The Cathedral

by J.K. Huysmans, Clara Bell (Translator), Brendan King (Editor)

Overview

After the Satanic debaucheries of La -bas (1891) and the sensual battles of En Route (1895), comes the cloistered calm of The Cathedral (1898). In this long, reflective novel, Huysmans' alter-ego, Durtal, sets out to explore the mystic symbolism embodied in one of the greatest gothic edifices in France, Chartres cathedral. Written at the time of the Dreyfus Affair, a political scandal that threatened to tear France apart, Chartres cathedral became for Huysmans a potent symbol of the harmonious diversity of the Middle Ages, one that had the potential to unify the divisions in contemporary French society. This complex, multi-layered vision of Chartres cathedral as a structure in which art, science and religion could exist in harmony rather than discord, captured the public imagination on its first publication, and The Cathedral became a runaway bestseller.
This edition contains 20 photographs of parts of Chartres cathedral mentioned in the text.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781903517901
Publisher:	Dedalus, Limited
Publication date:	07/01/2011
Series:	Dedalus European Classics
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

J.K.Huysmans (1847-1907) began writing as a naturalist in the style of Zola. .He changed from being an obscure author and art critic to one of the most famous authors of his day with the publication of A Rebours (Against Nature) in 1884. His novel about Satanism, La-Bas (1891)is the cult novel of the nineteenth century.

Clara Bell was the first English translator of J-K. Huysmans' novel The Cathedral. She also translated a number of novels by Balzac including Seraphita.

Brendan King is a freelancewriter, reviewer and translator with a special interest in late nineteenth-century French fiction. His Ph.D. is on the life and work of J.K.Huysmans.
He has translated La-Bas, Parisian Sketches, Marthe, Against Nature and Stranded by J.-K. Huysmans for Dedalus.
He has also edited The Life of J.K.Huysmans by Robert Baldick for Dedalus