-10-24
Romans et nouvellesHardcover97820726998252019-10-24
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Identifiers

Goodreads Author ID
123088
ISNI
0000 0003 6864 0859
0000 0003 6864 0867
0000 0001 2129 6267
OpenLibrary Author ID
OL2658897A
VIAF
41841635
Wikidata ID
Q210798

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Last Modified
2024-11-06