The Damned (La Bas)

French novelist Charles Marie George Huysmans adopted the pseudonym Joris-Karl, or J. K. Huysmans, for his novels, short stories and art criticism. His thirty-year tenure at the French Ministry of the Interior allowed him the financial and personal freedom to write as he pleased. In the same vein as his mentor, Émile Zola, Huysmans' writings were largely naturalistic. Huysmans' novels were somewhat controversial at the time of publication, as they often dealt with themes of religion, social...