The authors collected in the anthology contributed one story each, and all are disciples of Emile Zola. Having read novels by half of them, I gave myself a sub-sub-assignment of seeking out translations of all six stories (the anthology itself is not available in an English volume).
Huysmans’ contribution is “Knapsacks”, a satirical tale of ne’er-do-well Parisian Eugene Lejantel who is conscripted at the start of the war. Due to the army’s disorganization (a central cause of its humiliating defeat in reality), the conscripts immediately contract dysentery and spend the war shuffling between makeshift military hospitals. Eugene is dirty, underfed, and sneaks off as often as possible to carouse in nearby towns. He sees no battles and is sent home when the war is over with “bowels on fire”.
I only located translations of two of the other stories. Like “Knapsacks”, they depict the absurdity and hypocrisies of war. Zola’s “The Attack on the Mill” mixes Naturalistic description and Romantic melodrama, ending with a small French military victory of excruciating irony. In “Ball of Tallow”, Guy de Maupassant paints an eviscerating portrait of armchair patriots who quickly abandon national pride (and morality) as soon as either are inconvenient. Vicious.
The other three stories - “Bloodshed” by Henri Ceard, “The Affair of the Great 7” by Leon Hennique, and “After the Battle” by Paul Alexis - may not have been translated into English because these authors simply have not endured as well outside France. However Snuggly Books - one of my go-to pushers (ahem, I mean, publishers) of French Decadent fiction - has a translation of Paul Alexis’ novella The End of Lucie Pellegrin which I’ll read instead.
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