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A review by prosewhore
Là-bas by Joris-Karl Huysmans
5.0
Reading "Là-bas" was quite the experience. Between it's account of black mass, detailed descriptions of child murders by Gilles de Rais, and it's disillusioned main characters ironically portraying the very lack of faith and direction they are so afraid of in their time's youth.
- How funny that every generation thinks the newer ones are getting worse, more vulgar and idiotic, ignoring how much their own parents thought the very same thing about them. -
If you're coming for the shock factor, you may be slightly disappointed, except for one chapter on the atrocities of Gilles de Rais that is particularly gruesome (No really. My stomach was not agreeing with what I read.) the book remains pretty tame. Dark matters are discussed but almost never 'shown' making it very bearable.
Huysmans' writing style is purely delightful. If you like long sentences and vivid details I think you may love this.
It is a novel that is before anything else reflective, philosophical and weaved with a myriad of historical facts but I thought it quite absorbing and suspenseful, the magical and more generally spiritual side of the story brings the mystery elements and if those subject interest you as much as they do me you will surely wish you could sit around our characters table to make sure you're not missing a word of their tellings.
Brilliant book that hasn't lost any of it's relevance despite being written in the late 1800's.
- How funny that every generation thinks the newer ones are getting worse, more vulgar and idiotic, ignoring how much their own parents thought the very same thing about them. -
If you're coming for the shock factor, you may be slightly disappointed, except for one chapter on the atrocities of Gilles de Rais that is particularly gruesome (No really. My stomach was not agreeing with what I read.) the book remains pretty tame. Dark matters are discussed but almost never 'shown' making it very bearable.
Huysmans' writing style is purely delightful. If you like long sentences and vivid details I think you may love this.
It is a novel that is before anything else reflective, philosophical and weaved with a myriad of historical facts but I thought it quite absorbing and suspenseful, the magical and more generally spiritual side of the story brings the mystery elements and if those subject interest you as much as they do me you will surely wish you could sit around our characters table to make sure you're not missing a word of their tellings.
Brilliant book that hasn't lost any of it's relevance despite being written in the late 1800's.