Misplaced Pages

The Oblate

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
1903 novel by Joris-Karl Huysmans
This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (January 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
The Oblate
Title page for L'Oblat (1903)
AuthorJoris-Karl Huysmans
Original titleL'Oblat
Working titleThe Oblate
TranslatorEdward Perceval
LanguageFrench
Publication date1903
Publication placeFrance
Published in English1924
Preceded byThe Cathedral 

The Oblate (French: L'Oblat) is the last novel by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans, first published in 1903.

The Oblate is the final book in Huysmans' cycle of four novels featuring the character Durtal, a thinly disguised portrait of the author himself. Durtal had already appeared in Là-bas, En route and The Cathedral, which traced his (and the author's) conversion to Catholicism.

In The Oblate, Durtal becomes an oblate, reflecting Huysmans' own experiences in the religious community at Ligugé. Like many of Huysmans' other novels, it has little plot. The author uses the book to examine the Christian liturgy, express his opinions about the state of Catholicism in contemporary France and explore the question of suffering.

Sources

  • Baldick, Robert (2006). King, Brendan (ed.). The Life of J.-K. Huysmans. Dedalus. ISBN 9781903517437.

External links

Novels by Joris-Karl Huysmans


Stub icon

This article about a 1900s novel is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page.

Categories: