I have just finished the second novel by French decadent writer Octave Mirbeau: Abbé Jules (Dedalus translation by Nicoletta Simborowski). In Mirbeau’s first novel, Le Calvaire (1886), his sharp social criticism was already apparent. He successfully presented his world view through his main character’s desire to “learn the human rationale for religions that stupefy, governments that oppress, societies that kill.” Unfortunately, Abbé Jules is a much weaker novel. The plot is directionless, so it’s not very interesting. At the same time, the theme is confused. Mirbeau wants to attack the petit bourgeois and church corruption, but all he does is present a gallery of petty and foolish secondary characters. I think the main problem is that neither of the central characters in Abbé Jules provide Mirbeau with an effective way to address his theme. As to the title character, Mirbeau certainly conveys Abbé Jules’ history and personality via a long flashback in Part One, Chapter T...