Louis Lambert is a French novel by Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850), included in the Études philosophiques section of his novel sequence La Comédie humaine. Set mostly in a school at Vendôme, it examines the life and theories of a boy genius fascinated by the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). Balzac wrote Louis Lambert during the summer of 1832 while he was staying with friends at the Château de Saché. The novel contains a minimal plot, focusing mostly on the metaphysical ideas of its boy-genius protagonist and his only friend (eventually revealed to be Balzac himself). Although it is not a significant example of the realist style for which Balzac became famous, the novel provides insight into the author's own childhood. Specific details and events from the author's life – including punishment from teachers and social ostracism – suggest a fictionalized autobiography. Critics panned the novel, but Balzac believed that it provided an important look at philosophy, especially metaphysics. As he developed the scheme for La Comédie humaine, he placed Louis Lambert in the Études philosophiques section, and later returned to the same themes in his novel Séraphîta, about an androgynous angelic creature.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Lambert

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1060:

Béla I the Champion was crowned king of Hungary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_I_of_Hungary

1534:

Over 200 Spanish settlers led by conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar founded what is now Quito, Ecuador. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quito

1865:

Slavery in the United States was officially abolished when the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

1956:

Aged 14, swimmer Sandra Morgan became the youngest Australian to win an Olympic gold medal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Morgan

1988:

The Australian Capital Territory was granted self-government. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/history_of_the_Australian_Capital_Territory

2005:

Members of the People's Armed Police shot and killed several people in Dongzhou, Guangdong, China, who were protesting government plans to build a new power plant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongzhou_protests

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

maudlin (adj): 1. Extravagantly or excessively sentimental; self-pitying. 2. Affectionate or sentimental in an effusive, tearful, or foolish manner, such as from drunkenness http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/maudlin

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Is Freedom only a Will-o'-the-wisp

To cheat a poet's eye? Be it phantom or fact, it's a noble cause In which to sing and to die! --Joyce Kilmer http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joyce_Kilmer