Diotimos Library · Literary Fiction Collection · Bilingual Edition
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
French Page · Branch 84 of 94
Appendix II · Reviews · p. 352
French
p. 352leurs prières : enfin il cède ; ils vont un jour ensemble sur les bords du Meschacebé, et le jeune homme commence ainsi : (René, pag. 142.)
Il décrit ensuite les premières sensations de son enfance. (Pag. 143 et 144.)
Le père de René meurt ; celui-ci, abandonné à lui-même, et poussé par un vague instinct, se met à voyager. (Pag. 148.)
Après avoir visité plusieurs peuples, sans rien trouver qui remplisse le vide de son cœur, il revient dans sa patrie. Pendant quelque temps il essaie des distractions d’une grande ville ; mais ses dégoûts qui s’en augmentent le poursuivent dans la solitude.
C’est alors que l’auteur, entrant plus avant dans son sujet, montre le jeune homme aux prises avec toutes les puissances de son imagination. (Pag. 157 ; et suiv.)
On n’avoit pas encore, je crois, trouvé des couleurs aussi vraies pour un état de l’âme tellement orageux et indéfini qu’il se dérobe à la pensée même de celui qui l’éprouve.
Enfin René, après avoir consumé inutilement tous les désirs de son cœur, arrive au dernier dégoût de la vie : il songeoit à s’en délivrer, lorsque sa sœur, qui a deviné ce projet funeste, vient le surprendre dans sa retraite.
Pendant quelques mois qu’Amélie passa avec son frère, elle parvint à mettre un peu de paix dans ce cœur troublé ; mais un jour elle s’échappe tout à coup, laissant une lettre où elle explique sa résolu-
René: Appendix II · Reviews
Source p. 352their entreaties: at last he yields; one day they go together to the banks of the Meschacebé, and the young man begins thus: (René, p. 142.)
He then describes the first sensations of his childhood. (Pp. 143 and 144.)
René’s father dies; René, left to himself and driven by a vague instinct, sets out to travel. (P. 148.)
After visiting several peoples without finding anything to fill the void in his heart, he returns to his homeland. For a time he tries the distractions of a great city; but his disgusts, increased by them, pursue him into solitude.
It is then that the author, entering further into his subject, shows the young man at grips with all the powers of his imagination. (P. 157 ff.)
No one had yet, I believe, found colours so true for a state of the soul so stormy and so undefined that it escapes the very thought of the one who experiences it.
At last René, having uselessly consumed all the desires of his heart, arrives at the final disgust with life: he was thinking of freeing himself from it when his sister, who has guessed this fatal plan, comes to surprise him in his retreat.
During the few months that Amélie spent with her brother, she succeeded in bringing a little peace into that troubled heart; but one day she suddenly slips away, leaving a letter in which she explains her resolution.
Socrates
Reading René · Appendix II · Reviews · Appendix II · Reviews · p. 352
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Chateaubriand’s tale of René and Amélie, with the Preface of 1805, two contemporary reviews, and the longer readings of 1802. This French–English edition preserves the 1826 printed pages, with a new English translation, author’s notes, variant readings, introduction and glossary.
Historical Text and Translation
François-René de Chateaubriand, Œuvres complètes, tome XVI (Paris: Ladvocat, 1826), pp. 1–16, 137–192 and 351–358, University of Toronto Library copy. Earlier witness: Génie du Christianisme, tome II (Paris: Migneret, 1802), pp. 158–216, Bibliothèque nationale de France copy.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
Rights
The historical French source is in the public domain in the United States. New English translation and editorial matter © 2026 Diotimos Editions. Chateaubriand’s author notes and historical variants remain separately attributed.