With the Flow (Alma Classics 101 Pages)

Joris-Karl Huysmans, Andrew Brown (Translated by)

$8.40

Publication Date: February 9th, 2021

Publisher:

Alma Classics

ISBN:

9781847498342

Pages:

101

Description

The lowly, downtrodden Paris civil servant Jean Folantin seeks respite from the boredom and isolation of his life in the small joys of food and the occasional embraces of a prostitute. But whatever he does, wherever he turns in his quest for some pleasure, his dissatisfaction only increases, until he is forced to realize that he has to abandon all hope and just “go with the flow”.

This 1882 novella, a key work in Huysmans' literary development – prefiguring in its protagonist the figure of Jean des Esseintes, the hero of À rebours, written two years later – is accompanied here by another masterly study of human despair, 'M. Bougran's Retirement'.

About the Author

Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848-1907) was a French novelist and art critic who was one of the founders of the Decadent Movement in France. His most famous novel Against Nature (A rebours) was a foundational novel of the Decadent Movement in France. He also wrote novels in the Naturalist tradition of Emile Zola, including Marthe, Histoire d'une fille, Les Soeurs Vatard, and En menage and poetry inspired by Baudelaire's work.

Andrew Brown QC is a solicitor and defence counsel. He has recently returned to full time practice after serving as an Advocate Depute for over five years.

Praise for With the Flow (Alma Classics 101 Pages)

“With the Flow is the most complete expression of that pessimism which, even at the start of the twenty-first century, remains central to our self-perception.” —Simon Callow