Memoirs Of A Madman

Embittered by life, a young man looks back on the formative years that have brought him to this place of 'madness'. Recalling the innocence of his boyhood, he recounts his fond belief that he possessed a maturity beyond his years and was blessed with a mind of genius. Then he was free to grapple with the very deepest questions of life, convinced his thoughts contained eternal truths. Yet, painfully, wretchedly, he also recalls 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 philosophising, and the beginning of a tragic coming of age. Memoirs of a Madman is one of Flaubert's earliest works, and is based on his encounter with Elisa Schlésinger during the summer of 1836.