ArtsFuse: 'Diaboliques'—An essential hidden dimension in French literature
The oft-perceptive critic Remy de Gourmont posits that Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly will “probably remain for a long time one of those singular, subterranean classics that form the real life of French literature.”
Raymond N. MacKenzie’s superb translation of Les Diaboliques (1874), the once-notorious, now forgotten collection of six “decadent” stories by the “dandy” Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly (1808-1889), is likely to go unnoticed. This would be a pity, for Barbey’s presence in French literary history is like an essential hidden dimension. Not perceiving it means missing something important about the whole.
Published in: ArtsFuse
By: John Taylor
Story Date: 2016-01-31T05:51:00+00:00
By: John Taylor
Story Date: 2016-01-31T05:51:00+00:00
