Description

Book Synopsis
The lowly, downtrodden Paris civil servant Jean Folantin seeks respite from the boredom and isolation of his life in the small joys of food and the occasional embraces of a prostitute. But whatever he does, wherever he turns in his quest for some pleasure, his dissatisfaction only increases, until he is forced to realize that he has to abandon all hope and just “go with the flow”. This 1882 novella, a key work in Huysmans’ literary development – prefiguring in its protagonist the figure of Jean des Esseintes, the hero of À rebours, written two years later – is accompanied here by another masterly study of human despair, ‘M. Bougran’s Retirement’.

Trade Review
With the Flow is the most complete expression of that pessimism which, even at the start of the twenty-first century, remains central to our self-perception. -- Simon Callow

With the Flow

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    A Paperback / softback by Joris-Karl Huysmans, Andrew Brown KC, KC, Andrew Brown

    £8.04

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      Book details

      Publisher Alma Classics
      Published 19 November 2020
      ISBN-13 9781847498342
      978-1847498342
      ISBN-10 1847498345
      Also in:
      Classics

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      The lowly, downtrodden Paris civil servant Jean Folantin seeks respite from the boredom and isolation of his life in the small joys of food and the occasional embraces of a prostitute. But whatever he does, wherever he turns in his quest for some pleasure, his dissatisfaction only increases, until he is forced to realize that he has to abandon all hope and just “go with the flow”. This 1882 novella, a key work in Huysmans’ literary development – prefiguring in its protagonist the figure of Jean des Esseintes, the hero of À rebours, written two years later – is accompanied here by another masterly study of human despair, ‘M. Bougran’s Retirement’.

      Trade Review
      With the Flow is the most complete expression of that pessimism which, even at the start of the twenty-first century, remains central to our self-perception. -- Simon Callow

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