Right now I'm finally reading this book as it should be read. In the original. I used to read an adopted text. It presented me the plot, but I can see the very idea just now. I mean the idea I consider to be interesting for interpretation and analysis. At the moment I'm in the middle of the story and I'm completely fascinated by the text itself as an example of a pure austhetic text - a kind of text which is not for the contence, plot twists and characters, but for a structure, picturesque words, bold patterns. Useless and with that purely artistic. This idea of the text is well presented in the story by Joris-Karl Huysmans which is called À rebours .

Another point is that I wouldn't call in neither a story nor a novell, an essay is the most appropriate word to my mind. Because the characters are quite formal (though extremely exquisite, it goes without saying) I feel the need in them only to express the flew of thoughts of Oscar Wilde. I insist on nothing, simply "saying out loud" my personal opinion at the very moment. May be for an essay this text is a bit unstructured, that's why there were a necessiry for a number of characters to present controversial points of view. But I can definitely follow the development of author's views during the flew of events, and it's only partly depends on the characters' development throughout the story.

And I really enjoy these little discoveries of mine while reading. When the text itself dominates me, when I recognize my feelings about things and people, when the actions of the characrers are very clear to me. I don't judge, I don't even question their deeds, I only try to perceive them as they are. A precious habit, that all I can say.

P.S. At first I was going to write all post in Russian, but the title. But somehow after the title had been typed I didn't change the language. That's why the language is likely to modify my original thoughts that were formulated in Russian inside my Russian mind. Probably I should consider it as a little challenge to express the same idea by means of different languages.


Il ne faut regarder ni les choses ni les personnes. Il ne faut regarder que dans les miroirs. Car les miroirs ne nous montrent que des masques.
Москва, Тверской бульвар, 23.12.2015