Joris-karl huysmans against the grain meaning

À rebours

1884 book by Joris-Karl Huysmans

For the song by British band Babyshambles, see À rebours (song).

Frontispiece of the first edition where "in collaboration" with the publisher Charpentier one can discern, among others, Émile Zola, Guy de Maupassant, Henry Cérard, Paul Alexis.

AuthorJoris-Karl Huysmans
Original titleÀ rebours
LanguageFrench
GenreDecadent
PublisherCharpentier

Publication date

May 1884
Publication placeFrance

À rebours (French pronunciation:[aʁ(ə).buʁ]; translated Against Nature or Against the Grain) is an 1884 novel by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans.

Joris-Karl Huysmans' À Rebours - Fiveable

The narrative centers on a single character: Jean des Esseintes, an eccentric, reclusive, ailing aesthete. The last scion of an aristocratic family, Des Esseintes loathes nineteenth-century bourgeois society and tries to retreat into an ideal artistic world of his own creation. The narrative is almost entirely a catalogue of the Against the Grain | Naturalism, Decadence, Symbolism | Britannica QYLOB