The Cathedral

An amazingly detailed and analytical description of a very beutiful place, Notre Dame de Chartres. Understand that the Cathedral Huysmans describes is true gothic architecture at its most extraordinary, and Huysmans really puts his heart into this work. The pages display Huysmans' knowledge of Catholic art, saints (especially martyrs), iconography, and, especially, Notre Dame de Chartres. Huysmans weaves into this the tale of Durtal, the decadent former Satanist now Catholic zealot, as he visits some pious friends in Chartres. Joris Karl's love for this magnificant building, combined with his dedication to realism, yields a compelling account of the cathedral. However, unlike La Bas, En Rade, and En Route, the plot line is somewhat thin, with Durtal coming in second to a building, albeit a beautiful one. Still it is a must read for any serious Huysmans fan, Gothic architecture aficiandos, or anybody who is visiting Chartres and really wnats to know what they're looking at. For contrast, read Au Rebouirs, an equally exacting description of Huysmans' decadent, misanthropic lifestyle and thought written 15 years earlier. Curiously, Huysmans' disdain for humanity at large shines thorugh, even in the Cathedral.

This is the second to last book in the Durtal series, and describes that character's further aesthetic adventures. It is at once an awesome essay on the architecture of the cathedral and a loose story of Durtal's spiritual delimma. Few writer's have such knowledge in their work, and even fewer have been as inovative in their writing. To those who liked La Bas, The Cathedral is a must.