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A Dish of Spices
This is a collection of the earliest writings of the French decadent J-K. Huysmans (1848-1907). These twenty "bagatelles" include splenetic prose-poems, evocations of the forgotten byways of Paris, sketches of a night-time city peopled by the "naiads of the gutter", tableaus from Flemish painting, and illuminated symbolist reveries. What unites this miscellany is the allure of decay, the charm of distaste and disappointment, and, above all, Huysmans' unparalleled style - studded as it is with the baroque and barbarous, the arcane and archaic.
An illustrated and annotated translation. Published in a limited edition, bound in textured, uncoated paper.
An illustrated and annotated translation. Published in a limited edition, bound in textured, uncoated paper.
- GenresPoetry
126 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1874
About the author
Joris-Karl Huysmans
346 books710 followersCharles Marie Georges Huysmans was a French novelist who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans. AKA: J.-K. Huysmans.
He is most famous for the novel À rebours (Against Nature). His style is remarkable for its idiosyncratic use of the French language, wide-ranging vocabulary, wealth of detailed and sensuous description, and biting, satirical wit.
The novels are also noteworthy for their encyclopedic documentation, ranging from the catalogue of decadent Latin authors in À rebours to the discussion of the symbiology of Christian architecture in La cathédrale. Huysmans' work expresses a disgust with modern life and a deep pessimism, which led the author first to the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer then to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
He is most famous for the novel À rebours (Against Nature). His style is remarkable for its idiosyncratic use of the French language, wide-ranging vocabulary, wealth of detailed and sensuous description, and biting, satirical wit.
The novels are also noteworthy for their encyclopedic documentation, ranging from the catalogue of decadent Latin authors in À rebours to the discussion of the symbiology of Christian architecture in La cathédrale. Huysmans' work expresses a disgust with modern life and a deep pessimism, which led the author first to the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer then to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
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August 8, 2019
This was first published on the Side Real Press website in 2011.
J-K Huysmans (1848-1907) is best known for 'Against Nature' (1884) the novel that defined the Decadent movement and should be on every weird story lovers bookshelf.
Before he wrote 'Against Nature' he was a student of the 'realistic school' of Zola, De Maupassant and the like and this is a collection of evocations/prose poems which were originally published in 1874, and are in effect a bridge between the two styles. This volume includes material revised and added in 1886 and the influence of the 1884 novel.
The copy under review is actually a Fortune Press edition, but I believe the contents are the same.
The Fortune Press edition has a useful introduction from the translator Richard Griffiths who points out how much smell (especially womens') plays a part in these writings-and in 'Against Nature'. This is particually effective in his descriptions of the Folies-Bergere and a Grand Ball. There is also a controversial (at the time) piece called 'The Arm-Pit' which Huysmans terms "spice boxes in order to season and enhance the stew of love". Each to their own, but I prefer 'Low Tide' which is a survey of breast shape and size through the ages and lifestyles of various female types (albeit via tailors dummies).
These and many of the other twenty or so short pieces (none run to much more than 3 pages) are really quite 'decadent' in style and subject. Huysmans selects the more grotesque and bizarre aspects of his subjects to extol the virtues (or otherwise) of. Prostitutes and their pimps, a fantasy inspired by Odilon Redons paintings and the like; but the best pieces in this vein (and the book) are his meditations on landscape especially 'The Bievre'. "Yes it is true that the Bieve is nothing more than a moving dung-heap...true it emits a fetid stench of stagnation, an aroma of the charnal house; but just place a barrel organ at the foot of one of its trees, and make it gasp out its melodies that fill its belly; or let the voice of a begger-woman resound in this valley of misery, let her sing, as she sits by the water, a woeful lament learned at a sing-song, a ballad extolling the little birds and begging for love: and then tell me whether this wailing does not stir you to the depths of your soul, and whether this sobbing voice does not appear to be the desolate complaint if the poor suburbs themselves."
This slim book is a great read and best savoured slowly for maximum pleasure. Highly recommended.
J-K Huysmans (1848-1907) is best known for 'Against Nature' (1884) the novel that defined the Decadent movement and should be on every weird story lovers bookshelf.
Before he wrote 'Against Nature' he was a student of the 'realistic school' of Zola, De Maupassant and the like and this is a collection of evocations/prose poems which were originally published in 1874, and are in effect a bridge between the two styles. This volume includes material revised and added in 1886 and the influence of the 1884 novel.
The copy under review is actually a Fortune Press edition, but I believe the contents are the same.
The Fortune Press edition has a useful introduction from the translator Richard Griffiths who points out how much smell (especially womens') plays a part in these writings-and in 'Against Nature'. This is particually effective in his descriptions of the Folies-Bergere and a Grand Ball. There is also a controversial (at the time) piece called 'The Arm-Pit' which Huysmans terms "spice boxes in order to season and enhance the stew of love". Each to their own, but I prefer 'Low Tide' which is a survey of breast shape and size through the ages and lifestyles of various female types (albeit via tailors dummies).
These and many of the other twenty or so short pieces (none run to much more than 3 pages) are really quite 'decadent' in style and subject. Huysmans selects the more grotesque and bizarre aspects of his subjects to extol the virtues (or otherwise) of. Prostitutes and their pimps, a fantasy inspired by Odilon Redons paintings and the like; but the best pieces in this vein (and the book) are his meditations on landscape especially 'The Bievre'. "Yes it is true that the Bieve is nothing more than a moving dung-heap...true it emits a fetid stench of stagnation, an aroma of the charnal house; but just place a barrel organ at the foot of one of its trees, and make it gasp out its melodies that fill its belly; or let the voice of a begger-woman resound in this valley of misery, let her sing, as she sits by the water, a woeful lament learned at a sing-song, a ballad extolling the little birds and begging for love: and then tell me whether this wailing does not stir you to the depths of your soul, and whether this sobbing voice does not appear to be the desolate complaint if the poor suburbs themselves."
This slim book is a great read and best savoured slowly for maximum pleasure. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 of 1 review