Psyche

The great Dutch author Louis Couperus considered Psyche to be his symbolist masterpiece. It is published here along with its inspiration: the story of Psyche and Cupid from The Golden Ass Psyche is a modern, adult fairy tale, drenched in powerful imagery, and one of the most fascinating works to come from the pen of Louis Couperus, the Dutch Oscar Wilde and among the greatest writers ever to be born in The Netherlands. 'Couperus binds both irony and spiritual redemption. ' The Daily Telegraph'Couperus sympathy for the hybrid, the impure and the ambiguous gave him a peculiarly modern voice. It is extraordinary that this Dutch dandy, writing in the flowery language of fin-de-siecle decadence, should still sound so fresh.' Ian Buruma, The New York Times Review of BooksLouis Couperus (1863 1923), regarded as one of the foremost figures in Dutch literature, was a leading member of the Tachtigers movement. Born in the Hague, Couperus was taken by his family to the Dutch East Indies as a child, where he remained until his father's death. His other novels include Eline Vere (1889), Ecstasy (Extaze: Een boek van geluk, 1892), Inevitable (Langs lijnen van geleidelijkheid, 1900), and The Hidden Force (De Stille Kracht, 1900), all of which are available from Pushkin Press. A renowned wit, raconteur and commentator, Couperus continued to publish critically and commercially successful work until his death.

In the original myth of Cupid and Psyche, the goddess Venus becomes jealous of Psyche's celebrated beauty and instructs her son, Cupid, to make her fall in love with a monstrous creature. However, when Cupid gazes upon Psyche he falls in love with her himself - with complicated consequences. Couperus's Psyche is a modern fairy tale and symbolist masterpiece, which updates and elaborates the myth. Included in this volume is also Robert Graves's translation of the original story, entitled 'Cupid and Psyche', which first appeared in Apuleius's Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass).