{"id":2116,"date":"2024-09-21T18:07:14","date_gmt":"2024-09-21T18:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parmenidean.is\/wp\/?p=2116"},"modified":"2026-04-03T23:51:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T23:51:56","slug":"book-download-the-cathedral-by-joris-karl-huysmans-translated-by-clara-bell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parmenidean.is\/wp\/?p=2116","title":{"rendered":"Book Download: The Cathedral by Joris-Karl Huysmans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Cath\u00e9drale Notre-Dame de Chartres (Eure-et-Loir, France)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Abb\u00e9 rose and went to the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, the rain will not cease,\u201d said Durtal. “I am very much afraid, Monsieur l’Abb\u00e9, that we cannot examine the Cathedral porches to-day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no hurry. Before going into the details of Notre Dame, would it not be well to contemplate it as a whole, and let its general purpose soak into the mind before studying each page of its parts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything lies contained in that building,\u201d he went on, waving his hand to designate the church; \u201cthe scriptures, theology, the history of the human race, set forth in a broad outline. Thanks to the science of symbolism a pile of stones may be a macrocosm.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I repeat it, everything exists in this structure, even our material and moral life, our virtues and our vices. The architect takes us up at the creation of Adam to carry us on to the end of time. Notre Dame of Chartres is the most colossal depository existing of heaven and earth, of God and man. Each of its images is a word; all those groups are phrases\u2014the difficulty is to read them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But it can be done?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Undoubtedly. That there may be some contradictions in our interpretations I admit, but still the palimpsest can be deciphered. The key needed is a knowledge of symbolism.”<\/p>\n(79-80)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For more information, the interested reader is invited to consult a book review<\/a> of the whole work available on this website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more below, and download at your leisure here: <\/p>\n\n\n\n