With the Flow
Published on 19. November 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
128 pages
978-1-84749-834-2 (ISBN)
Description
The lowly, downtrodden Paris civil servant Jean Folantin seeks respite from the boredom and isolation of his life in the small joys of food and the occasional embraces of a prostitute. But whatever he does, wherever he turns in his quest for some pleasure, his dissatisfaction only increases, until he is forced to realize that he has to abandon all hope and just "go with the flow".
This 1882 novella, a key work in Huysmans' literary development - prefiguring in its protagonist the figure of Jean des Esseintes, the hero of A rebours, written two years later - is accompanied here by another masterly study of human despair, 'M. Bougran's Retirement'.
This 1882 novella, a key work in Huysmans' literary development - prefiguring in its protagonist the figure of Jean des Esseintes, the hero of A rebours, written two years later - is accompanied here by another masterly study of human despair, 'M. Bougran's Retirement'.
Reviews / Votes
With the Flow is the most complete expression of that pessimism which, even at the start of the twenty-first century, remains central to our self-perception. -- Simon CallowMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Richmond
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Alma Books Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 194 mm
Width: 123 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
150 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84749-834-2 (9781847498342)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848-1907) was a central figure of the French decadent movement at the end of the nineteenth century. Today he is best remembered for the novel A rebours (Against Nature or Against the Grain), which had a huge influence on contemporary writers, including Oscar Wilde, as well as on subsequent generations of novelists.