La-Bas (Down There) [Paperback]

Joris K. Huysmans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 2011

At the novel's center is Durtal, a writer obsessed with the life of one of the blackest figures in history, Gilles de Rais — child murderer, sadist, necrophile, and practitioner of all the black arts. The book's authentic, extraordinarily detailed descriptions of the Black Mass have never been surpassed.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (February 17, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486228371
• ISBN-13: 978-0486228372
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #838,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Progress is the Hypocrisy which Refines the Vices", August 3, 2001

By 

Anita Fix (Alcazar in the Land of Enchantment) - See all my reviews

This review is from: La-Bas (Down There) (Paperback)

Amidst the Occult revival & the glory days of Decadence, of all places Paris, 1891, high aloft the bell-tower of Saint-Sulpice, the reader's granted access to the extraordinary conversations of a small group of friends: a famous & capable physician with sincere intellectual occult inclinations; a most reknown ex-court Astrologer; a kindly, aged sage with a rare, profound learning of the lost Art of Bellringing, accompanied by his wife who both occupy the tower making of it intimate & cozy surroundings for their company; and lastly, Durtal--Huysmans himself--who is deep in study & pursuit of placing contemporary Satanism in its proper historical context, revolving all the while round his writing a biography of Gilles de Rais, the infamous Black Magician & child murderer reputed to have tortured, killed & raped some 500 children for expressed Satanic purposes, who was also a friend of none other than "Joan of Arc" and who fought at her side as one of France's greatest knights. For this murderer, this monster, is in the process of becoming a saint! Durtal narrates the episodic history of Gilles de Rais throughout the entire book, forming a naturalistic vision as well of Huysmans' the writer going about his daily life in a way Occultist & Artists today might find familiar or enviable for its intrigues & dark fascinations lived & not just dreamt of.

Also permeating the whole of the text is a genuine succubus of sorts, an 'idol of perversity', "one of the butcher-girls of Love" who like virtually ALL the charcters is modelled on real-life personages whose actual titles I will not assault any interested persons with, allowing them their own rewarding historical investigations. However, anyone with art-historic or occultic knowledge regarding the turn of the 19th century in France will probably recognize some of the cast from these "Lower Depths"--which is what "La-Bas" means. Such as "Dr. Johannes", a Healer from the mystical center of France, Lyons; in actuality this is the abbe Boullan, successor of the Prophet Eugene Vintras(1807-1875), founder of an apocalyptic cultus prophesizing a great explosion signalling all Hell on Earth. The abbe Boullan was famous/infamous for his sexual magic and Healing techniques such as his curing of diabolical illnesses by spitting in the afflicted's mouths, or rubbing poultices of excreta on their psychic wounds, and compelling the nuns whom he serviced, invested with the titles of the Catholic church, to drink their urine. In 1860 he sacrificially murdered his own child born of his primary voyant, sister Adele Chevalier. Abbe Boullan's own death, so Huysman's believed, was resultant of the curses of another famous Mage. What is important to grasp is that during the fin-de-siecle Art History reached its zenith, its pinnacle, its furthest point culminating after millennia in the Symbolists/Decadents/Aesthetes; and it was in Occultism that the Artist found a definition of their own position & state of being; thus was this the day when born was our modern conception of Art as a religion, and the Artist its high priest or magician. Art will never be the same again, for after this Art seems to come in rising waves of "advanced guards"...

Joris-Karl Huysmans bridges the chasm between the Occult underground & establishment like no other; ultimately, I feel, championing the underground. This is the first book of a trilogy charting Huysman's journey from the brothels of Satanism & decadent Paris to the cloisters of Catholicism & reclusive refuge, where his interests in spirituality & occult/esoteric lore lessen none at all---The second book is titled "En Route" of 1895 & the last "The Cathedral" from 1898---all are available from Dedalus Press and apparently a new translation, the first in over 75 years, of "La-Bas" has been undertaken by one Brendan King.(?) Such could be far superior to Keene Wallace's respective 1928 translation, whose greatest errors lie in its restrictions downplaying Huysman's lyrical tone especially in relating stylized Satanic events, and though it would be difficult to seriously louse up Huysmans'prose, he has suffered omissions and the flattening or simplifying of his poetic gifts due to moral issue in the past.

Huysman's is a journey rewarding for its realism laying bare the psyche of a sensitive, intelligent man, & seductive in its romantic portrayal of the Artist/Occultist risk-taker, willing to go as far as 'the powers that be' will allow him, ever-searching for the highest truths and brutally honest in admitting what's often painful to accept for the religious seeker. I feel Huysman's trilogy is a neglected masterpiece of the Symbolist-Decadent generation, poignant in exemplifying a familiar journey so many braved.

As Huysmans says, "Such Literature has only one excuse for existing; it saves the person who makes it from the disgustingness of life...and charitably, it lessens the distress of us few who still love Art."

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Capturing a soul in descent, January 27, 2000

By 

William Creedle "Will Creedle" (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: La-Bas (Down There) (Paperback)

Huysmans' Durtal, the main character in this and 'The Cathedral', was an autobiographical character to many degrees. As such, he was able to capture with such vivid imagery that of a man fascinated with the lives of monsters (Gilles De Rais in particular), and only slowly becoming aware of his descent into hardcore, introspective reality. Though his life is full of dinner table coonversations and interesting people, he, himself cannot avoid the ultimate conclusion that his complete dissassociation and overanalyzation of his emotion has left him without a soul. Nothing is of value but the sinful imagination which, in his mind, is so built up that nothing in reality can ever match the dream. Heavy stuff for one to contend with. A warning, this book can make you re-evaluate your own life and make you pose a question: Are your priorities out of whack?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Difficult but rewarding, November 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: La-Bas (Down There) (Paperback)

This book can be, at times, so wordy your head will nod. Huysmans' typical writing style is florid, enwrapped in detail. Yet the moments of gorgeous writing are deeply worthwhile, and if you're looking for a plunge into the bizarre, this is it. It is the tale of a man who sets out to write about the life of his historical subject, Gils De Rais, the legendary Bluebeard, who was renowned as a Satanist and sadist. To become closer to his subject, the protagonist wrangles his way into the seemier side of Paris life, witnessing Satanic rites. Life imitates art as he finds himself pulled into a world that at once reviles and fascinates him. Yet, delighfully, the reader is left to his or her OWN moral judgements. Ahead of his time, Huysman left morality ambiguous and is never heavy-handed, merely inviting the reader on an erudite and strange jouney that is worth every effort.