The Cult of the Self

"We live in an age of religious and metaphysical collapse where countless doctrines lie strewn across the ground." This observation by Paul Bourget in 1887 was followed by an appeal: "Who will utter the word of future and fruitful labor necessary for this youth so that it may set to work, finally cured of this uncertainty of which it is a victim?" Maurice Barrès took up the gauntlet with this work, he who had been nicknamed "the Prince of Youth".

Summary: "A young man, Philippe, who has just joined General Boulanger's program, enthusiastically sets off for Provence to organize an election campaign (it is 1889). He meets Bérénice, whom he knew in the past and who now lives alone in a large house in Aigues-Mortes. Seeing her so beautiful and peaceful in her garden, he feels as if he is discovering the harmony of life for the first time. He believes he can find the secret meaning of the universe within the setting of a garden and through the love of a woman. But Bérénice marries Philippe's adversary and dies shortly after. Her memory illuminates Philippe's life and pushes him to defend his ideal. He decides to enter politics."

Definitive edition.