On my bookshelf
À Rebours – Against Nature, by Joris-Karl Huysmans
In 1981, having drifted into a linguistics degree and realising I’d made a mistake, a chance purchase in a second-hand book shop changed everything.
Huysmans’ hero in À Rebours is Duc Jean Floressas des Esseintes, an insufferable but strangely likeable snob. He is last in a long line of aristocrats who despise everyone and everything, even most art and literature.
This book is the scandalous 1884 French novel lent to Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde’s novel about the narcissistic hedonist whose portrait takes on the marks of his decadence. The appeal of À Rebours’ to a disaffected 18-year-old was instant.
The book, part art philosophical treatise, part academic discourse, part art criticism, is bound together by a gritty realism. Each chapter is a tableau describing Des Esseintes’ attempt to revive his jaded senses.
Reading À Rebours for the first time felt like Huysmans’ own description of the book’s reception – “a meteorite in a literary fairground” – and it directly influenced my career.
I signed up for an art history module and never looked back.
The book informs my approach to curation and interpretation. Huysmans’ ideas about the urge to acquire, the solace of collecting and his strive for control provide a revelatory and cautionary tale. His hero’s ability to conjure up worlds through the senses – the placing of objects, the juxtaposition of fabrics, the use of scent in immersive environments – are an inspiration.
Shan McAnena is the creative programming and interpretation manager at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland
Huysmans’ hero in À Rebours is Duc Jean Floressas des Esseintes, an insufferable but strangely likeable snob. He is last in a long line of aristocrats who despise everyone and everything, even most art and literature.
This book is the scandalous 1884 French novel lent to Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde’s novel about the narcissistic hedonist whose portrait takes on the marks of his decadence. The appeal of À Rebours’ to a disaffected 18-year-old was instant.
The book, part art philosophical treatise, part academic discourse, part art criticism, is bound together by a gritty realism. Each chapter is a tableau describing Des Esseintes’ attempt to revive his jaded senses.
Reading À Rebours for the first time felt like Huysmans’ own description of the book’s reception – “a meteorite in a literary fairground” – and it directly influenced my career.
I signed up for an art history module and never looked back.
The book informs my approach to curation and interpretation. Huysmans’ ideas about the urge to acquire, the solace of collecting and his strive for control provide a revelatory and cautionary tale. His hero’s ability to conjure up worlds through the senses – the placing of objects, the juxtaposition of fabrics, the use of scent in immersive environments – are an inspiration.
Shan McAnena is the creative programming and interpretation manager at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland