Á rebours“These plants are amazing,” he reflected. Then he drew back to let his e
Á rebours“These plants are amazing,” he reflected. Then he drew back to let his eye encompass the whole collection at a glance. His purpose was achieved. Not one single specimen seemed real; the cloth, paper, porcelain and metal seemed to have been loaned by man to nature to enable her to create her monstrosities. When unable to imitate man’s handiwork, nature had been reduced to copying the inner membranes of animals, to borrowing the vivid tints of their rotting flesh, their magnificent corruptions.“All is syphilis,” thought Des Esseintes, his eye riveted upon the horrible streaked stainings of the Caladium plants caressed by a ray of light. And he beheld a sudden vision of humanity consumed through the centuries by the virus of this disease. <…> And lo! here it was reappearing, in its pristine splendour, on the bright-coloured petals of flowers!I fell in love with Huysmans. -- source link
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