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The Cathedral

Author: J.-K. Huysmans

Translator: Clara Bell, Brendan King   Edited by: Brendan King   Cover design: Marie Lane  

After the Satanic debaucheries of Là-bas (1891) and the sensual battles of En Route (1895), comes the cloistered calm of The Cathedral (1898). In this long, reflective novel, Huysmans’ alter-ego, Durtal, sets out to explore the mystic symbolism embodied in one of the greatest gothic edifices in France, Chartres cathedral. Written at the time of the Dreyfus Affair, a political scandal that threatened to tear France apart, Chartres cathedral became for Huysmans a potent symbol of the harmonious diversity of the Middle Ages, one that had the potential to unify the divisions in contemporary French society. This complex, multi-layered vision of Chartres cathedral as a structure in which art, science and religion could exist in harmony rather than discord, captured the public imagination on its first publication, and The Cathedral became a runaway bestseller.

The Cathedral will appeal to readers interested in architecture, religious art, Chartres and other cathedrals, and the Durtal quartet of novels by J-K.Huysmans.

RRP: £9.99

No. of pages: 364

Publication date: 09.05.2011

ISBN numbers:
Paperback
978 1 903517 90 1
Ebook
978 1 909232 09 9

Rights:
World English Language in this translation