Un dilemme

by Joris-Karl Huysmans

Une nouvelle de Joris-Karl Huysmans publièe en 1887. Extrait : quand le médecin m'a écrit que Jules était très malade, j'ai pris le train, suis arrivé à Paris, ai trouvé la drôlesse installée chez monsieur mon fils et le soignant. Jules m'a assuré que cette fille était employée chez lui, en qualité de bonne. Je n'en ai pas cru un traître mot, mais, pour obéir aux prescriptions du médecin qui m'ordonnait de ne pas contrarier le malade, j'ai consenti à me taire et, comme la fièvre typhoïde s'aggravait malheureusement d'heure en heure, je suis resté là, subissant jusqu'au dénouement la présence de cette fausse bonne. Elle s'est d'ailleurs montrée convenable, je dois lui rendre cette justice ; puis le transfert du corps de mon pauvre Jules a eu lieu sans retard, vous le savez. Absorbé par des achats, par des courses, je n'ai plus eu l'occasion de la voir et je n'avais même plus entendu parler d'elle, lorsqu'est arrivée cette lettre où elle se déclare enceinte et me demande, en grâce, un peu d'argent.

Genres: Fiction, France, French Literature, Classics, Novella, Literature, 19th Century

65 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 1887

About the author

Charles 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.

Reviews

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

In which Huysmans writes the novel equivalent of Gong’s “Squeezing Sponges Over Policemen's Heads.”

Gong est Mort…Vive Gong!

[Zac Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent decadent imagery here as per JKH tradition, I really must read La-Bas soon, but its pretty much a vignette of aesthetic delights besides Against Nature.

Nothing wrong with that at all, shit is cool as fuck.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice bit of bourgeois cynical cruelty, in the French manner.

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This very short novel is an excellent snapshot of the rich French. So far, I don't think there is such a thing as a bad Huysmans book.

[Henry L. Racicot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huysmans’ long short story disguised as a novella is a brutal, brief study of the hopeless situation of the poor, who live in a society that leaves them defenseless against the rich. Written one hundred thirty-two years ago, it remains a laser sharp dissection of neoliberalism dressed with Huysmans' trademark pitiless caricatures. Here’s how he describes one poor female shopkeeper: that paunchy woman fit to burst in a dress of hideous aquamarine, upon whose neckline fell three layers of buttery chin. A merciless snapshot of inequality that timestamps the continuing truth of Jesus’ words: ye have the poor with you always. . .

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of an early French noir about the efforts of a bourgeois family to outmaneuver their dead son's pregnant beau from attaining money to sustain herself and baby. Don't go looking for happy endings here. The language is great. Huysmans' prose is biting and cruel. And the portrait of the era is pretty amazing.

[Lance Grabmiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concision of this novelette doesn't allow any room for the flamboyance I expect from Huysmans. That same concision does allow one to see that he is the "uneasy disciple of the Naturalists" as the introduction states. The brevity allows for the decadence to creep in at an odd angle via a sort of nihilism.

[chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huysmans addresses the fact that, since the dawn of capitalism, the bourgeoisie has delighted in the cruelty it enacts upon the poor. While this is an insightful novella, it's not a particularly engaging read, and by the time the cruel ending abruptly arrives, I was pretty checked out. Well-written misery porn.

[Mina · Rating 4 out of 5]

de la mesquinerie bourgeoise. de la petitesse. de la radinerie.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the most stressful parts of Madame Bovary--the French 1% just like the American version but more honest and less bullshitty.

[harlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Faust · Rating 5 out of 5]

A grotesque farce woven between a pair of old decadent bitter aristocrats and a pair of unfortunate dirty women of the lower class.

The ending was almost gothic in its tone, which I rather liked.

[W · Rating 4 out of 5]

How very delightfully cruel. The two gentlemen at the end of the story did have a good point: there is always someone to play each role in the affair.

[Bell Bottoms · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah anti-capitalism and whatever, we outside and it’s cool, but every time I read classic European literature like this, the author always describes women with such a level of horniness that are worse than some porn-addicts

[Bram · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deliciously nasty, this novella is far more accessible than Huysmans's longer works but is, in the end, rather light on substance.