'It will be the biggest embarrassment of the year – but I don't care! It will be something no one has ever done before, and I will have said what I needed to say.' This is how Joris-Karl Huysmans announced his novel in 1884 À rebours (Against Nature), a work that was far ahead of its time.
This novel deviates from classical 19th-century narrative art and follows the antihero Des Esseintes, a hypersensitive neurotic and aesthete, who wants to escape Paris and the vulgarity of modern life. In his private museum of high taste, he offers the reader a treasure trove of cultural discoveries that anticipate many characteristics of modernism, with appreciation for, among others, Baudelaire, Moreau, Redon, Mallarmé, and Poe.
About this edition
- New Dutch translation with extensive notes
- Promotes understanding of a literarily and culturally rich work
- Suitable for self-study and education
Language and level
The text is originally French and translated into Dutch. The language level is advanced (C1–C2), suitable for readers with an interest in classical and modern literature.
About the series
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