Knapsacks

Joris-Karl Huysmans

Originally written in 1877 and then reworked for inclusion in the 1880 Naturalist anthology Les Soirées de Médan, this novella tells the story of the daily life of a French conscript during the Franco-Prussian war. A life of tears, lice, and filth.

About the Author
Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848-1907) published two overlapping collections of prose poems, Le drageoir aux épices (1874) and Croquis Parisiens (1880; tr. as Parisian Sketches), producing two Naturalist novels, Marthe (1876) and Les Soeurs Vatard (1879) in between. À rebours (Charpentier, 1884) represented a dramatic change of direction, and became the handbook of Decadent lifestyle fantasy. Là-Bas (1891), based on the author’s flirtation with the Parisian Occult Revival, became equally archetypal in its fascinated but horrified account of contemporary Satanism. The author dressed as a monk for the rest of his semi-reclusive life.

Paperback, 60 pages
Release date: June 14, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1-94381-377-3
List Price: US$9.00