Joris-Karl Huysmans
(1848-1907)
Joris-Karl Huysmans
(1848-1907)
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"Indeed, each liquor corresponded
in taste, he fancied, with the sound of a particular instrument. Dry
curaçao, for example, resembled the clarinet in its shrill, velvety
tone; kümmel was like the oboe, whose timbre is sonorous and nasal;
crème de menthe and anisette were like the flute, both sweet
and poignant, whining and soft. Then to complete the orchestra come
kirsch, blowing a wild trumpet blast; gin and whisky, deafening the
palate with their harsh eruptions of cornets and trombones; liqueur
brandy, blaring with the overwhelming crash of tubas, while the thundering
of cymbals and the big drum, beaten hard, evoked the rakis of Chios
and the mastics."
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Joris-Karl
Huysmans, French novelist and art critic; born in Paris, 5 February,
1848; died 12 May, 1907. He was first associated with Émile Zola
and the naturalist group and then joined the French Decadent Movement.
Huysmans' conversion through Satanism to Catholicism, from obsession
with bizarre sensations to the search of spiritual life can be followed
in such works as À Rebours (Against the Grain) (1884), Là-Bas
(Down There) (1891) and La Cathédrale (1898). His quintessential
cult novel "A Rebours (Against Nature)" was a story that featured a
decadent aristocrat who collected the drawings of a then relatively
obscure artist named Odilon Redon.
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