Against the Grain

First, if you're new to this book, though this is my favorite translation by far, do note that the ENTIRETY of Chapter 6 and some parts of Chapter 9 were removed (the author was OK with this, though I personally believe for the wrong reasons—nevertheless, argue how you may whether or not this desire of his helps further reflect what the author wanted to say in this book). These chapters, to my knowledge, were never, unfortunately, translated by John Howard, but you may find other translations of these chapters very easily through a little search engine magic.

I've read this book in many different translations countless times, and every time find something new in it. This iBooks version of mine alone has hundreds of highlighted passages and bookmarks on half the pages. It's no wonder this work almost alone sparked an entire (albeit shallow, unfortunately, of which the only good literary work to come out of it that I've seen is Oscar Wilde's classic we've all read in high school, for this book without a plot is by no means shallow; as deep as we ponder happenings is as deep as Huysmans ponders sensations) literary/art movement.

If you're reading this review, odds are this will be a difficult read. That's fine. If you brave through it, you may find it a very rewarding one as well.

This is a marvelous work of literary art.