The DamnedBy: Joris Karl Huysmans Joris Karl Huysmans' shocking novel of an innocent's descent into a world of depraved, blasphemous rituals, The Damned (L Bas) caused a scandal when it was first published in nineteenth century France. This Penguin Classics edition is translated with an introduction and notes by Terry Hale. Durtal, a shy, censorious man, is writing a biography of Gilles de Rais, the monstrous fifteenth century child murderer thought to be the