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Disagreeable tales / Léon Bloy ; translated by Erik Butler.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextLanguage: English Original language: French Publisher: Cambridge, Massachusetts : Wakefield Press, [2015]Copyright date: ©2015Description: xii, 177 pages ; 23 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781939663108
  • 1939663105
Uniform titles:
  • Histoires désobligeantes. English
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Herbal tea -- The old man of the house -- The religion of Monsieur Pleur -- The parlor of tarantulas -- Draft for a funeral oration -- The prisoners of Longjumeau -- A lousy idea -- Two ghosts -- A dentist's terrible punishment -- The awakening of Alain Chartier -- The stroker of compassion -- Monsieur's past -- Whatever you want! -- Well-done -- The end of Don Juan -- A martyr -- Suspicion -- The telephone of Calypso -- A recruit -- Botched sacrilege -- It's gonna blow! -- The silver lining -- A well-fed man -- The lucky bean -- Digestive aids -- The reading room -- Nobody's perfect -- Let's be reasonable! -- Jocasta on the streets -- Cain's luckiest fine.
Summary: Thirty tales of theft, onanism, incest, murder and a host of other forms of perversion and cruelty from the "ungrateful beggar" and "pilgrim of the absolute," Léon Bloy. "Disagreeable Tales," first published in French in 1894, collects Bloy's narrative sermons from the depths: a cauldron of frightful anecdotes and inspired misanthropy that represents a high point of the French Decadent movement and the most emblematic entry into the library of the "Cruel Tale" christened by Villiers de l'Isle-Adam. Whether depicting parents and offspring being sacrificed for selfish gains, or imbeciles sacrificing their own individuality on a literary whim, these tales all draw sustenance from an underlying belief: the root of religion is crime against man, nature and God, and that in this hell on earth, even the worst among us has a soul.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Notes Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Fiction Bloy, Leon Available author bio tab has been ripped out. 3/14/2023 SB 33111008352490
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Thirty tales of theft, onanism, incest, murder and a host of other forms of perversion and cruelty from the "ungrateful beggar" and "pilgrim of the absolute," L on Bloy. Disagreeable Tales , first published in French in 1894, collects Bloy's narrative sermons from the depths: a cauldron of frightful anecdotes and inspired misanthropy that represents a high point of the French Decadent movement and the most emblematic entry into the library of the "Cruel Tale" christened by Villiers de l'Isle-Adam. Whether depicting parents and offspring being sacrificed for selfish gains, or imbeciles sacrificing their own individuality on a literary whim, these tales all draw sustenance from an underlying belief: the root of religion is crime against man, nature and God, and that in this hell on earth, even the worst among us has a soul.

A close friend to Joris-Karl Huysmans, and later admired by the likes of Kafka and Borges, L on Bloy (1846-1917) is among the best known but least translated of the French Decadent writers. Nourishing antireligious sentiments in his youth, his outlook changed radically when he moved to Paris and came under the influence of Barbey d'Aurevilly, the unconventionally religious novelist best known for Les Diaboliques . He earned the dual nicknames of "The Pilgrim of the Absolute" through his unorthodox devotion to the Catholic Church, and "The Ungrateful Beggar" through his endless reliance on the charity of friends to support him and his family.

Herbal tea -- The old man of the house -- The religion of Monsieur Pleur -- The parlor of tarantulas -- Draft for a funeral oration -- The prisoners of Longjumeau -- A lousy idea -- Two ghosts -- A dentist's terrible punishment -- The awakening of Alain Chartier -- The stroker of compassion -- Monsieur's past -- Whatever you want! -- Well-done -- The end of Don Juan -- A martyr -- Suspicion -- The telephone of Calypso -- A recruit -- Botched sacrilege -- It's gonna blow! -- The silver lining -- A well-fed man -- The lucky bean -- Digestive aids -- The reading room -- Nobody's perfect -- Let's be reasonable! -- Jocasta on the streets -- Cain's luckiest fine.

Thirty tales of theft, onanism, incest, murder and a host of other forms of perversion and cruelty from the "ungrateful beggar" and "pilgrim of the absolute," Léon Bloy. "Disagreeable Tales," first published in French in 1894, collects Bloy's narrative sermons from the depths: a cauldron of frightful anecdotes and inspired misanthropy that represents a high point of the French Decadent movement and the most emblematic entry into the library of the "Cruel Tale" christened by Villiers de l'Isle-Adam. Whether depicting parents and offspring being sacrificed for selfish gains, or imbeciles sacrificing their own individuality on a literary whim, these tales all draw sustenance from an underlying belief: the root of religion is crime against man, nature and God, and that in this hell on earth, even the worst among us has a soul.

Includes bibliographical references.

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