French Decadent Tales (Oxford World's Classics)

French Decadent Tales (Oxford World's Classics)

Language: English

Pages: 272

ISBN: 0199569274

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub


"He had become the dandy of the unpredictable."

A quest for new sensations--and an avowed desire to shock--possessed the Decadent writers of fin-de-siècle Paris. Indeed, the years 1880-1900 saw an extraordinary, hothouse flowering of talent, that produced some of the most exotic, stylized, and cerebral literature in the French language. Death and Eros haunt these pages, and a polymorphous perversity by turns hilarious and horrifying. Their stories teem with addicts, maniacs, and murderers as they strive to outdo each other.

This marvelous selection by Stephen Romer-whose translations brilliantly capture the stylish wit and black humor of the originals--brings together 36 of the best decadent tales from the French fin-de-siècle, including work by well-known writers such as Maupassant, Lorrain, Mirbeau, and Villiers as well as lesser known figures such as Léon Bloy, Jean Richepin, and the Belgian Georges Rodenbach. Romer's engaging introduction provides a full context for the stories, underscoring the principal literary, philosophical, scientific, and political trends of the time, which fed into their authors' loathing of the modern world, and the discovery of the Unconscious.

The book also includes biographical notes on the authors and explanatory notes to clarify cultural references, plus a chronology of the key publications and main events of the period.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

L'Amour médecin – Le Sicilien ou l'Amour peintre

Selected Poems (Penguin Classics)

Bel Ami (Penguin Clásicos)

Impressions of Africa (French Literature Series)

Three Tales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kind: thematically, chronologically, or alphabetically. The chronological presentation by date of birth that has been chosen is advantageous in that the reader becomes more readily familiar with the style of a particular author when the stories are grouped together. Shifts of tone and emphasis become noticeable—there is a perceptible move from the stately, descriptive sentences of Barbey d’Aurevilly, to the acrid notations of Bloy or Mirbeau, to the cerebral dissociation of ideas in the fierce.

Entertain the idea that Madame de Prack was some kind of theatrical agent, working for circuses and music-halls in the provinces. The women she brought with her were more elegant, with their red henna’d hair, their eyes made up, and their mouths heightened by lipstick. They seemed to belong to the same family of small-time actresses, or waitresses on the night-shift, and their loud voices, gaudy clothes, and histrionic gestures were in stark contrast with the excessively sober appearance of.

Come of age. But their venerable ancestor lived in harmony with them. Each kept slightly different time; but by an amusing anomaly, it was the old clock that struck the hour first, ahead of the others, as though enjoining them to follow suit. Was this grandmother more solid and indefatigable than her children? Van Hulst smiled, cheered by the family of clocks that brought his home to life. Nevertheless, it troubled him rather that they were not perpetually in unison. When one lives together, is.

Especially since once again she had been unwell. She had grown pale, and thinner still, even though she was already as slender and incorporeal as the Saint Ursula in the Hospital reliquary. Van Hulst was deeply stirred by Godeliève’s frailty. What was wrong with her? Was there some hidden malady? Or a lack of vitality, something like a death-wish? Before long, he became anxious as well. Perhaps she was fading away from some deep hurt, unavowed even to herself, from some secret too heavy for the.

Of the little Bretonne came back to her, and she felt sorrow for the angels who had lost their feathers! A featherless angel must be an odd sight, rather like those plucked geese you saw in farmyards in Normandy, the poor geese who gave their plumage to stuff the pillows of fussy adultresses. It was a foolishly childish image, but plucked angels are still angels—and angels are very beautiful creatures. Snow went on falling, and it was getting thicker, so thick that the air now seemed condensed.

Download sample

Download