Against the Grain

Against the Grain (French: À rebours) is a novel by French author Joris-Karl Huysmans, first published in 1884. The book tells the story of Jean des Esseintes, an eccentric, reclusive man who comes from an aristocratic family, but who rails against the bourgeois society. Instead, he prefers to hide himself away in a creative, artistic world of his own making. The book which is essentially without plot, details Des Esseintess aesthetic tastes, his thoughts on literature, painting, and religion, and his hyperaesthesic sensory experiences. Against the Grain became a classic example of so-called Decadent literature (the Decadent movement in the late 19th century was characterized by self-disgust, sickness at the world, skepticism, delight in perversion, and a belief in the superiority of human creativity over logic.) Huysmans didnt think his book would be a hit at all. He predicted that: It will be the biggest fiasco of the year—but I dont care a damn! It will be something nobody has ever done before, and I shall have said what I want to say.... However, when published, Against the Grain caused a storm of publicity and appealed greatly to the young generation of writers and aesthetes. It is believed that when Oscar Wilde writes of the poisonous French novel in The Picture of Dorian Grey, he was talking about Huysmans book.