THE CATHEDRAL, by J.K. Huysmans was originally published in French in 1898. The same year, this English translation by Clara Bell was published. THE CATHEDRAL is the second in a thinly veiled autobiographical trilogy starting with EN ROUTE and ending with THE OBLATE. These novels follow the character Durtal as he immerses himself in the mystical and aesthetic lifestyle of fin de siècle French Catholicism. You may remember our dear Durtal from his adventures in decadant Satanism (and fascination with Gilles de Rais) in Huysman's scandalous novel LA BAS. LA BAS, for obvious reasons, was not considered part of Huysmans's Catholic trilogy.