New-York tribune., 1922-10-08
The Bible Of the Nineties
BY Burton Rascoe


fsder New York: 1892
p1s the launched qups and burnt tb M
less towers Burton Rascoe wrote that with "a
Rebou" JoKarl Huysmans performed prodieiou feat
herng n critical mcnen fascinating form of fiction
~ ii Ia vis etbae) and Of starting an intellectual
r This hook was the prognor Picture Of nnr;ar 49,,
81 sixtne Hill Of Dreams and Of Painted ve and Il set
il and mpresson.os George Moore to
tsa in The Savoy the yellow Book paved the v M
E ssannr mockeries Daquescenee dAdors Founete
as;ncs Huvsans Imagination limited he did not invnt ~
saw and The model for was Co Roh
s that quaint delightful madman whose yc
nty Remy Gurnt said excessively model for
n was Huysnans himself and there little Of that leaning
d the precious rns Of Des Essentes punous clerk in the
Ministry Of Interior Rsbours and Ldbas the crystala
zion Of tendency that had been long tendency in sa
culture had produced Baudelaire and Rbaud Corbe and NAL
rm and Degas Gaugun and Van Goh the tendency
e which is after ALL phenomenon Of civilization
civilization base and fatgued short Of wind
ae goal syphus humanity which etsrnalv ek
leisure from its daily abors and finding only monotonies
representing his and mleu secve his Pebou
graphic epitomes what to-day most suby
and sympathetic cques the fine latter half
last century His style vibrant personal equal
descriptive effort arresting savory with unique metaphors
s migratory mpressionsts symons Ellis Ransome wilde
and Hunek ruined rparaby larger scnt
m mnar nearer home And the earlier works
fayaite free minds"
omitted had the singular faculty
exciting his admirers to dhyrambs Remy de timdy
hat hand the great dabo dedicate his
literary aveunt the old say nasty things about
ne said about everybody zoa his chief pleasure
Meanwhile Gourmont had called grandiy eve" Oscar
Wilde records of himself in the Of Dorian "a Rebours
that he
exquisite aimn and the delicate flutes sins of the world
dreamed OF were suddenly made real him. Things
dreamed gradually revealed were in it meta
phors as monstrou as orchids and as subtle color Tho , - ,
described the philosophy heavy odor
incense seemed to cling about its
Haock Ellis in perhaps the essay Huysmans
English prompted o
distressing absudy Of human affairs face with the sns
tive luminous reminded Of Baudares portraits
c the divine order but has wish improper the dis
Huysmans Arthur symns some ~ ha
cling his patches James Gibbons Hunker couldn't
even k Of Huysmans without getting rather ecsatay
And what which caused 50 great stir
influenced SO many literary artists mrored its literary
~ its period and which by atrabous and mali
e little government clerk whose seemingly
medieval Latin actually limited descriptions cleaned from
catalogues who described without having
M Mass amiary that symons and Huneker really
aymans ate the flesh Of fetal children believers
the any Satan and who finally Catholic
faith by the medumsc who so fooled him
~ voices uterng outrageous hae presumably from
world that the great scoer convinced
and that he had better get right Well for one
should that nothing has been said Huynans
inc young man first quoted slightly
man OF extraordinary imagination which perhaps
Goumn relating frankly Of the medieval
Latin authors he wrote aiary ndy that
shd bother his head about the paid
50 nefrant sad the essential and important thing about Of
that Gurmont who had particular
sna huymns knew about them than he ddhch
sby he did For critical sympathy apprehension
cue aims and effects is not matter Of pedany statistics
er OF emotional response and ensibiity. In "A
mans was able to touch important significant writer's
aha painters OF the French Decadence with
stroke that he said all now to
M about them Guonts Ies Lvres dies aoues are wherein
Inc same writer's pale and sophomore sketches comparison
was psychologist long anticipated Freud in
and explanation psychoses Of the neurasthen
satisfactory analysis of the psychology saanism yet
his epoch fully veritaby as Apuleius
~ hs or Petronu HIS for that matter as Homer
Dante Shakespeare and Moee respective
w Perhaps even, rather accurately
ri
This is the first time that Rebour ha. been put into English
and otba}sooJl
late perhaps among The saa and
I Inc fashion has changed The attitude is houted
W Oa-dasts and Expressonists proclaimed hself +be
a the close of the Decadence he might we'll have added
% mol e dsuge The shimmerng. beauty built bv delicate
out of sarass and been chased +he
usy pack of gibberng and hilarious youth. who
. bored by the whispered part Of the
OF the Decadence that they thumb their at
Its ribs back into show Of animation hob
CARGO and other France are annlvin th