Against Nature (A Rebours) (Green Integer Books, #50)

by Joris-Karl Huysmans

Patrick McGuinness (Translator), Robert Baldick (Translator), and Patrick McGuiness (Notes)

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The infamous inspiration for the novel which slowly corrupts Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray

is translated by Robert Baldick with an introduction by Patrick McGuinness in Penguin Classics. A wildly original fin-de-siècle novel, Against Nature contains only one character. Des Esseintes is a decadent, ailing aristocrat who retreats to an isolated villa where her indulges his taste for luxury and excess. Veering between nervous excitability and debilitating ennui, he gluts his aesthetic appetites with classical literature and art, exotic jewels (with which he fatally encrusts the shell of his tortoise), rich perfumes and a kaleidoscope of sensual experiences. Against Nature, in the words of the author, exploded 'like a meteorite' and has enjoyed a cult following to this day.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
  • ISBN10 0140447636
  • ISBN13 9780140447637
  • Publish Date 24 February 2004 (first published 1 September 1998)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country US
  • Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
  • Imprint Penguin Classics