The Cathedral — Joris-Karl Huysmans / J.K. Huysmans

Architecture lovers and Francophiles, rejoice. French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans' novel set at the famed cathedral at Chartres contains such detailed descriptions of the site's layout and construction that early tourists sometimes used it as a guidebook. The book is the third in a series of works that follow the religious conversion and spiritual life of Durtal, the protagonist that Huysmans modeled on himself.