Bruges-la-Morte (Paperback)

from deebee1

This novella tells a simple story: when Hugues Viane loses his young, beautiful wife, he decides to settle in Bruges because the town mirrored his own inconsolable grief. The city is gray and moribund, ideal for feeding his melancholy (this was set in the late 1900s; today, the town is lively, ch...

from deebee1

This novella tells a simple story: when Hugues Viane loses his young, beautiful wife, he decides to settle in Bruges because the town mirrored his own inconsolable grief. The city is gray and moribund, ideal for feeding his melancholy (this was set in the late 1900s; today, the town is lively, ch...

from starbox

Set in the author's native Bruges, Belgium, this 1890 novel follows lonely widower Hugues. Bereft of his beloved, near perfect wife, he chooses to settle in this melancholy city and dwell on his memories. In the house, his late wife's possessions and hair are quasi-religious relics to him. And th...

from lisa_emily

Rodenbach's languid prose matches the melancholic landscape of Bruges. The main character, widower Viane, meanders among the quais and deserted streets, around the old houses and churches, through the bereft town; mourning his wife's death. The decayed city becomes his psychology. Although cliche...

from veilofisis

'The faces of the dead, which are preserved in our memory for a while, gradually deteriorate there, fading like a pastel drawing that has not been kept under glass, allowing the chalk to disperse. Thus, within us, our dead die a second time.' Bruges-La-Morte is the cardinal work of Symbolist lite...