It was a bit of a slog, but I finally finished The Cathedral by J.K. Huysmans.
Unlike the works from his Decadent period, namely Against the Grain and The Damned, The Cathedral lacks that tasty frisson of sex and evil. It actually continues the story of Huysmans stand-in, Durtal, that was begun in The Damned. If you think of the four Durtal novels as a tetralogy, than The Cathedral is the third novel in the series.
Durtal is a writer of modest success but good connections who, in The Damned embarks on an affair with an upper class woman and the two of them explore the world of satanism and Black Masses.
Apparently, the second book, En Route, features a re-conversion by Durtal to Roman Catholicism. The Cathedral finds him living in Chartres, beneath the shadow of the great Cathedral, Notre Dame de Chartres.
The novel lacks much resembling a traditional plot. Mostly, it is a series of conversations between Durtal and himself and Durtal one or both of a pair of priests on Catholic symbolism, particularly the symbolism of the art, statuary, and architecture of the titular cathedral.
The long, constant discussions of odors, animals, gems, etc. and how they relate to particular saints, angels, and virtues can get tiring. There’s even a discussion of how to plant a garden to symbolize various attributes of the Virgin, Christ, and saints and apostles.
But beneath all that is an interesting story.
Durtal is bitter and restless and can only truly see meaning in art and literature and a particularly medieval style of Catholic worship. For all his efforts to be holy, everything is through this filter that stands between him and world. It should be noted that Chartres, cathedral aside, is depicted as a gray, lifeless, industrial town. Durtal seems to enjoy the self flagellation that living in such a lonely, culture-free locale entails for a man of art and learning.
It should be noted that the book ends with Durtal traveling with one of the priests to a convent and adjoining monastery where Durtal retires in the fourth book.
The Cathedral was actually one of the first books I purchased for my nook.
A book recently read and an author who recently read from it at the Folger’s poetry series has been nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award – Kingdom Animalia by Aracelis Girmay.
the coffee philosopher 