French Fiction, Short Story Collections (Single Author), Love & Relationships - Fiction
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Overview
A captivating and evocative work, Memoirs of a Madman is one of Flaubert's earliest writings, and forms the basis for his highly renowned L'Education Sentimentale. As a young man looks back on the years that have brought him to "madness," he recalls the innocence of his boyhood and his fond belief that he was blessed with a mind of genius. Yet, painfully, wretchedly, he also recounts his all-too-sudden entry into the adult world. For the day he caught sight of a beautiful woman by the sea marked the end of his flamboyant philosophizing, and the beginning of a tragic coming of age.
Synopsis
A captivating and evocative work, Memoirs of a Madman is one of Flaubert's earliest writings, and forms the basis for his highly renowned L'Education Sentimentale. As a young man looks back on the years that have brought him to "madness," he recalls the innocence of his boyhood and his fond belief that he was blessed with a mind of genius. Yet, painfully, wretchedly, he also recounts his all-too-sudden entry into the adult world. For the day he caught sight of a beautiful woman by the sea marked the end of his flamboyant philosophizing, and the beginning of a tragic coming of age.Editorials
Kirkus Reviews
This very early work, written when Flaubert was an adolescent but published only long after his death (in 1900), records the amatory and intellectual effusions of a lovestruck youth whose "madness" is really only romantic hyperbole. In its rhapsodies about childhood, schooling, travel, and especially the images of unattainable idealized females, we see glimmering intimations of both Flaubert's sardonic Bildüngsroman Sentimental Education and his masterpiece, Madame Bovary. But these Memoirs are unmemorable-unlike the brief 1837 story "Bibliomania" that follows them. It's a deftly plotted, precociously urbane parable of obsession, somewhat reminiscent of (of all things) early Edgar Allan Poe.Book Details
Published
July 15, 2002
Publisher
Hesperus Press Ltd
Pages
96
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781843910008