Capturing the lively linguistic inventiveness of the original, this fresh telling also includes an introduction and comprehensive notes. First published in 1876, Marthe was an important landmark in J.K. Huysmans’s literary career, his first excursion into the novel, which propelled him into the growing ranks of the Naturalist movement. Marthe was one of the first French novels to directly address the subject of prostitution, which later became a central theme for many novelists, Impressionist painters and poets. Set in and around the demi-monde of the Parisian music hall, it centers on a would-be actress, Marthe, who works in one of the lowest dives in Paris, who tells the story of her brief, and ultimately doomed, relationship with Léo, a romantic searching for something to take the place of his lost illusions.
--This text refers to an alternate
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French
Original Language: French
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This is a bleak look at the bleak existence of a prostitute.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Marthe (El-E-Phant Books, No 1) (Paperback)
A proto-kafkaesque novella that masterfully paints the picture of a miserable life as a Parisian prostitute around the turn of the century. Marthe can be likened to the complement of the Underground Man in Dostoevsky's Notes From Underground.There is not much of a plot to describe. Marthe is introduced as a teenage "worker in fake pearls", rolling ground oyster shells and foul chemicals together into beads. Her health failing, she finds refuge in the red light district. A beautifully miserable story.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Early Naturalism At Its Finest,
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This review is from: Marthe: The Story of a Whore (Dedalus European Classics) (Paperback)
Marthe: The Story of a Whore by J.K. Huysmans, translated by Brendan King.
There have been a series of new Huysmans translations by Mr. King released under the Dedalus imprint in recent years; the only one that mentions absinthe specifically is this, Huysman's first published novel. He didn't become a "decadent" writer until a little later in his career, however: at this time he was still a loyal Zola disciple and the text falls very neatly into the category of Naturalism. As to be expected, it is the tale of a courtesan's rise and fall due to alcohol. Absinthe makes two brief appearances, both in exchanges between the titular prostitute and her bohemian boyfriend Leo, first as celebration and then to alleviate suffering. The novel ends with a grisly autopsy that serves as moral against the evils of addiction.
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