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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
challenging
funny
slow-paced
Exceptionally written and as absurdly decadent as it gets. The long reflections on art are not filler but well-thought-out opinions appropriate to the protagonist's character.
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
challenging
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Jean des Esseintes is a revelation. 'Against Nature', 'À rebours' in French, is an exquisite character study and, often tedious and pedantic, lifestyle guide loosely disguised as a novel. Esseintes is the last scion of a once prominent French family who enjoys an indulgent yet distant childhood, a reckless and profligate youth and finally decides to sumptuously retire from the world. The book has only brief sketches of education and family life and spends pages and pages describing the decoration of rooms. His suburban house is designed to give him all the comforts he desires without having to speak to a living soul or even notice the world outside his plushily appointed library or boudoir. He admires artificiality as being man's greatest achievement. In his thinking, mother nature has been surpassed by modern luxuries and it is to be celebrated. He has a lot of feelings and arguments for what colors of the spectrum work best in artificial light. He catalogs and (mostly dismisses) the entirety of remaining Latin literature from ancient times through the medieval period. On contemporary novels he can occasionally abide a Zola or a Dickens, but he risks enjoying something too popular. He is obsessive. He is capricious. He is a snob. He is ridiculous. He is my best queer self if I were lucky enough to be wealthy and French in the 1880s. I'm a bit obsessed with him to be honest.
The sexuality of public figures in the Victorian era is never going to get beyond speculation, beyond a few very rare examples. Who Huysmans, author and public servant, was in private life is immaterial to how his most famous character has reverberated over a century to us now. Huysmans is reported to have a mistress, and Esseintes has had many mistresses. 'Against Nature' is acknowledged as having been a favorite of Oscar Wilde's and is referenced in 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' as influencing Dorian's slide into wickedness. 'Against Nature' is a portrait of an outsider. A man whose birth and wealth enabled him to have the best of everything, yet he acts against what society demands and eventually attempts to renounce it completely at the cost of his health. There's a lot to be read into that if you have the time. I just have to acknowledge that the character resonated with me. The importance of aesthetic design, the attention to detail, the predominance of LIGHTING, and, of course, the tortoise was hysterical. There was something deeper, though. He doesn't like what everyone else likes. He doesn't do what everyone else does. I'm glad to have read it, lectures and all.
The sexuality of public figures in the Victorian era is never going to get beyond speculation, beyond a few very rare examples. Who Huysmans, author and public servant, was in private life is immaterial to how his most famous character has reverberated over a century to us now. Huysmans is reported to have a mistress, and Esseintes has had many mistresses. 'Against Nature' is acknowledged as having been a favorite of Oscar Wilde's and is referenced in 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' as influencing Dorian's slide into wickedness. 'Against Nature' is a portrait of an outsider. A man whose birth and wealth enabled him to have the best of everything, yet he acts against what society demands and eventually attempts to renounce it completely at the cost of his health. There's a lot to be read into that if you have the time. I just have to acknowledge that the character resonated with me. The importance of aesthetic design, the attention to detail, the predominance of LIGHTING, and, of course, the tortoise was hysterical. There was something deeper, though. He doesn't like what everyone else likes. He doesn't do what everyone else does. I'm glad to have read it, lectures and all.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Veering between nervous excitability and debilitating ennui, he gluts his aesthetic appetites with classical literature and art, exotic jewels (with which he fatally encrusts the shell of his tortoise), rich perfumes, and a kaleidoscope of sensual experiences. It really took me nashing and grinding of teeth to get through this.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The prose of Huysmans' A Rebours is outstunning. It flows through the pages like honey and it turns and twists when you less expect it.
I loved the chapter about Latin literature. I've never read such a weird portrait of the Latin decadence after the fall of the Roman Empire. Albeit being so far away from my views on about everything, it does make sense from Des Esseintes' point of view to be so controversial, being the lover of everything rotten that he is.
Among other things, this book made me giggle so much. There is something inherently funny about a man whose only reasoning behind buying a turtle is that it complements the carpet.
It's a bit slow sometimes, especially when you're not familiar with the topic of the chapter, but I guess even nowadays there's something that makes this book relatable. Not the main character himself, but everything nonsensical that he does just for the sake of aesthetics and art.
I loved the chapter about Latin literature. I've never read such a weird portrait of the Latin decadence after the fall of the Roman Empire. Albeit being so far away from my views on about everything, it does make sense from Des Esseintes' point of view to be so controversial, being the lover of everything rotten that he is.
Among other things, this book made me giggle so much. There is something inherently funny about a man whose only reasoning behind buying a turtle is that it complements the carpet.
It's a bit slow sometimes, especially when you're not familiar with the topic of the chapter, but I guess even nowadays there's something that makes this book relatable. Not the main character himself, but everything nonsensical that he does just for the sake of aesthetics and art.
That poor tortoise. This book was almost gripping, but I do not have the time to read self-indulgent crap like this. I don't need a whole chapter on Latin literature.
This book is about a hermit with a lot of opinions about art and literature. Throw in videogames and an unhealthy obsession with Kobe Bryant and that sounds like my life
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
actually so contrived it’s sexy and comedic