My sub-assignment of reading J.-K. Huysmans’ novels in order of publication now takes me to Naturalist anthology Evenings at Médan (1880). Its six stories are set during the Franco-Prussian War (1870/71), a stunning defeat so embarrassing to France that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pales by comparison. Oddly, some cite the year of this defeat as the beginning of the Belle Epoque in which France’s culture and economy soared on a wave of optimism. 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 c...