The Damned (La-Bas) (Penguin Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Joris-Karl Huysmans (Author), Terry Hale (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 29, 2002

J.-K. Huysmans's gaudy, shocking, and largely autobiographical novel, The Damned (Là-Bas) was quickly condemned and just as quickly achieved cult status. It follows Durtal, a shy, censorious man, who is writing a biography of Gilles de Rais, the fifteenth-century nobleman, child-murderer, and supposed model for "Bluebeard." Bored and disgusted by the vulgarity of everyday life, Durtal seeks spiritual solace by immersing himself in another age. But when he meets the exquisitely evil Madame Chantelouve, he is drawn inextricably into the twilight world of black magic and erotic devilry in fin-de-siècle Paris.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848-1907) is now recognized as one of the most challenging and innovative figures in European literature and an acknowledged principal architect of the fin-de-siècle imagination. He was a career civil servant who wrote ten novels, most notably A Rebours and Là-Bas.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (January 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140447679
• ISBN-13: 978-0140447675
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #510,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit wearing., December 15, 2002

By 

GeoX "GeoX" (Men...Of...The...Sea!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Damned (La-Bas) (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

La-Bas is more like an actual novel than Against Nature, inasmuch as it has actual characters other than the protagonist, as well as a plot, of sorts. I think this is also why it doesn't work as well; in spite of the more novelistic elements, it still retains much of the earlier work's self-indulgence, giving the work as a whole something of a watered-down feel: the characters aren't that interesting.

In reading this book, you will learn more about historic views of demonology than you probably ever wanted to know, with characters earnestly expounding on possessions, curses, and exorcisms; this is given an extra edge by the fact that Huysmans himself was apparently a firm believer in it. It's interesting for a while, but the fact is, it does get old. Against Nature jumped from topic to topic quickly enough that tedium never really had time to set in; not so here, unforunately.

The back cover copy claims that "...when he [Durtal, the protagonist] meets the exquisitely evil Madame Chauntelouve, he is drawn into the twilight world of black magic and erotic devilry of fin-de-siecle Paris." This makes the book sound far more interesting than it actually is. The twilight world in question basically consists of people sitting around and talking about the aforementioned subjects, and the infamous black mass at the end is pretty tame by modern standards. I can see how this stuff could have been shocking a century ago, but now I think it likely to arouse, if anything, historical interest more than anything else. I would say that the most interesting part of the book consisted of the sections on the child murderer Gilles de Rais, about whom Durtal is trying to write a biography. They were vivid, frequently fairly gruesome, and they provided a good, violent, fire and brimstone view of Medieval Europe.

Still, criticisms aside, if you want more of Huysmans than Against Nature, you might find La-Bas (I can't help but note that 'The Damned,' as a translation of the title, is stretching it pretty far) a worthwhile read. Word.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Saved!, August 14, 2006

By 

A. G. Plumb "Greg Plumb" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Damned (La-Bas) (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have enjoyed several Huysmans works - 'Against Nature', 'With the Flow' - and there are common elements repeated in 'The Damned'. The importance of food for example. In 'With the Flow' the descriptions of food are invariably vile - a complete contrast occurs in 'The Damned'. Perhaps the enjoyment of food is a contrast Huysman consciously plotted to counteract the appalling evils he describes - many of these are truly gross, and if ever a book cover should have a rating like a movie, or a warning like a particularly graphic news item on TV, well this is one. I could understand some readers throwing the book away in disgust and never completing it.

But the group of men (and the bell-ringer's wife) who come together frequently throughout the novel are learned and convivial. And even Durtal's seduction of (by?) another man's wife does not turn me against him. But for me there are two immensely memorable minor characters - Durtal's cat who is truly hilarious, and his concierge, who's pretty funny too.

Durtal is a writer preparing a biography of Gilles de Rais, a monstrous child murderer of the fifteenth century. It is the narrative of Gilles' life that is so disgusting - not only what he did, but also the sacrilege embedded with it. And Durtal explores the remnants of that sacrilege and black magic as it persists into the nineteenth century.

Other recommendations:
Huysmans 'Against nature'
Huysmans 'With the Flow'

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Despite minor flaws pretty ingenuis, February 4, 2004

By 

paul mason "dedarkone" (Barrie On) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Damned (La-Bas) (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

This novel about a writer (Durtal), struggling with his biography of Gilles de Bais aka Bluebeard is a real melting pot of influences and styles.
I confess I skimmed the introduction, and my literary chronology is rusty, but I believe Huysmans was a contemporary of Flaubert, or an immediate successor at any rate. There is some of Flaubert's style and grace in this work at any rate and the fact he is mentioned in La Bas, The Damned makes me believe he was an influence on the author's literary career. Another influence strongly prevalant throughout is Hermetic thought andschool of philosophy both explicity, and implicitly. The protaganists friend is given the nom de plume of de Hermies(hmmmm). Not to start reviewing other reviewers words, but in order to not be repetive, so perusers of this review aren't going didn't I just read that I will limit myself to say other reviews make salient points i.e. shallowness of characterization, and the fact that to a jaded 21st century reader this book isn't that erotic or shocking.
Huysmans shows real genius though as I started to say above, before I digressed in the marriage of styles and influences. Besides the harmonious resonance of hermeticism prominant in the text the is an almost gothic romance undertone as well as other styles and themes making this a quite intelligent, and poetic novel.