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Down There (La-Bas)
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Down There (La-Bas) Paperback - 2011

by Joris K. Huysmans


From the publisher

This novel is the classic of Satanism. It caused a sensation when it first appeared in 1891 because of its extraordinarily detailed and vivid descriptions of the Black Mass. These descriptions are also authentic, for J. K. Huysmans, who has been called the greatest of the French decadents, had firsthand knowledge of the satanic practices, witch cults, and the whole of the occult underworld thriving in late nineteenth-century Paris.
At its center is Durtal, a writer obsessed with the life of one of the blackest figures in history, Gilles de Rais. The legendary crimes, trial, and confession of this grotesque fifteenth-century child murderer, sadist, necrophile, and practitioner of all the black arts unfold in episode after horrifying episode. Mystical thematic threads connect this greatest of all revelers in evil with Durtal's own passionate pursuit, the reflection of a religious quest that was to lead Huysmans from uncertain agnosticism back to Catholicism.
Durtal, the mouthpiece for the strange personality of Huysmans, leads a hermit-like existence cloistered from his fashionable contemporaries. Surrounding him are others equally cut off, sharing a nostalgic longing for the Middle Ages. There is a simply religious bell-ringer, a learned astrologer, a medical doctor versed in homeopath and occult lore, and a fourth person -- a sheltered, unsatisfied bourgeois by day and mysterious succubus by night. They take refuge where they can from the forces of modern times -- in a bell tower, in abstruse knowledge, and in diabolism.
Huysmans' ability to mesmerize his readers with torrents of sound and image is itself suspiciously akin to the magic arts. His intoxication with the abominable and the depraved is magnified by his extreme sensitivity. He combines grimly realistic detail with esoteric knowledge, and searches relentlessly for the divine in the depths of evil and in the furthest reaches of human experience. The republication of this novel, along with the previous publication of Against the Grain, will make his works accessible to the larger audience that will surely find them both important and fascinating, as have Oscar Wilde, Havelock Ellis, and many other major literary figures.

Details

  • Title Down There (La-Bas)
  • Author Joris K. Huysmans
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 304
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Dover Publications, New York
  • Date 2011-02
  • ISBN 9780486228372 / 0486228371
  • Weight 0.69 lbs (0.31 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.48 x 5.43 x 0.57 in (21.54 x 13.79 x 1.45 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Occult fiction, Erotic fiction
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 74189352
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC
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La-Bas (Down There)
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La-Bas (Down There)

by Huysmans, Joris K.

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Down There (La-Bas)
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Down There (La-Bas)

by Huysmans, Joris K

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La-Bas (Down There)
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La-Bas (Down There)

by Huysmans, Joris K

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La Bas (Down There)
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La Bas (Down There)

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La Bas (Down There)
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La Bas (Down There)

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La-Bas (Down There)
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La-Bas (Down There)

by Joris K. Huysmans

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La-Bas (Down There)
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La-Bas (Down There)

by JK Huysmans

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LA BAS DOWN THERE
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LA BAS DOWN THERE

by HUYSMANS,J

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LA-BAS (DOWN THERE)
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LA-BAS (DOWN THERE)

by Huysmans, J.K.

  • Used
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Used - Very good in glossy illustrated wrappers (prev owner's name, highlighting to 4 lines on p 7 only.
ISBN 13
9780486228372
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New York:: Dover Publications, , (c 1972). Very good in glossy illustrated wrappers (prev owner's name, highlighting to 4 lines on p 7 only.. Trade paperback. A classic novel of Satanism, originally published in France in 1891 and noted for its detailed and vivid description of the Black Mass, one which Huysmans himself attended. Although the novel centers on Durtal, a writer obsessed with the life of Gilles de Rais, a fifteenth-century child murderer, sadist, necrophile, and practitioner of all the black arts, Huysmans had firsthand knowledge of the satanic practices, witch cults, and the whole of the occult underworld which was thriving in late nineteenth-century Paris and in the city of Lyons. Translated by Keene Wallis. 287 pp.
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La-Bas

La-Bas

by Huysmans, Joris K.

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Paperback
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ISBN 10
0486228371
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Dover Publications. Good. 2011. Paperback. 0486228371 . Foxing to the exterior edge of pages only. Good overall condition. General wear. No major blemishes. No writing. ; Down There; 5.43 X 0.57 X 8.48 inches; 304 pages .
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