If the writings of Chateaubriand, one above all is both most representative of its author and most significant for reader and student alike. René, a milestone of literature, presents the first genuine and complete picture of that state of spiritual frustration and moral isolation known as le mal du siècle, its causes, symptoms, ravages, and cure.Chateaubriand, a prodigious artist with an incomparable style, enjoys the further distinction of having fused in his wor...