Stranded (En Rade) (Dedalus European Classics) - Softcover

J. -K. Huysmans

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1903517842 ISBN 13: 9781903517840

Publisher: Dedalus Ltd, 2010

Synopsis

J.-K. Huysmans' Stranded (En Rade 1887), published just three years after the iconoclastic Against Nature, sees him again breaking new ground and pushing back the boundaries of the novel form. Stamped throughout with his characteristic black humour, Stranded is one of Huysmans' most innovative, most imaginative works. Jacques' waking reveries and daydreams are balanced by a succession of dreams and nightmares that explore the seemingly irrational, often grotesque, world of unconscious desire, producing a series of images that are as unforgettable and unsettling as anything to be found in the decadent fantasies of Against Nature, or the satanic obsessions of La -bas.
Hounded by creditors and gripped by a deep existential gloom, Jacques Marles decides to flee Paris for the countryside, hoping to find shelter from the financial storms raging around his head, hoping to find peace. But Jacques soon discovers he cannot escape the problems of modern city life by hiding in the country. Stuck with his sick wife, Louise, in an abandoned chàteau that seems to be rotting to pieces around them, Jacques waits for money to arrive with nothing to do but give himself up to his increasingly disturbing dreams

About this title

About the Author

J.K.Huysmans (1847-1907) began writing as a naturalist in the style of Zola. His first novel Marthe(1876) was published by Dedalus in 2006 in a new translation by Brendan King.His early works excel in their descriptive ability and he is one of the greatest authors in describing the life of Paris and its surroundings as witnessed by his Parisian Sketches (Dedalus translation by Brendan King in 2004).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 in 1884. A Rebours is a ground breaking novel which captures the decadent spirit of the day and marks his final break with Zola and naturalism. Dedalus's translation by Brendan King was published in May 2008. His novel about Satanism, La-Bas (1891)is surely the cult novel of the nineteenth century.(Brendan King's translation was selected by Beryl Bainbridge as one of the best books published in 2001 in The Independent).La-Bas is the first of four novels about Huysmans alter ego Durtal. Dedalus has published English translations of En Route (1895),The Cathedral (1898) and The Oblate of St Benedict (1903). Robert Baldick's brilliant The Life of J.K.Huysmans was published by Dedalus in the autumn of 2005, updated and edited by Brendan King. It is Dedalus's aim to make all of Huysmans work available in English. In 2010 Dedalus published Brendan King's new translation of Stranded (En Rade).

Edition details

• Publisher: Dedalus Ltd
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1903517842
• ISBN 13: 9781903517840
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256