Customer Reviews

Marthe (El-E-Phant Books, No 1)

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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.

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.