Disagreeable Tales by Lon Bloy
Thirty tales from one of the best known but least translated of the French Decadent writers 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. A close friend to Joris-Karl Huysmans, and later admired by the likes of Kafka and Borges, Léon 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.
Bloy is yet to be discovered broadly by English-speaking readersI would recommend starting with his Disagreeable Tales, translated by Erik Butler and published in 2015 by Wakefield Press. -- Alberto Manguel * Geist *
Perhaps his most explicit selection of harangues and exhortations, the newly reissued Disagreeable Tales (Histoires désobligeantes, 1894) represents a unique literary genre—inspired by Villiers de L’Isle-Adam’s Cruel Tales (1883), Barbey d’Aurevilly’s Les diaboliques (1874) and the short sketches of Poe and Lautréamont. -- Erik Morse * The Paris Review *
Perhaps his most explicit selection of harangues and exhortations, the newly reissued Disagreeable Tales (Histoires désobligeantes, 1894) represents a unique literary genre—inspired by Villiers de L’Isle-Adam’s Cruel Tales (1883), Barbey d’Aurevilly’s Les diaboliques (1874) and the short sketches of Poe and Lautréamont. -- Erik Morse * The Paris Review *
Bloy, Lü¾Ž–”¼on: - Lü¾Ž–”¼on Bloy, nü¾Ž–”¼ le 11 juillet 1846 ü¾Œ†”¼ Pü¾Ž–”¼rigueux et mort le 3 novembre 1917 ü¾Œ†”¼ Bourg-la-Reine, est un romancier et essayiste franü¾¶”¼ais. Connu pour son roman Le Dü¾Ž–”¼sespü¾Ž–”¼rü¾Ž–”¼, largement inspirü¾Ž–”¼ de sa relation avec Anne-Marie Roulü¾Ž–”¼, il est aussi un polü¾Ž–”¼miste cü¾Ž–”¼lü¾Ž†”¼bre.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781939663108 |
| ISBN 10 | 1939663105 |
| Title | Disagreeable Tales |
| Author | Lon Bloy |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Wakefield Press |
| Year published | 2015-08-06 |
| Number of pages | 200 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |