Customer Reviews:
 Not For Everyone May 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Huysmans' novel is a bit different from most books that you buy. If you are expecting a gory type of horror novel then you will be sorely disappointed.
This book is about Durtal, who is writing a biography of Gilles de Rais and his attrocious crimes. He spends most of the novel talking about his book, writing styles, religion, and mysticism. He usually discourses amongst his friends at a bell ringer's apartment.
Over half way through the book there is a bit of sex thrown in, and Durtal eventually gets to witness a Black Mass. So why would you read this book? The book ranges from the ridiculous to the absurd, with its arcane subject matter. The actual story isn't really what holds this book together but rather Huysmans' writing technique and narrative style. To be honest, Huysman could have written about going to buy a loaf of bread, and he would have still produced an emminently readable book.
down there June 17, 2007
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
exellent, intelligent, unusual.
away to get my hands on some of his other works.
a real undiscovered gem.
the damned January 15, 2005
2 out of 9 found this review helpful
fantastic
everybody should read this
a great fin de siecle (c19)novel
dark & foreboding, with some shocks, a true masterpiece
The lure of darkness November 21, 2003
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
This book is about late nights in dark garrets, intelligent discussions on the practice of satanism, and the imperious power of sexual dreams. The hero, Durtal, is writing a biography of Bluebeard- that Gilles de Rais who was both a Marshall of France and the killer of so many children at Tiffauges castle. The subject matter unbalances Durtal and he is himself driven towards exploring the darkness. I recommend it highly to those looking for unusual books, and the decadent fringes of C19th Paris. La Bas is part of a trilogy in which Durtal appears to lose himself and then comes back to God, in the second volume, after a stay at the Monastery of La Trappe (for which read 'En Route').
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